#5: Sunday Star-Times competition

Woo! My hundredth post in this blog, and it feels like it should be a momentous one: part of the reason I've held off from blogging lately (although not most of the reason: I've just been too busy and haven't had huge amounts of stuff to write about).

But I entered the Sunday Star-Times short story competition today.

I'm really pleased: I've been wanting to enter it for so long. I didn't submit a particularly great story, but it's one I like: a true story about something that happened when I was six. I almost submitted another story, which I'd originally intended for the competition; but it's not finished, or polished to the same degree. My problem with the one I entered is that it's only 700 words long. It won't win, but that's OK. Maybe the judge will enjoy it.

I don't really feel I put my best effort into it, which is disappointing. With the BNZ competition, although again I didn't enter the story I'd originally intended to, I put a lot of effort in; I felt I submitted a good story. Well, I guess I do think the story I entered this time is a good story, but that was more due to the fact that it had been an assignment for a writing paper, than because I'd actually polished it hugely for the competition.

But, deadline's over; hopefully I'll enter it again next year. I almost wondered if I should cross this goal off my 101 list, but that's silly; I did accomplish it. Just maybe, hopefully, next year I'll do better.

I'm kind of glad my 100th entry is about writing and competitions and my 101 list. That's what I want to be focussing on. It's not really true of what I do focus on; but I need to stop being so busy, make more time for it, and, as Kerryn's blog constantly reminds me: "No excuses. Just write."