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Are out, but unfortunately I can't view them. I'm pretty sure it's not just me, but I'd appreciate if anyone else could try.
www.writelink.co.uk
Just click on the approriate link for Weekender Challange results.
www.writelink.co.uk
Just click on the approriate link for Weekender Challange results.
Well, the results seem to be viewable now - I didn't come anywhere either. My problem was definitely the "too much telling, not enough showing", which usually isn't my problem.
And I didn't get that email...unless I deleted it by mistake. The rate of spam to legitimate emails at the moment is about 10:1.
And I didn't get that email...unless I deleted it by mistake. The rate of spam to legitimate emails at the moment is about 10:1.
Here it is:
Hello Ben,
Many thanks for taking part in the Writelink Weekender Challenge short story writing
competition.
You’ll be please to know that the results are now out and will be posted on
www.writelink.co.uk for the 1st May.
However, I thought you might like a sneak preview so here’s your copy of the results
along with the adjudicator’s report.
Many congratulations if you were a winner, if not, better luck next time!
Best wishes,
Sue
P.S.
Another Weekender Challenge will take place in July, but meanwhile don’t forget the
Battle of the Bards poetry contest! Details follow at the end of the adjudicator’s report.
Pass it on to a friend if you’re not interested yourself!
**********
Winners and Judge's Report
1ST 9 - Dancing With Snub-nosed Devils - Wendy Ogden
2nd 63 - In the House of Mourning There Are No Reflections - B. Lynch Black
3rd 82 - The Pool - Rosaline Furnivall
Highly Commended
75 - Face-Telling - Angela Mackworth-Young
13 - Baby is Two - Marvin Rabinovitch
Commended
21 - Bits & Pieces - Julie Andrews
15 - A Change of Plans - Martha Silbaugh
23 - Reflections (1) - Carol MacAllister
76 - Smile-Catchers - Susan Solomon
47 - Tip, Tip Tinkle - Bernadette Klub
OTHER SHORT LISTED ENTRIES
No. 14 A Limited View - Katharina Wehrheim - Germany
No. 20 Echo on Echo – Milethia R Thomas - UK
No. 25 Reflections (2) – RosemaryQuinn–Republic of Ireland
No. 26 Mature Reflection - Gerald Vinestock - UK
No. 27 Shall We Dance? - Gillian Middleton - UK
No. 31 There was a Time - Ron Jones - UK
No. 40 Oh Say Can You See - Pamelyn Casto –USA
No. 41 The Twilight Zone - Marie Brown –UK
No. 42 Mirror Image - Mio Debnam – Hong Kong
No. 43 Train - Sarah Holmes - UK
No. 59 The Mirror’s Tale – Helen Yendall - UK
No. 78 My sister, My self - Rhiannon Hopkins - UK
No. 84 Through a Glass Darkly - Paul Sherman - UK
No. 85 Reflections (3) - Kate Mahon - UK
No. 88 Double Take - Edie Hill - UK
Short Listers Report
Firstly, congratulations to everyone that took part whether you made the short list or
not. Writing a short story in a weekend is no mean feat and should be considered an
achievement in itself.
If you didn’t make the short list don’t be too down hearted. The standard of entries
was surprisingly high given the pressure, the unknown theme and word count. Many
entries that didn’t go forward to final judging were very good stories and with a little
more honing could well go on to take prizes in other competitions. That said, why didn’t
they make it this time? The following points may help.
Very few entries failed through poor editing, i.e. spelling mistakes, typos etc which made
a refreshing change, but there were one or two which ruled themselves out at the first
fence. Moral? Try and get someone with a fresh eye to run over your manuscript before
submitting.
The theme for the competition was Mirror. A lot of entries went for the obvious, i.e.
twins, alter egos, magic mirrors or lakes leading to revelations of self discovery. Nothing
wrong in this, but to go forward to the final round you had to come up with something
special. After all, you were competing against many others saying the same thing! Too
much telling and not enough showing was the chief fault here. The ones put forward
for final judging managed to avoid this very well. Moral: Let your characters tell their
stories, don’t do it for them!
