The Challenge of Challenges

I heard that the winners of the “Long Thaw” Summer Fiction Series challenge were announced today, and I was a bit sad.

Not about the winners – no, congratulations to all! Well done! Huzzah!

Neither am I dejected because I didn’t win. That’s not it either.

I’m bummed because I didn’t enter.

I joined Vocal a few hours before the June 30th cutoff for the very compelling and attractively lucrative “Doomsday Diary” challenge. Yes, I was wooed by the $20,000 grand prize, but I also really loved the writing prompt that required a post-apocalyptic setting, and a heart-shaped locket. It was the first time that I had ever written that way – with a prompt, with a word limit. I wanted to give it a try!

I was pleased with what I came up with, but it was far too long, I didn’t have adequate time for edits, and I feel that it ended abruptly due to length restrictions, and the looming deadline.

Since then, I’ve gotten a lot better at editing, and have created some pieces that I have been really happy with. The second challenge piece that I entered was for the “Travel Cuisine” challenge. The top prize for that one was $1000, and I didn’t win or place, but I showed with “Island Time, Island Flavor” which was selected for a “Fab 5 Shout out” during the Vocal Social Society’s inaugural week. To be recognized by writing peers felt almost as good as getting my first tip! (Which, incidentally, made me cry.)

When the SFS summer fiction challenges were announced, I set a goal for myself – I would enter them all! I knew that I had a family trip coming up in August that would make my goal extra challenging, but I thought that I could do it!

I didn’t do it.

I didn’t finish my entries for the “Long Thaw” or the “Pear Tree” SFS challenges. In fact, I started to write entries for both, but stalled. Certainly, I was distracted by work, traveling, life demands, family, and enjoying my trip, but I probably could have buckled down and finished SOMETHING. My pragmatic and ever-supportive spouse reminds me: “hey, you’re allowed to go on vacation, you know.” Of course, he’s right, but I hauled my laptop through airport security twice, and dragged it through four states, but only managed to power it up one time in two weeks, and didn't write a word.

Still, my notebook and my “idea scratchpad” had tons added to them during the trip. Lots of ideas were flowing – including this one, which is NOT for a challenge.

Which brings me to my quandary: are challenges helpful or a hinderance? On the one hand, they provide incentive in the form of compensation, as well as fixed deadlines to work within. I love the writing prompts. It reminds me of the ones that were written on the blackboard in elementary school to help inspire our journal entries.

“If I were a turtle, I would…”

“My favorite lunch is ____because…”

Those were my favorite when I was a kid.

It’s fun to mull over an idea, then have it “grow legs” and become a story in your head. Or to scratch down a few ideas that become an outline, that later become a story. It’s great to read the work of fellow writers, and see where they went with the same prompt. It’s fascinating to note how diverse the entries are. I managed to enter six of the eight SFS challenges - Old Barn, Death By Chocolate, Brown Paper Box, Golden Summer, Raging Bull, and made two submissions to the "Green Light" challenge, one of which earned me my first Top Story. I also snuck an entry into the Deep Dive challenge that I was fairly pleased with. Ultimately, despite not having met my goal, that's some pretty good work, especially for a beginner.

Yet I also find the challenges to be distracting. At this moment, I have about forty ideas for stories that are sitting in various notebooks and lists. I have far more ideas than time, and when I do have time, I find that I can crank out several stories a day. However, I often feel that I need to prioritize Vocal challenges due to impending deadlines and other incentives, as mentioned previously.

I’ve been trying to train myself to “go with the story that has legs” rather than the story that I think I need to tell. I may get an idea in my head, sit down, and type six hundred and eighty-eight words without stopping. Sometimes stories almost write themselves. If I’m thinking about a challenge, however, I may try to “force” myself to try to write something about a pear tree, and find myself not writing anything at all.

Trying to shape my writing to fit the current challenge can lead to writer’s block, inactivity, and frustration.

So, are writing challenges inspiring or a distraction?

For me, I think that they are both. When I am struggling or need a push, a challenge can provide ideas, inspiration, and goals. However, if I allow myself to only focus on challenges, then I’m not being true to my ideas, or giving my stories a chance to be born.

Ultimately, I think it’s important to continue to push myself to enter challenges, to follow the stories where they lead, and to write every day.