And I came in 4th, I think. The way they judge it’s hard to know for sure but I know I didn’t win. I’m bummed.
I was up against 4 good stories, and I’m happy that I was good enough to even be in the contest. Thank you if you read and voted. Thank you if you read but didn’t vote. I know that sounds weird to some, but I’m grateful that you are willing to follow me outside of WordPress. Exposure is exposure and I’m glad someone wants to read my writing no matter where it is.
But what upsets me the most is that some people left comments that really weren’t constructive, or nice even. Why? How can I improve my writing by you saying “Well, I don’t see why this story is even posted here, it doesn’t go with the others…. It’s not funny. …It’s not something I care about. …It’s not prize worthy.”
Ok, well the editor thought it was good enough and the other stories didn’t have the same theme either. What can I do about it?
And if you start reading the story and don’t like it, tell me what I can do to help you enjoy future stories! Tell me, “Well I didn’t like the story because I don’t go to yard sales, but I liked how you described telling the lady off. If you could write more like that…” Or maybe “If you developed the characters you saw at the yard sale a little more, I could relate to the story better.” Those are things that help me, not comments to the effect of “your story kinda sucked.”
I did have mostly positive comments, so my feathers are only slightly ruffled. I’m not letting the hateful, unhelpful people stop me from writing. I was looking at some other submission sites and I’m going to keep plugging away on my book. I know successful writers have faced multiple rejections and obnoxious comments before and during their success, and I will learn to shrug them off. I will keep calm and write on.
Yay! More Gray! 