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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Holding my breath

The piece I submitted to the writing competion. I print it and then I go through it with a fine-toothed comb changing and correcting with a pen. Then I correct it on the computer again, print it again and when editing it again, I normally make more changes. When I was 100% sure, I typed it up one last time and submitted it

One of my life long passions is writing. That is why I blog. I also read voraciously. It's a known fact that if you want to write (and get published, that is) you must read, read and read.

I subscribe to online writing clubs, mostly in the USA. I receive the Writer's Digest in the mail every second month and read it from cover to cover. I am in the process of trying to join and writer's club online here in South Africa.

While I lived and worked in West Africa, I found a wonderful writing website on which I made many online friends. This site had writing excersises and, if you rose to the challenge of doing them, you could be sure of wonderful writers, (many published authors) critiqueing your work. I no longer visit this site (blogging takes up too much of my time. LOL) but have kept in email contact with two wonderful ladies who are respectively a published author and a published poet.

Last month I decided to enter the Short Short Story competition in the Writer's Digest and who did I turn to when I needed help with my submission, but one of these dear friends who had re-started her interesting blog. Eleyne, whose interesting blog you can read by clicking on her name, very kindly helped me tighten the piece until I felt confident enough to copy and paste it onto the competition website and press enter!

Now I wait with baited breath until after 13th February, incidently my birthday, when I'll hear if my entry made an impact with the judges or not.

Meanwhile I continue to write and read and read and read.

You can read the story which I entered into the competition here.

7 comments:

  1. I wish you the best of luck, Jo.
    Happy New Year!
    Sunny :)

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  2. Good luck with the competition Jo, the story is a bit hair raising but should keep the judges attention right to the end!
    Happy New Year to you both and your family

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  3. Jo, I'll cross my fingers for you. If you do get published, I hope you'll print your text on your blog for us to read.

    Happy New Year, all the best for 2010.

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  4. We are kindred souls in the realm of books and writing. Good luck with your submission and don't forget to exhale!

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  5. Hi Jo, what an exciting story...you sure have some adventures to write about! Hope you place in the competition.
    Happy New Year!

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  6. Hi All, it's New Year's Eve in South Africa (ony still 20h00) and I'm off to the midnight service, taking my granddaughter with me. Thanks for all the good wishes with my competition entry. May you all be blessed mightily in 2010 and may we all continue to enjoy our blogging community. (((Hugs))) Jo xxx

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  7. New Year is the time to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the coming year. It is the time to forget and get past memories that are no longer useful or worth pondering upon. It is the time for new beginnings and new starts in life. New Year has a message for each one of us. One should let go of the past that has bad memories and accept what has happened, has happened for some reason. Instead of clinging onto your past and things that have gone, it is better to let go.

    There is an old saying that goes, "Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened". This essentially means that there is no use crying over spilt milk. You cannot turn back time and do things that would benefit you. Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue. New year is the time of new beginnings. It is time to start afresh and do things that would make someone else smile. Make a pledge to make at least one person happy. You will see the difference it can make in both your lives. The essential message of New Year is let go off the past and embrace life as it comes to you. You will be happier and merrier that way.

    May the coming year 2010 bring you happiness, success, wealth and good health!.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo