Just a reminder: entries for Everyday Mormon Writer’s Four Centuries of Mormon Stories Contest are due at midnight tonight to everydaymormonwriter@gmail.com. You also can still donate to the contest. The dinners are over, but if you want to kick in $5-10 to support Mormon arts–or if you want an art print of one or all of the finalists, now is the time to step up and make that contribution.
The hard limit for contest submissions is 2,000 words — 1,000-word stories are preferred. Write 1k words on your lunch break and then revise tonight. I have it on good authority that the midnight deadline may be flexible so long as you can get your entries in before the editors check their email early tomorrow morning (but don’t push this flexibility; there will be a cut off. I’m just saying if 12 pm MDT arrives and you need 30 more minutes, you’ll be okay.).
I will admit that two of my three entries are closer to 2k than 1k and only of them is probably justified in going that long. But my laziness opens up the door for the rest of you to hit the editors’ sweet spot. And it can be done. For example, Everyday Mormon Writer recently re-published my Mormon Lit Blitz finalist “The Elder Who Wouldn’t Stop…“. That story started out around 1500 words, but by the time I submitted it to the Lit Blitz it was just under 1,000. Pruning 1/3 of the story was difficult, but I was able to do it. And it didn’t take more than a couple of hours. So get to it people. This is anyone’s competition to win.
Folks, the prize is approaching $400. Just sayin’…
It just got $15 closer.
I would love to see it hit $500.
By the way: in the unlikely event that I win a portion of the prize money from this contest, all of the winnings will be used to support Mormon arts-related projects (minus tithing and taxes on it, of course).
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So last week I finally decided to enter after all and wrote one story for each century. I was aiming for 800-900 words, but only got uner 1000 once (595 – 1084 – 1170 – 1600). Perhaps I could have shrunk them if I’d had more time (I only did five to nine drafts instead of my more normal numbers), but I’m happy with all four of them.
Best of luck to everyone. I have to admit that I find the conceit of this contest terribly exciting and if the stories are as good as James’s story proposals, reading these will be a dream.
James—how many stories to you anticipate posting?
I submitted my fourth entry today. I’m looking forward to reading the finalists–even if I’m not one of them.
We’re planning on eight finalists–two per century–to be posted over two weeks.
I managed to squeeze out three into the time frame…each under 1,000. One was hard-boiled down from a planned novel! I kept paring…and expanding…and cutting…and adding…and…. We shall see…or maybe we won’t.
I’ve got one at about 700. Didn’t have time to finish the prelude. Then there’s the three-part epic I pared down to exactly 2000 (MS Word). The other two are about 1500. Sheesh. This contest was all about editing down.
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It’s a special skill. Newspapering was great training.
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Fwiw, my finalist story was also my longest.
And, William, your focus on short shorts seems to be paying off.
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My vote for best title: “When the Bishop Started Killing Dogs” by Steven Peck.
I’m no match for the prolific Steve Peck, though.
Just in case anyone hasn’t seen yet: the contest finalists.