I am sad to report that I am not one of the five finalists of Nathan Bransford's contest. I am even sadder to admit that I didn't deserve to.
I concentrated so much on a topic that would stand out that I had totally lost the point of the contest. I read the finalists' entries, and I agree with the selections. They wrote exactly what Mr. Bransford had asked for. He had asked for a diary entry/unsent letter written in the voice of a teenager. What did I give him? I gave him a scandalous story, hoping to catch his attention because how risque my teen voice was.
Yeah, nowhere did it say anything about the juicier the better. But that's what I concentrated on.
Although it sucks to have been so wrong in writing the piece I submitted, I like to believe I didn't walk away from this contest empty-handed; I learned that I need to pay attention to exactly what is being asked of me and not to over-analyze everything.
You know that interview question where they ask what is your weakest trait? My answer was always that I am constantly over-analyzing everything. Apparently this weakness holds true in my writing as well. Well, at least I can add consistency to my list of pros (or cons?).
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