One final point. A short story is often quoted as being a snapshot of life much like a
photograph records a brief moment in time. True up to a point. The vast majority of
stories submitted illustrated this very well, but it never does any harm to ensure your
“snapshot” is a record of a significant event. Moral: That pic of Aunty Maud doing the
highland fling at Sophie’s wedding is much more interesting than the somber passport
photo in her handbag even though both were taken the day after Uncle Sid ran off with
the blonde from the Dun Cow!
Adjudicator’s Report
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Fairy-tales, aside, this year's
theme of mirrors for the Weekender Challenge was an inspired choice. Conjuring up
concepts of perception, identity and reflection, its complex imagery allowed writers
great freedom to take fiction to the farthest lengths.
It's never easy to pick winners from a batch of competition entries and I found this task
even more difficult than usual. I would rather walk barefoot through coals than write a
story from scratch in a weekend. I therefore congratulate each and every one of the
writers who took up the challenge and acquitted themselves so well.
But winners there had to be, so with both trepidation and elation I began to read. And
what a wonderful time I had. All the stories used mirrors creatively. However, what I
was looking for were stories in which mirrors, in whatever guise, played an integral part
of the story. To tell a story that just so happened to have a mirror in it wouldn't do and
I had to put aside several entries for this reason. The next to go were those that were
too melodramatic and implausible. To me, the best stories are those which choose
simplicity over complication and from it create something that lingers in the heart and
mind.
The five commended stories all used mirrors in an imaginative way. Smile-Catchers was a
multi-layered story in which the reflective quality of tin-foil created optimism out of
despair. In Tip, Tip Tinkle, the simplest of scenarios - a lonely man and his budgerigar -
was a poignant tale of old-age. Bits and Pieces was an atmospheric story of a woman
coming to terms with being alone. Reflections, set in a fashion store's changing-room,
was the best of the stories with that name. It took Lewis Carroll's concept and created
a chilling, horror story. In A Change of Plans, a cheap mirror represented the tawdriness
of an extra-marital affair.
The two highly-commended stories took the theme to an even higher plane. In
Face-Telling, the introduction of a mirror to a society that has never seen one, all but
destroys it. What I admired about this story particularly was the contrast between the
beauty of the language and its underlying brutality. There were quite a few entries
about people being the mirror-image of each other and identical twins featured strongly.
However, I felt that not only did Baby is Two rise above the clichés, but was witty and
stylish as well. The fact that the two twins saw themselves as one entity was sustained
throughout and the ending was disturbing, but perfect.
The third prize winner, The Pool, was the most lyrical, reminding me of Celtic folk-tales.
Two women take turns to gaze into the water, each seeking each other. The soft,
sensuous style of the writing, the delicious description of the pool and its surroundings,
the sense of deep love and loss lifted this story out of the everyday and held me
enthralled. I usually dislike stories with a twist as they can so often be disappointingly
banal, but here it was so sensitively handled, so beautifully observed and so important to
the unfolding of the story that I was bowled over.
Very few entrants chose to use the place of mirrors in myth or religion. In the House of
Morning There Are No Reflections, to which I awarded second-prize, concerned a
recently bereaved Jewish woman going through the motions of religious observance
whilst fighting against it. Throughout her week of official mourning for her husband,
when all the mirrors in the house were covered, she discovered that the total denial of
her identity, both physical and mental, was essential to her rediscovery of it. I so
admired the writer's skill here. The tightly controlled narrative pace, the sharply observed
characters and the satisfying, but enigmatic, conclusion made this a story to remember.
And so to my first prize winner. Anthropomorphism can be a mine-field for writers.
Putting themselves and their readers into the mind of an animal can end up in a mush of
sentimentality. Yet from the very first line of Dancing With Snub-Nosed Devils, I totally
empathised with the sad little monkey. Depressed, fearful and dying, a chance meeting
with a child with a small hand-mirror transformed its life. Of course, none of us can ever
get inside the mind of an animal, but that any lingering disbelief was suspended was
totally down to the skill of the writer. This story had so many layers, every time I read it
I found something new. I could see this monkey as visitors to the zoo would see it and
as how it saw itself. Nothing jarred. The monkey behaved as a monkey. Every word,
image and description was perfect. That a story of such perspicacity and skill could have
been written in a weekend continues to amaze me. This was an outstanding winner
from an impressive collection and I feel privileged to have read it. Sally Zigmond - Judge
NEXT COMPETITION
The next Weekender Challenge will take place in July so keep an eye on the newsletters
for the date!
