A Journey

Photo: Michael Hale (Nile by Faluka, 2011)

Getting started is the hardest part.
So you’re all set to turn up the creative heat and get going on that story or poem for the 2012 Elora Writers' Festival Writing Competition. Laptop turned on or pencils sharpened. Theme of “A Journey” firmly fixed in your head. Ready to roll, and then….

Thump. Where to begin?
If you’re one of those writers who has trouble getting started, consider doing some warm-up exercises first. Musicians do scales. Athletes do stretches. Writers need to prepare their writing muscles for action too.

Here are some suggestions.
Short Story: Write about a “Pet Tale” or a “Good Day” or “My Evil Boss” using words of four letters or fewer. Writing is all about word choice, and this exercise tests that ability, but you’ll be amazed at what a great story you can write even with these restrictions.
     Person, Place, Thing: Under these headings, list six entries (eg. Person might include doctor, princess, Prime Minister, Jane Austen, me, teacher). When your lists are complete, roll a die to select a number from each category. You now have a person, in a place, with a thing. Get writing!
     For additional writing prompts, check out these suggestions created for The Writer magazine by one of our contest judges, Heather Wright (her site has a wealth of information too...) go here...

The EWF Writing Competition:
Enter your short story (1500 words maximum) or poem (75 lines maximum) in the 2012 Elora Writers’ Festival Writing Competition by Friday, April 27. You can find entry details on the contest flyer here... and a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)  here...

“The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” — Mary Heaton Vorse

From: Emilialua

If you’re a writer – or you want to be – then the time has come to adopt 20th century American writer Mary Heaton Vorse’s credo as your own because, yes, it’s writing contest season.
     Start thinking about this year’s contest theme: "A Journey." Let your imagination wander. Feel the creative energy start to flow. Then apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, and write!
     Enter your short story (1500 words maximum) or poem (75 lines maximum) in the 2012 Elora Writers’ Festival Writing Competition by Friday, April 27.

You can find entry details on the contest flyer here...
and a list of Frequently Asked Questions here...

Go to a related article here...

Questions? Contact Contest Chair, Jean Mills, at jrmills@rogers.com

One Step, One Word at a Time...

Photo: Tristan Mills (Tombstone Territorial Park, 2010)

Once more it's time to take advantage of the blank page we call the "New Year" and resolve to take all those scraps of thoughts and snippets of ideas that we know, deep in our souls, will one day turn into poems or short stories and commit them to paper.
     The 9th annual Elora Writers' Festival Writing Competition is up and running—so you now have a deadline to aim for: Friday, April 27, 2012. The theme of this year's competition is "A Journey."
     On your mark, get set, go...

     Have you had trouble accessing contest information? We've fixed it: find the links to all the info you need here... at Writer's Life, the blog of Contest Chair, Jean Mills.

     For tips on taking that first step go here...
  
     And here are some other articles that might help you get going: Start by starting... ; And now a word from our Judges... ; The Job of Writing; and "You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind." — Author Unknown

For information about the 2013 competition, go here...

          If you have even more questions, contact our Competition Chair Jean Mills at jrmills@rogers.com