Skip to main content

The Countdown: 5 days



This is the part when I think it gets really hard.  Because five days can seem like an eternity.

But what happens at the end of those 5 days?

Today I want to talk about what happens if you win.  Because, honestly, that excites me more than I let on.  And it scares me a little bit, too.  In a good way.

There's a good scared and a bad scared.  I talked about that many months ago.  "Bad scared" warns you to get out of a bad situation.  "Good scared" is the feeling you get when you are about to do something that takes a lot of courage but you know you will be glad that you did it.

If you win this contest, your name will be posted on the announcement page along with the title of the story you worked so hard on.  And then you will work with Rooglewood's editors and marketers to polish up your story and share it with the world.

You will have to make changes.  But you will also learn a lot.  And it will be worth it.  That's the part that excites me the most.

And you will sign copies for your friends and buy a copy for your grandma and all kinds of fun things like that.

Forever after, wherever your writing career takes you, you will always know that Anne Elisabeth Stengl liked something you wrote and believed in it enough to help you publish it.  And that's pretty cool, too.

I've entered contests before, without winning.  And I can honestly say that those were great experiences.  I learn so much each time I write a story, and it makes every single one worth it.  So, while I will be disappointed if my story doesn't make it into this book, I will be okay.  Truly.  You won't get anything out of me except gratitude.

But there's something about this announcement -- only five days away -- that makes me ask,

"But what if you win?"

So how about you?  Have you asked yourself this question?  Have you thought about what is most exciting about seeing your name on that list?  What do you think your favorite part of winning is?  What do you look forward to?


Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Skye HoffertFebruary 25, 2016 at 12:37 PM

    I have been thinking about this alot, and since I lost last year, I'm prepared for it, but I'm really excited at the idea of winning, it would be something to put on my book proposals, the publishing credit would be great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Savannah GraceFebruary 25, 2016 at 5:36 PM

      Ooo, you're right Skye, it would be something good to put on a book proposal.

      Delete
  2. Savannah GraceFebruary 25, 2016 at 2:10 PM

    I agree, there's a difference between good-scared and bad-scared, and right now I'm definitely good-scared :).

    I've asked myself 'what if I win?' multiple times :D. I think the most exciting thing about seeing my name written on the list of winners would be the knowledge that I'll get to work with Rooglewood's editors and soon hold a physical copy of a book with my name on it.

    I would be looking forward to getting to share my story with the world!

    One of my favorite parts of winning would probably be knowing that Anne Elisabeth thought my story was good enough to earn one of those five places :).

    Five days from now can't come soon enough!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 25, 2016 at 5:22 PM

    I will be content winning or losing, as I love my story; and I wouldn't change a thing about it, even if that meant the difference between winning and losing.

    But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to win, because I really do. I'm just trying not to get my hopes up too much, as there will be a lot more losers than winners. My mother keeps insisting I will be one of the winners, but I feel like we all have parents telling us that! ;)

    If I did win, I would be over the moon. The way you phrased things in your post is exactly how I feel (editing, elation, signing copies for Grandma). I think the best part about winning would be having a book on your shelf, and knowing that you wrote it. No matter what, you would know you got something published; and that you were good enough to do so.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....
18 comments
Read more

Wherein I Still Have My Nose and Ears

     I decided to take the plunge.  I was going to chop a plot thread out of AAM so the story would fit in the contest word length restrictions.  I saved my old version and set up a copy for me to modify.      Stories are like woven cloth.  Each plot thread is woven into the entire story.  So if I decide to cut a character or a side-theme, I have to go through the whole book, chopping out the references to it.  This leaves gaping holes and sometimes it looks like the whole story is going to unravel.  Everywhere I chop, I have to readjust the whole scene to keep the flow.  It's a rather ticklish procedure.      Over the dinner table, I mentioned that I was chopping a sub-plot.  My younger sister protested loudly (she hasn't read it, but I previously told her the general idea).  Then my mom (who also hasn't read it) offered to read it and tell me what she thought could and couldn't be chopped. ...
7 comments
Read more

Rooglewood Countdown: 12 days

     For the next 12 1/2 days, as we do our final countdown until March 31st, I'm going to do 4 posts asking about something you would like to see in the Snow White collection.      There are so many ways all of us, writers and readers alike, can win in this contest.  Maybe a familiar name makes it into the final five -- hurray!  Maybe a story in your favorite genre ended up in the collection this year -- woohoo!  Maybe you finally get to read a winning story about an evil king and his Snow White son -- how awesome!      So, in celebration of all the many things we can root for, I want to know some of the things that you think would be cool to find in this year's set of winners.      Without further ado, here is my question for the day: What is a point of view you would like to see in this collection?  Would you like a story written from the prince's perspective?  A story from Snow White's p...
9 comments
Read more