Liberty Hall Win!

March 9, 2006

The third to the last time I participated at a Liberty Hall flash challenge was the “Fourth of July Challenge.” Well, this one wasn’t their normal timed flash challenge as we were allowed two or three days to write it. But it was also a little more difficult because we had to have 500 words exactly, not 499 and not 501. I wrote a 500 word story titled “A Mother’s Love.” I liked my little story and since then I have given it a polish and submitted it to on of NoteBored’s Polished Stories Challenge. It still needs a polish or two, but one day I will get it out there.

The second to the last time I participated in a Liberty Hall challenge was the end of January. For this I got the trigger and then started a story about learning about my Grandpa Wright’s death. It was summer time and my parents, brother, and I were on vacation in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. After some quiet time on the lakes, we were to visit with Dad’s uncle for a day or two. Upon arriving at his house, however, we found a note on the door telling us to go to a different address—which we did. There at a stranger’s house, we were told that my grandpa had died and they couldn’t get a hold of to inform us of such. (See there are no telephones way back on those lakes and cell phones—well no one knew what they were back then.) Unable to cry in public, I crawled behind a rocking chair and cried. I was around eight to nine years of age with this occurred. Well, anyway, half way through my story, I realized that I had done it again—I didn’t write a story. I thought it was more of a slice-of-life story, but those who critiqued my “story” said that it was really just a memory piece—which it was.

Should I start this paragraph out the same? Ok, I’ll spare you. The last time I flashed was this past weekend. The trigger was “whispers in the night.” I first thought about a mermaid then I thought about a statue of a lady whispering to a man while he slept. I ended up going with the first thought and I went and went. A flash is a piece of literature that is 1,000 words or less. I have only gone over that amount once by 35 words for a NoteBored flash challenge. Well, this time I was 408 words over and I ran out of time. Not only did I run out of time (we have 90 minutes to get the trigger, think of a story, type it, and submit it), but really ran too long and my story wasn’t complete yet. I was pleased with what I had completed, though I knew I needed to flesh it out (make it longer). This story was my first ever try at fantasy and Dan thinks it is one of my best ones. I personally like some other ones better, but I think this one could have potential.

The funny thing is that those that critiqued my story wanted to know what happened after the kiss, but that wasn’t the story I was telling. So, I can either ignore their wants and write my story or I can write the one they want. Or I guess I could really make it long and write both stories. I have even thought about writing the same story for both point of views—the man’s and the mermaid’s. The one I did for the challenge was from the man’s point of view.

Anyway the reason I’m telling you all of this, besides the title of my blog, is that I won something! It is my first every win at Liberty Hall! There are many great writers who participate in these challenges and several are published authors. One of them has even been published in Orson Scott Card’s magazine, Intergalactic Medicine Show. Not only published, but was the main featured author. Because of the number of entries there were three groups and I won “Best Character Development” in my group. This was my eleventh flash and I was/am so thrilled about my win! I normally get a vote for something—normally dialogue, but I actually won! My name will be on the winners list for all to see.