My first time was with Bill Clinton.

No doubt.(although I didn't get to see him till the second term.Swoon.) Photos do not do justice to the foamy of the Big Dog.

I haven't seen him in person, yet. Someday. I hope his recovery goes well. Gah, that was scary. And if they're going to change the natural born citizen requirement for Ahnold, they ought to change the term limit requirement, for Big Dawg.

Oooh, Cindy, very nice! So glad you're joining the ranks of drabblers.

erika, that was wonderful. I love "I still don't feel like a woman yet". Very powerful stuff.

Susan, can I offer a little more perspective? (And ask a question, actually.) Were the judges for this contest other unpublished writers, or published ones? Unpublished writers can be tough -- I think it's the score sheet that maybe brings out the secret need to grade someone else down for once, as awful as it sounds. "Look, here's something that might possibly be wrong -- I can take a point off!"

Published writers can be tough, too, albeit one would hope with a little more perspective, but overall, I found contests awful to judge when I was working, usually when I had too many entries to read all at once, and I hated the scoring aspect of it. Editors don't read submissions that way at all -- it's a gestalt, gut-reaction thing, and little plot problems (for instance) are no big deal if you like the writing. Just try to remember how many people do like your writing aside from these three random judges who all could have been having a shitty day, you know?

Yeah, AmyLiz, thanks. It's still weird to me, that one day you are considered not to have that kind of capacity...and then, you have your birthday, and bang.

Birth of a Junkie

Erikson Dining Hall, freshman year. Sunday night, after dinner, loafing and laughing with new friends. Suddenly, an idea seized me. "I'm in college now," I declared. "I should start drinking coffee!" My friends laughed, but I ambled over to the coffeepots, trying to decide what I might like in my java.

Two cups, black. Cup number one: straight black. Not bad. Next I added cream, no sugar. Hey, this was pretty good! Then sugar; I grimaced and spit it out. Started over. Cup number two: coffee with cream, no sugar. Hot, strong, slightly burnt dining-hall coffee. Love at first sip.

(This is a very silly one. I don't know if I'll put it in the lj. Y'all are about the only people who'll get it. There are giant hints, throughout. It shouldn't be hard for you.)

(subject: First Time; word count: 100)

Previously...

I'd been dancing with you for weeks. Finally, Tuesday, December 8, 1998, you took possession of me. I’d never felt anything like it before, and never will, again.

You said, "We're young and free in America. How dare we be spun by love, or the lack of same?"

My breath caught. My heart beat in my throat.

You said, "World is what it is. We fight, we die. Wishing doesn't change that." And you were right. When he told you that he has to believe in a better world, you said, "Go ahead. I have to live in this one."

drabble

They won't shut up. Screaming, crying, fighting, loving. It never stops. And the pictures. Epic battles, tense confrontations, the love of true friends, the passion of ill-advised lovers.

I didn't know it was all in there. Nowhere in my mind can I turn without these people confronting me, demanding that I listen. How can this all be in here?

Late night, the noise won't stop. I want to listen, but too many voices to follow the tale. I find blank paper, a pen--pause, listen for the main voice.

I write.

Susan, can I offer a little more perspective? (And ask a question, actually.) Were the judges for this contest other unpublished writers, or published ones? Unpublished writers can be tough -- I think it's the score sheet that maybe brings out the secret need to grade someone else down for once, as awful as it sounds. "Look, here's something that might possibly be wrong -- I can take a point off!"

t checks score sheets for all contests entered thus far

Huh.

I consistently score better with published judges. That's probably a good thing, right?

Having been through a few contests, I have mixed feelings about entering them in the future. My ultimate goal behind entering is to final, and to thereby get my work in front of an editor without having to find an agent first or go through the slush pile. And short of that, it's useful, if occasionally soul-shredding, to get feedback from people who don't know me and therefore have no reason to pull their punches.

Anyway, if I keep entering, I'm going to focus more on the feedback and less on the prospect of finaling. Though I'm still going to pick which contests to enter based on which editor is judging the final round, because if I ever do get lucky and get all judges who like my stuff, I don't want to waste it on an editor from a house that's a poor match for my work!

Also, insofar as it's possible to do so while entering contests with worthwhile final round judges, I'm going to look for ones where the criteria for judging are favorable to how I write. For example, I think I'm going to re-enter the first one I tried this summer, where the judges are booksellers, because rather than the usual lengthy scoresheet where every single aspect of the story is judged on a scale of 1 to 5, it was more impressionistic. Stuff like, "Did this story hook you? Would you hand-sell it to customers who enjoy this type of book?" Also, there's a contest just for authors working in the Regency era, and they promise that at least 2 out of your 3 judges will be published. Granted that the Regency draws a wide range of styles, subjects, and degrees of historical accuracy, I still think it'll improve my odds of drawing judges who click with my story. At the VERY least, I should be able to avoid comments that start with "I'm not really familiar with this era, but..." and follow by accusing you of being inaccurate when you're not.