how you wonder who you'll be


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Priscilla. A writer, a psychologist wannabe, a student. Hopeless romantic. Pisces. Content.

"The thing to remember is, if we're all alone, then we're all together in that too.” - Katie Bates

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title: My Big Break
date: Monday, July 09, 2007
time:12:23 PM
I’m officially a published author. Okay, maybe just half-published. I haven’t written a novel, but two of my short stories made it into a magazine. Here’s how it happened:

Last February, a popular girl magazine opened a submission for a short-story writers coaching, which was held in the capital city every weekend for a month. It was a pretty well-known event, and every writer that came out of it has released a book that does well in the market. Now, it was normally held for the capital city only, but this time they opened five spots for the other cities and allowed those five to follow the coaching online. They only asked us to send a short story or two for them to judge, and then they will choose the best ten for the capital and five for the others. A year ago, I’ve sent in my story, not knowing that it was for the capital only. I was turned down. So, when I saw that they’re holding it online, I decided to try it again. I thought perhaps they turned me down last year because of technical reasons and not because I lack the writing skills. And guess what? Exactly on my birthday, I was informed that this year I was chosen as one of those five out of two hundred entries.

It was exciting and I went around grinning and smiling all the time. I gladly accepted that I had to write a story every week for a month, and at the time I forgot how awful I was at handling deadlines. Then the first assignment started, and I immediately found myself in over my head. For one, my internet chose that time to stop working and I had to use the school’s computers (whose internets are really, really slow) or ask my friend to send the assignment for me. Also, I only had four days to find an inspiration and write a seven to nine pages long of story. I rarely write short stories. Every plot bunny that hops my way comes in a novel-length size, so it was a real challenge for me. That first story turned out quite horribly for me, although they said it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

I then tried to adjust to the deadlines and did the second assignment bit by bit for those four days. This time, it was satisfactory and it was even dubbed ‘best short story so far’. The third wasn’t as brilliant, but it wasn’t bad either. Soon I realized I worked much better under pressure, though it didn’t do well for my health or my grades. I slept late and had to skip studying Math because I was behind in my writing (I know, I need to change my priorities), and I didn’t get to sleep late during a holiday. By the fourth and last assignment, I was worn out and worried that I wouldn’t make the top three just because one lousy story. Yeah, even though this wasn’t a real competition, they were still going to pick the best three writers and these three would get an additional price and have their stories published in the magazine. Not to mention the fact that being best three helps with publishing your own novel. I wanted it badly, but I tried to not get my hopes up.

They announced the best three, and I was on the list. The fact that my name was on the very top of the list inflated my head a little, but I don’t want to be cocky. =P It was great to find out that I won, but my friends and family’s reactions were much better. They always support me and my writing (they even insist on reading my fanfictions), but I always got the feeling that it wasn’t something that made my parents proud. Now perhaps I’ve given them a reason to be proud.

This experience has given me more faith in my ability to write, and it’s also the third big moments in my writing experience. The first was when I became Trusted Author and the second was when ‘A Special Valentine’ was chosen as a recommended story. Hopefully my next big moment will be the release of my first novel. Wish me luck!


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