WFTJ Annual Writing Contest

Announcing…
The WFTJ Annual Writing Contest

Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild

“because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me…”
Luke 11:6 (NIV)

Come one, come all! Brush up your writing tight skills, and enter a brand new contest. We provide the prompt; you provide the story. You get 500 words to WOW our judges with a fiction (yes, fiction) story. If you are primarily a nonfiction writer, it is vital you learn to write with fiction technique. Your nonfiction will thank you for it, and so will your future editors and publishers.

Here’s your prompt:
When I awoke the next morning…

There it is. Make sure you start your story with the above words. Your neglect to do so will result in disqualification. So check, and double check.

Guidelines:

1. If you are not familiar with Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild guidelines, please see www.wordsforthejourney.org and get acquainted with us.
2. Your story must fall under our guidelines, as well as within the boundaries of the CBA Market (Christian Booksellers Association). The use of profanity, inappropriate references to sexuality, paranormal spirituality, or graphic violent descriptions will not be tolerated and will result in disqualification.
3. One entry per person. Each entry $10 (members), $15 (non-members). *see below for mailing addresses per region (Colorado; Texas).
4. Format Guidelines: 500 words (2 pages; double-spaced; 12 pt. Times New Roman font; 1” margins)
5. You have ALL of March to write and polish your story. Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Winners will be announced at the last meeting of April at Barnes and Noble. *Note: We will be running this contest in both regions.
6. One winner from each region will receive a photo session and headshot of choice from professional photographers who have graciously donated them (CO: Fat Tuna Photography by Pauline Fortuna, http://fattunaphotography.com; TX: Click Photography by Mary and Tom Scheible, http://clickphotog.com)
7. Each region will run the contest at the same time, but each will have separate judges to expedite the process of judging and announcing winners at the end of April.

Entry email format:

Email with contact information in the BODY of the email ONLY. Attach entry – no contact info on the actual entry. Email to:
-WFTJ Rocky Mountain Region – Megan DiMaria (mdimaria3@comcast.net)
-WFTJ Southeast Texas Region – Sharen Watson (Irite4Him@aol.com)

Entry Fee:

Each entry must be accompanied by the entry fee, which should be snail-mailed to:
-WFTJ Rocky Mountain Region – Megan DiMaria. 19039 E. Creekside Drive. Parker, CO 80134
-WFTJ Southeast Texas Region – Sharen Watson. 2635 Imperial Grove Lane. Conroe, TX 77385

The Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild leadership hopes this contest will be a creative learning experience… one that will enrich your future endeavors toward publication.

Three Reasons to Enter the 2009 Genesis Contest

It’s that time of year again. The ACFW Genesis Contest is officially open for entries. I’ve entered the Genesis Contest two years in a row and I plan to enter again this year. There are three main reasons why I think it’s such a valuable experience:

You can get your writing out there. If you want to be a writer, you’ve got to get your work out there. Allowing people to read your writing is not only intimidating, it’s downright difficult. It means being vulnerable and opening yourself up to criticism. But it’s so important. For me, entering the contest has been a significant growth experience, and has given me the opportunity to get my work in front of agents and editors. All finalist entries are judged by professionals in the publishing business. You never know … one of them might like what they see.

You can get honest, anonymous feedback. Each time I have entered the Genesis Contest, I have received insightful feedback that has helped shape my writing. Last year, as a finalist, one of the judges included very practical advice that helped me improve the manuscript to the point that it actually won first place in a Romance Writers of America contest a few months later. The best thing about the judging is that it’s completely anonymous, so you know the judges are making their assessments based solely on your writing.

You can start getting used to subjectivity. I know this is one of the biggest complaints about entering contests. One judge may score you really high while another scores you really low and it can be hard to reconcile the two responses. But it is also a great exercise for learning how to process feedback. Someday, when you are a published author, you’ll receive feedback from your readers. Readers coming from different cultures, different walks of life, different viewpoints. Writing is subjective. The best thing we can do is learn to be open to others’ ideas and opinions, prayerfully consider how each comment should impact our writing, and graciously use criticism as tool for growth in our writing as well as in our lives.

There you have it, three very important reasons to enter the 2009 Genesis contest. All entries must be received by March 31, so get to work! Check out http://www.acfw.com/genesis/ for more information.