I'm Published

Good news this morning:

Last Wednesday, I submitted a six-sentence story to six sentences, a blog that publishes a different story each day. The rules are simple. You're guaranteed a response within six days, the title cannot be more than 36 characters, and you have exactly six sentences to tell a story. Anyone can submit. So I wrote one, submitted it, and tried not to think too much about it, in case they hated the story. Turns out, they liked it a lot, and it's today's blog post.

There's talk about a writing contest at JMU, which I think would get a great turn out. Maybe I'm biased, but I think my fellow students are talented in a variety of areas, writing being one of them. Hopefully it pans out.

Contests and Such

Lately I've been hearing a lot about writing contests. They're everywhere. And while some of them are hidden, sneakily deemed some other name, ultimately it's about making your work stand out over someone else's. I hate to say it, but I was never one to throw myself into a million little contests with the hope of coming out on top in at least one. My theory is, if you want to write something worthwhile, something that will intrigue the reader, you've got to put your whole heart into it. That said, you're free to enter every contest known to man. And sure, people who do probably have a leg up on the publishing front because they have some accreditation. I know when an agent gets back to me on a novel saying he/she's interested, one of the first questions I get asked is, "So what's your online platform and credentials?" As you can see, I'm working my butt off on this online platform. (And I'm actually in the process of making myself a portfolio website on Adobe Dreamweaver, but I'm a bit rusty, so it's slow-going). The credentials, though? Not much outside of my experience as a staff writer on JMU's student newspaper and (starting this fall) the yearbook. Our yearbook is a pretty big accomplishment though. At nearly 400 pages, hardcover, it could do serious damage if you dropped it out a window. Not that I'm planing on doing that.


Anyway, back to the contests. If you have interest, I've got several for you. My goal is to enter the first one, as soon as I choose a novel worth entering. Here they are:

1. The Next Big Writer's The Strongest Start Novel Competition 2010 - With a main category and three sub-genres, you're sure to find a place for your work. And it's forum-style, so while you wait eagerly for a response from the contest's host, you'll get feedback from others in the competition. And, here's the kicker: you don't have to have the manuscript completed. Which for me, is like saying, "Yeah, Kaleigh, pull one of those awesome 25-pagers out of the trash and give me a little more work, a little more dedication, and you're golden." Golden. What's not to love?

2. Writer's Digest always has a Your Story prompt, calling for up to a 750-word submission. It's annual. But this spin-off competition caught my eye. For all your photographers out there, this visual prompt calls for an opening sentence based on the image, using "ten" (10?) in the sentence somewhere. Have at it, kids.

Oh, and another reason I'm a fan of that one? You need one great sentence. First sentences are hit or miss with me. I flip through a book, look at the first sentence, and make a decision to buy/rent/borrow it based on that most of the time.

I don't think you can consider me an author by any stretch of the imagination. I have one and a half books and a smattering of Word documents that are great in theory, really, but don't get past page twenty. I'm not published (yet), and my fan base consists of friends and family who all love me dearly and would tell me my writing was the best thing they'd ever read even if they'd rather use the manuscript as a door stop. But that doesn't mean I'm not a writer.

To say I know the exact moment I became a writer would be wonderful, because then I'd have an awesome story to tell, but I'm not making something up just so I'm more marketable. I will say this though. I'm not your average kid. There's times I'm driving and something pops in my head, a "perfect" sentence or thought or idea, and I'm struggling to remember it because I don't have pen or paper. And I don't think linearly all the time. I'm sitting in class but I'm not always there in my head. Not that I'm not focused or disciplined, but there's times my imagination or my creative juices take over. And for those of you who don't write, who've never felt that way, I just want you to know that you're missing out. Those are the best times.

So here's to writing for writing's sake. And not having to label it, but knowing that there's something unique about you. That you might not be normal. Embrace it for all it's worth.

Turning Over A New Leaf

It's been over two months since I've written anything, partly because I'm busy trying to experience as much as possible, and partly because I wasn't sure what to blog about that people might find interesting, relevant, important. But alas, I have a lot to say to those who are reading:

I just read Writer's Digest's May/June issue and immediately flipped through their annual list of 101 Best Websites For Writers. For the past three years, I've scanned the list, but this year's really resonated. Bloggers all over the world are on the list, offering free advice for anyone who wants it. They discuss getting published, writing in general, query letters, and more. So of course I chose to "follow" many of the blogs, and my dashboard is now cluttered with more entries than I can possibly keep up with. Here's last year's list if you're interested. This year's list isn't up on the site yet.

