Not So Dead Lines

The deadline for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest is looming.  The deadline is February 17, for those of you who are interested.  If you’re a member, it’s only $35 per entry, and you get TWO professional critiques on your submission, win or lose.  I completed my application(s) today, and will mail it Monday.  I’m submitting a new short story and the first few chapters of one of my (so far) unpublished manuscripts. 

Even if I’ve had no outward success in getting my previous work published (yet), I’m all for squeezing every ounce of work out of the words I’ve written.  That said, as I formatted the manuscripts per the submission guidelines, I winced a little.  The words that seemed to sparkle a year ago don’t seem quite so brilliant now.  And that’s a good thing, I think.  It means I’m still progressing in my craft.  I’m a better writer now than I was when I wrote these (now dead) lines.  I have a little more objectivity now about the work, and hopefully, the professional critique will be a confirmation of what I think I already know I need to still work on, or it will point me in a new direction, and sensitize me in an area I might not realize needs help.  And as far as I’m concerned, $35 is a modest price to pay for professional feedback that can help me improve my writing.  I’d pay much more for a writing class. 

So don’t be thinking that the mess of pages you’ve got stashed in that drawer is dead.  Try submitting it for a professional critique and learn something.  Think of it as an investment to improve your writing.  Put your words to work. 
This entry was posted in critique, manuscript, PNWA, short story, submission, words to work, writing contest. Bookmark the permalink.

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