---------
Will have to wait to read the stories though!
Hello Ben,
Many thanks for taking part in the Writelink Weekender Challenge short story writing
competition.
You’ll be please to know that the results are now out and will be posted on
www.writelink.co.uk for the 1st May.
However, I thought you might like a sneak preview so here’s your copy of the results
along with the adjudicator’s report.
Many congratulations if you were a winner, if not, better luck next time!
Best wishes,
Sue
P.S.
Another Weekender Challenge will take place in July, but meanwhile don’t forget the
Battle of the Bards poetry contest! Details follow at the end of the adjudicator’s report.
Pass it on to a friend if you’re not interested yourself!
**********
Winners and Judge's Report
1ST 9 - Dancing With Snub-nosed Devils - Wendy Ogden
2nd 63 - In the House of Mourning There Are No Reflections - B. Lynch Black
3rd 82 - The Pool - Rosaline Furnivall
Highly Commended
75 - Face-Telling - Angela Mackworth-Young
13 - Baby is Two - Marvin Rabinovitch
Commended
21 - Bits & Pieces - Julie Andrews
15 - A Change of Plans - Martha Silbaugh
23 - Reflections (1) - Carol MacAllister
76 - Smile-Catchers - Susan Solomon
47 - Tip, Tip Tinkle - Bernadette Klub
OTHER SHORT LISTED ENTRIES
No. 14 A Limited View - Katharina Wehrheim - Germany
No. 20 Echo on Echo – Milethia R Thomas - UK
No. 25 Reflections (2) – RosemaryQuinn–Republic of Ireland
No. 26 Mature Reflection - Gerald Vinestock - UK
No. 27 Shall We Dance? - Gillian Middleton - UK
No. 31 There was a Time - Ron Jones - UK
No. 40 Oh Say Can You See - Pamelyn Casto –USA
No. 41 The Twilight Zone - Marie Brown –UK
No. 42 Mirror Image - Mio Debnam – Hong Kong
No. 43 Train - Sarah Holmes - UK
No. 59 The Mirror’s Tale – Helen Yendall - UK
No. 78 My sister, My self - Rhiannon Hopkins - UK
No. 84 Through a Glass Darkly - Paul Sherman - UK
No. 85 Reflections (3) - Kate Mahon - UK
No. 88 Double Take - Edie Hill - UK
Short Listers Report
Firstly, congratulations to everyone that took part whether you made the short list or
not. Writing a short story in a weekend is no mean feat and should be considered an
achievement in itself.
If you didn’t make the short list don’t be too down hearted. The standard of entries
was surprisingly high given the pressure, the unknown theme and word count. Many
entries that didn’t go forward to final judging were very good stories and with a little
more honing could well go on to take prizes in other competitions. That said, why didn’t
they make it this time? The following points may help.
Very few entries failed through poor editing, i.e. spelling mistakes, typos etc which made
a refreshing change, but there were one or two which ruled themselves out at the first
fence. Moral? Try and get someone with a fresh eye to run over your manuscript before
submitting.
The theme for the competition was Mirror. A lot of entries went for the obvious, i.e.
twins, alter egos, magic mirrors or lakes leading to revelations of self discovery. Nothing
wrong in this, but to go forward to the final round you had to come up with something
special. After all, you were competing against many others saying the same thing! Too
much telling and not enough showing was the chief fault here. The ones put forward
for final judging managed to avoid this very well. Moral: Let your characters tell their
stories, don’t do it for them!
One final point. A short story is often quoted as being a snapshot of life much like a
photograph records a brief moment in time. True up to a point. The vast majority of
stories submitted illustrated this very well, but it never does any harm to ensure your
“snapshot” is a record of a significant event. Moral: That pic of Aunty Maud doing the
highland fling at Sophie’s wedding is much more interesting than the somber passport
photo in her handbag even though both were taken the day after Uncle Sid ran off with
the blonde from the Dun Cow!
Adjudicator’s Report
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Fairy-tales, aside, this year's
theme of mirrors for the Weekender Challenge was an inspired choice. Conjuring up
concepts of perception, identity and reflection, its complex imagery allowed writers
great freedom to take fiction to the farthest lengths.