On the list, I discovered Chris Guillebeau, a man who may have just succeeded in changing my life. Chris's website, The Art of Nonconformity, is ladden with advice, his blog about his world travels, and free pdf files that really guide people who want to make something of their life. The first of two manifestos, entitled "A Brief Guide to World Domination", captivated me. While I don't want to take over the world, I think my goals are on par with that. I want to publish a young adult novel while I'm still a young adult. I want to graduate college with a published novel. When I tell people I wrote a book, most of them look at me funny. Not in a "you must not see the light of day" way, but more in a "I wish I could do that" way. Apparently it's not every day a 17-year-old sits down and writes away until two in the morning, after working all night at Rita's Water Ice. I admit, there were times I didn't even change out of my uniform because I couldn't type fast enough. I had to get it all down before it escaped. Sometimes, I stop and ask my friends what I was thinking. I ask them if they remember how it all started. And they do. They say "You just said you wanted to write a novel." So I did. And I'm working diligently on a second novel.

The second bit of information I gathered from the list? I think I love the writing style of Allison Winn, a novelist whose books I've never read or even heard of. She had excerpts on her website so I read them, and BAM, after the first few sentences, I was hooked. I think there was something magical in her characters' tone that captured me and reeled me in. It's something I don't find often in YA lit and I'm not sure if she even classifies herself as YA or women's fiction or what, but it signifies something greater for me. During my junior year of high school, I went through a phase where I made trips to the local library several times a week, devouring YA fiction - the good, the bad, the ugly. And my ultimate goal in being published is this: I want to offer teen girls something worthy of reading, something they can't put down. Because as bored as I was, there were times I could have put the book down it was so poorly written.

So if you're like me and you need a push, check out the list. It's given me a new bought of determination, and if you know anything about me at all, you know that once determined, I make things happen.

Just a heads up that my article for the newspaper made it onto the home page of the website! So here's the link if you want to check it out. I just finished writing another one that they're hopefully editing and we'll see if that one turns out good. I still feel so new to this. It's honestly been probably 8 years since I wrote for any kind of newspaper (fifth grade, for some quick math) and that was a joke. This is the real deal. I just hope I'm cut out for it.

I realize I haven't been updating nearly as frequently, and while I'd like to blame it entirely on my new and busy schedule, full of classes and group meetings and just running around doing errands, I feel like that's a major cop out. On the up side, I do have good news. I just went to the open house for The Breeze, which is JMU's biweekly newspaper. As of, well, tonight, I'm a contributing writer for the news section, and I already have my first topic. If all goes well, I'll be published in next Thursday's edition and well on my way to sparking my creative writing skills! I've only read about a thousand Writer's Digest articles that encourage aspiring writers to enter contests, write short stories, or just generally exercise their brains with some form of writing on frequent occasions. I'm hoping this shift will be a step in the right direction - both socially as well as for my writing. To be honest, I ultimately got myself there because of the social aspect and the well-advertised mention of free pizza. But now, having talked with the news editor, I'm genuinely excited to see where the whole endeavor takes me.

Now that I have a blog, I'm much more exposed to blogs in general - the good, the bad, the ugly. And it's my conclusion that some blogs have a ton of multimedia- you know, links to other blogs in the sidebars, photos, embedded video files, etc.- and others are minimalistic. Both come with pros and cons, but some of the blogs that are dripping with photos just bore me. Maybe they're not set up right and it's just an endless page of scrolling through half-loaded pictures of some stranger's life.

Just today, I started taking a class in web design and the professor threw out a whole laundry list of vocabulary used that I didn't really know much about at all. However, by the end of the 8-week class I will have to have 2 designed websites, so it's my hope that I can incorporate my education into this website, maybe changing up HTML, adding some more pictures, and cleaning it up. Functionality says a lot about websites these days and a poorly designed website turns people away quicker than most companies or organizations probably realize. I'm hoping that this class helps me spruce my website up and attract more readership.

On a side note, I'm also starting a class that's focused on Photoshop CS4 and maybe if I'm getting the hang of that I'll be able to put together a mock book cover for Keep In Touch using my new skills. No promises though. Make sure to check back and see how the classes are going, and maybe you'll be more inclined to stick around if I put my skills to use on this site!