Saturday, March 01, 2008

Failing Well

Hello Again,

I've been ignoring the call of my computer all too well recently. Life takes my attention elsewhere, but that's not really a valid excuse. So why exactly am I failing to make my own deadlines? Linda Formichelli at The Renegade Writer's Blog asks us how well we are failing, and chimes in with another inspirational post encouraging us to fail as well as we possibly can. Must fail better.


Also, here's an unusual contest tip from Poets and Writers for the next couple of weeks:

Symphony Space
Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize

A prize of $1,000 will be given annually for a short story on a theme. The theme for this year's contest is "Are We There Yet?" The winning story will be read by an actor as part of Selected Shorts, a literary performance series at Symphony Space in New York City. Amy Hempel will judge. Submit a story of up to four pages by March 14. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Symphony Space, Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize, Selected Shorts, 2537
Broadway, New York, NY 10025. Mac Barrett, Contact.
shorts@symphonyspace.org
www.symphonyspace.org

Over at the Writer's Resource Center, the last several short story posts have been questioning some of the conventions of the the form and I'd love to know what some of you think -- particularly about the Twilight Zone ending.

That's all I have for now. If anyone has any tips or questions, let me have 'em.
Darlene

1 comment:

Mel Sue said...

I personally love puzzles and challenges, so the twilight zone ending is just fine with me. I myself use the devise without remorse if it evolves organically. I can't claim to be clever enough to outline a story or poem with the twist in mind from the beginning. I just dive in, and then when I get to the end of a twist comes outta my hand, then so be it. If it is a more natural resolution, that's fine as well. I'm equal opportunity.