Yes, You CAN Do It!

My husband, Del, and I love words.  We debate them, argue about them, research them, and enjoy reading them.  We are also adult literacy volunteers, helping adults to read so they may get better paying jobs, manage their households, and broaden their imaginations through reading a good book.  And maybe, just maybe, eventually venture into the world of writing.


A few months ago, we found out about a short story contest called "First Line Fiction", which is a monthly writing contest designed to help you expand your horizons if you are a "wannabe writer".  Del, always having words in his head, decided to give it a try.


First Line Fiction is a "peer review" contest, meaning that the contest entrants are assigned six stories to read from their competitors, and they must rank them from most to least favorite.  Anyone who fails to rank their six stories is disqualified from winning.  Only the first three placing stories receive cash prizes.  It's not big money, the main thing is the exercise of writing.


The first story Del wrote was in May 2010, and it did not make the top three, but if you'd like to read it, you can find it here:
http://firstlinefiction.com/contests/contest-9/the-mischievous-factor/


In June, he entered another story, but of course with no real expectation of winning.  To our surprise and delight, it won third place!  http://firstlinefiction.com/contests/contest-10/the-little-big-day/

Sometimes we wonder about stepping outside of our "comfort zone", and although we often fear it, you never know what might happen when you do.

 If you're an aspiring writer, you may want to give First Line Fiction a try.  If you have other aspirations, we encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone and give them your best shot, too.  You just never know what will happen!