Writers are an odd bunch. I believe most of us are a little reclusive by nature, and isn’t writing the perfect answer to someone who likes to be alone? Sitting quietly, putting words on the page? Sipping a coffee, cat or dog sleeping at our feet.
Of course, this all comes to a screeching halt when the first draft is written. What to do?
If you are serious and want to get published, you must get it out there. You have to hold it up into the air, wriggling and shrieking like the newborn it is, and slap its bum.
This is a major problem for many of us.
I hold the writing contest up as a possible solution to those who are not quite ready for prime time. When you start out, unless you have emerged shiny and new from a prestigious creative writing program, or if you have friends in high places, you will be shell-shocked, unsure of what to do next.
After you have sent your book to critique groups, friends, and beta readers, after you have paid a developmental editor to look at it and have tearfully made those changes, should you start querying?
Yes and no.
If you are still not sure, or have queried and received no offers, enter a few writing contests. A few good ones are out there for unpublished writers. You are taking a small step in your own promotion, because if you win or place, you have something to push in your query letter, very important to have that recognition. An agent will take notice of these things, you want to set yourself apart from the many other requests.
Also, some contests provide feedback to finalists, this is invaluable, unbiased, and raw. Be prepared.
But more than that, you have been validated. You have put yourself out there and someone you don’t know has said, hey, this isn’t too bad.
My first attempt at fiction was a kidnap novel set in Mexico and New York. I called it Abducted. I had never written a book, I had however taken one course in file setup for writers and it was invaluable. I also learned the very basics of POV there.
I joined Crime Writers of Canada and Cathy Astolfo became my mentor. Cathy read my manuscript, gently suggested a few changes, and encouraged me to enter the Arthur Ellis Award’s category for unpublished writers. A few months later when I received the email telling me I was long-listed, I couldn’t believe it.
I didn’t make the shortlist that year but the that nod of recognition was all it took. I began another book, A Nice Place to Die, and labored with it for the next few years. I wrote and rewrote the manuscript. I took more classes on craft. I entered it in the RWA Daphne du Maurier Awards and in 2019 I won for Unpublished Mainstream Mystery and Suspense. That competition provided copious notes. I used them all and reworked the manuscript. In 2019 and 2020 I long-listed in the CWC Awards and in 2021 I shortlisted. As a short-listed finalist, I received feedback from CWC and reworked the book yet again.
I received my contract offer August 2021. And on August 30, 2022, my book was born.
About A Nice Place to Die: The body of a young woman is found by a river outside Belfast and Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride makes a heart-wrenching discovery at the scene, a discovery he chooses to hide even though it could cost him the investigation – and his career.
The victim was a loner but well-liked. Why would someone want to harm her? And is her murder connected to a rapist who’s stalking the local pubs? As Ryan untangles a web of deception and lies, his suspects die one by one, leading him to a dangerous family secret and a murderer who will stop at nothing to keep it.
And still he harbors his secret …
About the author: Joyce Woollcott is a Canadian writer born in Northern Ireland. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers and BCAD, University of Ulster. Her first mystery, Abducted, was long-listed in the Canadian Arthur Ellis Awards in 2019. Her second book, A Nice Place to Die, won the RWA Unpublished Mystery/Suspense Daphne du Maurier Award in 2019 in New York and was short-listed in the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in 2021. She is working on part two of the Ryan McBride Belfast Murder Series, Blood Relations, due out in August 2023. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Suncoast Writer’s Guild. Find her at www.jwoollcott.com
Great post! I’ve entered a few writing contests, and whether or not I win, the feedback is usually helpful (and of course, winning is awesome!).
Thanks Janet and good luck with the contests! I’ve entered a few, but only won once. Had some honourable mentions…but as you say, the feedback is well worth it.
So true C.J. – it’s great advice and obviously worked for Joyce.
Thanks Judy for sharing this article. We all need a little push to get our writing “out there.” Publishers don’t come to your house and as if you have any good books for them.
But wouldn’t it be great if they did, C.J!
🙂
Joyce