To celebrate the little pluses that come our way is an important part of writing. I’m not much of a short story writer. I spend most of my time grappling with the beast that is the novel. But, occasionally, I try my hand at the shorter form and, occasionally, I get myself organised enough to enter a competition. Recently, I discovered I’d been shortlisted for the London Independent Story Prize. There’s a brief online interview here.
I took the option not to have the story itself published. Once you have a story published, you usually can’t enter it for any other competitions or publications. You’ve got to squeeze every last drop of opportunity out of each one. If anyone says being a writer is easy, they’re wrong.
Congratulations! And hope you find a good home for it elsewhere – I’d never thought of turning down a publication opportunity to re-enter elsewhere.
Thanks, Marina. Maybe it’s dumb of me to turn it down. It seems a shame not to try my luck again, but I could very well be pushing it!
Congratulations, Claudia! Enjoyed reading the online interview and hope to read the story itself some time.
Thanks, Cathy. I’ll keep submitting it!