If This is Your First Time at Write Club, You Have to Write

I'm unfortunately two short stories behind on my goal. But today I learned about a writing contest that might help me get back on track:

Here’s the ABC’s of how it works. Anytime during the submission period (Mar 12-Apr 1), you simply send in a 500-word writing sample using a pen name (details on how to do that below). Once the submission period closes, all the entries are read by a panel of fifteen volunteers (I call them my slushpile readers). The slushpile readers each select their top samples and then the contestant pool narrows down to the thirty contestants picked by the most judges. Over the course of the next eight weeks, we’ll hold daily bouts (M-F) right here on this blog – randomly pitting the anonymous 500-word writing samples against each other. The winners of these bouts advance into elimination rounds, and then playoffs, quarter-finals, and then ultimately a face-off between two finalists to determine a single champion. The writing sample can be any genre, any style (even poetry), from a larger piece of work or flash fiction -- the word count being the only restriction. It’s a way to get your writing in front of a lot of readers, receive a ton of feedback, all without having to suffer the agony and embarrassment of exposure. How cool is that?

And how are the winners of each bout determined? By you and other WRiTE CLUB readers! Anyone who visits my blog during the contest can vote for the writing sample that resonates with them the most in a bout. All I ask is that you leave a brief critique of each piece to help the contestants improve their craft.

Now to figure out what 500 word sample to submit. Obviously, it needs to be something that could stand on its own without the larger context of the story or novel from which it was drawn. I have until April 1st to figure this out.