The Frasier

I’m taking a break from my normal “book-club” blog posts to talk about a wonderful fiction contest called the Frasier. You can find details here: http://www.mybooktherapy.com/index2.php/the-frasier-contest/

I entered last year for the critiques. I wanted to test the waters—is my stuff any good?

While preparing my entry, I was shocked to learn they expected me to write a synopsis of my beloved novel in less than 500 words. Dismay, surprise, and a little depression rocked my personal “book-esteem” at the idea they didn’t want to read an exhaustive treatise on the creative work of my dreams. I mean, the entire novel was written on my heart, how could I possibly leave anything out?

Needless to say, I did. The guidelines for the contest forced me to “write-tight.” This pre-requisite proved invaluable. It taught me to filter my own words and boil them down to only the essential. Accepting that not everyone in the world wants to read my words ad nauseam before I get to the point humbled me.

The word count for the opening scene (1500 words) also proved a challenge, but I found myself evaluating every word. My previous philosophy may have been something like this: if you throw enough words at any given scenario, eventually you’ll come to a decent point. After crafting my Frasier entry, I can see that fewer words pack greater potency.

All this is to say, if you write fiction, enter the Frasier! The pithy comments from the judges are worth the entry fee. And while the guidelines force you to trim words, I hope you’ll learn what I did: tight writing is golden.

I’m off to start my second novel this week.

P.S. In case you didn’t notice, this post is less than 300 words. J