It's never easy to pick winners from a batch of competition entries and I found this task
even more difficult than usual. I would rather walk barefoot through coals than write a
story from scratch in a weekend. I therefore congratulate each and every one of the
writers who took up the challenge and acquitted themselves so well.
But winners there had to be, so with both trepidation and elation I began to read. And
what a wonderful time I had. All the stories used mirrors creatively. However, what I
was looking for were stories in which mirrors, in whatever guise, played an integral part
of the story. To tell a story that just so happened to have a mirror in it wouldn't do and
I had to put aside several entries for this reason. The next to go were those that were
too melodramatic and implausible. To me, the best stories are those which choose
simplicity over complication and from it create something that lingers in the heart and
mind.
The five commended stories all used mirrors in an imaginative way. Smile-Catchers was a
multi-layered story in which the reflective quality of tin-foil created optimism out of
despair. In Tip, Tip Tinkle, the simplest of scenarios - a lonely man and his budgerigar -
was a poignant tale of old-age. Bits and Pieces was an atmospheric story of a woman
coming to terms with being alone. Reflections, set in a fashion store's changing-room,
was the best of the stories with that name. It took Lewis Carroll's concept and created
a chilling, horror story. In A Change of Plans, a cheap mirror represented the tawdriness
of an extra-marital affair.
The two highly-commended stories took the theme to an even higher plane. In
Face-Telling, the introduction of a mirror to a society that has never seen one, all but
destroys it. What I admired about this story particularly was the contrast between the
beauty of the language and its underlying brutality. There were quite a few entries
about people being the mirror-image of each other and identical twins featured strongly.
However, I felt that not only did Baby is Two rise above the clichés, but was witty and
stylish as well. The fact that the two twins saw themselves as one entity was sustained
throughout and the ending was disturbing, but perfect.
The third prize winner, The Pool, was the most lyrical, reminding me of Celtic folk-tales.
Two women take turns to gaze into the water, each seeking each other. The soft,
sensuous style of the writing, the delicious description of the pool and its surroundings,
the sense of deep love and loss lifted this story out of the everyday and held me
enthralled. I usually dislike stories with a twist as they can so often be disappointingly
banal, but here it was so sensitively handled, so beautifully observed and so important to
the unfolding of the story that I was bowled over.
Very few entrants chose to use the place of mirrors in myth or religion. In the House of
Morning There Are No Reflections, to which I awarded second-prize, concerned a
recently bereaved Jewish woman going through the motions of religious observance
whilst fighting against it. Throughout her week of official mourning for her husband,
when all the mirrors in the house were covered, she discovered that the total denial of
her identity, both physical and mental, was essential to her rediscovery of it. I so
admired the writer's skill here. The tightly controlled narrative pace, the sharply observed
characters and the satisfying, but enigmatic, conclusion made this a story to remember.
And so to my first prize winner. Anthropomorphism can be a mine-field for writers.
Putting themselves and their readers into the mind of an animal can end up in a mush of
sentimentality. Yet from the very first line of Dancing With Snub-Nosed Devils, I totally
empathised with the sad little monkey. Depressed, fearful and dying, a chance meeting
with a child with a small hand-mirror transformed its life. Of course, none of us can ever
get inside the mind of an animal, but that any lingering disbelief was suspended was
totally down to the skill of the writer. This story had so many layers, every time I read it
I found something new. I could see this monkey as visitors to the zoo would see it and
as how it saw itself. Nothing jarred. The monkey behaved as a monkey. Every word,
image and description was perfect. That a story of such perspicacity and skill could have
been written in a weekend continues to amaze me. This was an outstanding winner
from an impressive collection and I feel privileged to have read it. Sally Zigmond - Judge
NEXT COMPETITION
The next Weekender Challenge will take place in July so keep an eye on the newsletters
for the date!
---------
Will have to wait to read the stories though!
I couldn't see them either.
I did get a sneak peek at the results a couple of days ago in an email though. Did you get that?
I didn't win. :o(
I did get a sneak peek at the results a couple of days ago in an email though. Did you get that?
I didn't win. :o(
Are out, but unfortunately I can't view them. I'm pretty sure it's not just me, but I'd appreciate if anyone else could try.
www.writelink.co.uk
Just click on the approriate link for Weekender Challange results.
www.writelink.co.uk
Just click on the approriate link for Weekender Challange results.