I didn’t win, but I got excellent feedback…
So, it’s been a hot second since I last posted on here. Sorry, it’s been a crazy few months. I was not made to homeschool. Seriously! I know, I know – this is really the tip of the iceberg in the grand scheme of things. But I read a quote recently that might make my statement above okay with the masses:
I’m allowed to make a big deal out of things that feel really big to me
So anyway, I told you guys about a writing competition I entered a while ago. Check out that post here. I didn’t end up winning, but the feedback I received encouraged me to not give up on my craft. Lack of book sales and poor engagement over on my socials may or may not have discouraged me at one point. I know that I need to do a lot better with my marketing and getting reviews for my books. And I know that my work is appreciated and LOVED by those who have read it. But getting feedback for my work from professionals, that helps too.
I entered the competition with zero idea of what to expect. I also entered because it would bring me out of my comfort zone and force me to think out of the box. Also, it had a crazy time limit and that made it even more exciting.
A few days before the results were released, I got an email with the feedback below:
Dear Gretchen,
Thank you so much for participating in our Inaugural Challenge. We really enjoyed your story, “Skinning for Love.” It was a really touching story, and you did a great job capturing the grief that comes with the loss of a loved one. We like how you structured the story with the alternating sections, partially telling the story of the present and their journey up the mountain to spread Molly’s ashes, with Dave sometimes speaking directly to her, and the other sections from the past, how they met and different memorable moments in their life together. We didn’t think the use of italics was necessary, but it did help to delineate the different timelines which might be helpful for some readers.
You did a nice job setting the scene with some beautiful descriptive language and imagery that made it really easy for us to immerse ourselves in the world of your story. You also did a great job with character development. It was a really touching love story and we really felt like we got to know them all in a very short amount of time. We liked the part where Dave talks about his fears of becoming a father and the only time he lied to her was when he told Jack before he was supposed to. We thought that was a nice dynamic that really helped to develop him into a complex character. We would have been interested to hear maybe a bit more about some conflict that they encountered together in their relationship (as there are struggles in them all.) We also understand that you only had so many words to work with and we thought you did a fantastic job.
Your story was very well written. We didn’t notice any issues with grammar or typos. You did a nice job of incorporating the prompts, and you should be proud of what you accomplished over such a short period of time. We have not made any final decisions but this piece is in contention for the top five. It was a pleasure to read—very sad and very moving. Nice work and keep writing!
Thanks again for participating in this challenge. We hope you enjoyed this experience, and hope that you will sign up again so we can read some more of your work in the future. The winners will be announced next week. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to reach out via email.
Best wishes
Until this email, the only other feedback I had ever received from an English ‘professional’ was from my Grade 6 English Teacher, who told me ‘not to quit my day job’ after handing in a Comprehension paper for my English final exam. Those remarks lived with me for a long time; that is why it took me so long to publish my first book.
I will link the short story down below, so you can have a read. If you like it, let me know. If you’d like to read the winning story and the runners-up, go check out the Writer’s Playground website.
I have entered another contest and am looking forward to the email with my prompts. I’ll definitely keep you all updated on how that one goes (if you check out this post, you’ll see it took me forever to figure out Skinning for Love.)
The short story I wrote and entered into the contest is called Skinning for Love. Check it out here.
Till next time, Lovelies,
Gretchen