So Here We Are...

And we have about 1 1/2 weeks left before our contest ends. Really. Is that deadline close enough for ya? We want desperately to read your stories. Really. So where are they? Are they still on your computer? Are they still rattling around in your brain? Have you even started? I hope so. I really, REALLY hope so.

So let's say you haven't even started one yet. Let's say that when you saw this contest post, you thought, "Oh. Short stories. I'm a NOVEL writer. I can't write short stories. I may as well not even bother."

But you kept reading the posts. You got reminded again and again that the deadline was coming, and you wondered if there wasn't a kernel of a story in there somewhere. Maybe it would be freeing to keep yourself to fewer words than you normallly put in half a chapter. Maybe it would help hone your writing chops, to wrestle with the length and keep it to 3500 words. And maybe, just maybe, you thought that if you tried, you could spit that rough draft out in less than a day. Maybe.

So here I am telling you YES! to all of those suppositions. There is always a kernel of a story in there, one you haven't fully explored because you weren't sure if it had the staying power a novel needs. And writing short stories is great when you need the thrill of typing "The End" on the screen. (Even if you do have to delete it a few minutes later because you had to add something else.

Come on. You know you want to try. You know that it's the first time we ever done anything like this. We'd love to see this or another version of it become something we do on a yearly basis. We may not know what the publishing world will look like when this book is ready for publication (heck, I don't know what it'll be like in two minutes.)

So slide your entry down the bar and let us take a look. We don't bite. Much.

Comments on this post will give you another entry into our mini contest!)