Writer's Village Summer 2011-Shortlisted Story Winner

I'm happy to announce I've just been awarded a Shortlisted Award for the Writer's Village Writing Contest Summer 2011. I think it's a bit like getting an Honorable Mention. It's a British hosted contest you see.

I don't get to toot my own horn often. So, I'm excited that I've won something with my writing. I found a link through one of my writing groups to a summer writing contest for creative writing. I entered one of the children's picture book stories I've been working on. I've taken it to some writing conferences, gotten feedback from editors. One of the tips an editor gave me was to rewrite into prose what I tried in sing-song poetry. Good tip. The result is listed on the site.

Writer's Village Writing Contest Summer 2011-My Shortlisted Winner Listing
http://www.writers-village.org/11-1-turner.php

Writer's Village Listing for All Winners Summer 2011
http://www.writers-village.org/winners-2011-1.php

The moral of this, if you don't keep writing, you won't have anything to enter or sell. So, just keep writing!

Ups and Downs of Writing: From Deadlines to Revision

Deadlines, deadlines. They help motivate and drive you to your ending point. With the end of the second book in sight, I strive towards that ending. Finally, having started Chapter 11, I can feel the end in sight for the second book "The Lost Secret of the Green Man."
But there is more to writing than deadlines. It's all about the revision. Once that first version of the book is finally in black and white, than the fine tuning and polishing begins. Most people don't get much revision techniques taught in school. It is the hardest part of writing to teach. So, it is also the hardest to learn, because just like Math, it takes practice. But I also think the revision is the most fun, because that is where an author can add layers. The theme is brought out more, character details are added, and the manuscript is fleshed out. One of the many things I've learned from writing my first novel and now it's sequel, is that there is always more to learn about writing.
If you want to find out yourself, I've posted the first of different writing projects onto my website for new or established author's to try out. They are even encouraged for children as well. Having been a teacher for over 10 years, I have developed Writing Workshop projects over the years that I find are very effective to get those creative ideas following. My website can be found at: http://www.tiffmeister.net/writer.html Keep looking for new projects to be added each couple of months. You never know what you can create until you try it yourself.