Call for Submissions: All Roads Lead to Wannaska Writing Contest-Opportunity-Celebration!

Hello and welcome to a freezing, frigid, layer-up-the-polar-fleece, folks, kind of Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is January 28th.

In last week's blog post, Wannaska Sweet Wannaska, I reflected on our family's move to Wannaskaland and what "home" looks like for us 17 years later. I had so much fun writing that post, and sharing our Wannaskan origin story with all of you, I decided to create the All Roads Lead to Wannaska Writing Contest Opportunity Celebration!

Yes, it's much more than a contest! Why compete when we all have great stories! Let's share them! Although, technically it is a contest because I am offering prizes, so consider it a (very) loosely formed "contest."

And it's far more exciting than an "opportunity" because your stories are personal and important to you and because you care, I care. Stories are older than dirt and are the connective tissue that binds our souls across generations and lifetimes.

So, I'm going with "celebration" because creating a space for you to share your stories is so gosh darn exciting, heck, more than exciting - significant, important, and impactful. As I like to say, "Woohoo!"

The All Roads Lead to Wannaska Writing Celebration (very loose) Guidelines.

First, Wannaska is a real place where you can dine at The Fickle Pickle, get all your shopping needs met at Lee's General Store, fill up the gas tank at Riverfront Station and find Tarzan books in the recycling bins. (Yes, this is a true story.) From the Wannaskan point of view, Roseau is 13.9 miles north, Grygla is 30.4 miles south, Greenbush is 23.2 miles west, and I am 33.2 miles east. Wannaska is in Roseau County.

Second, "Wannaskaland" is not a real name, but rather a term I use affectionately to include all the lands around Wannaska. (Okay, honestly, the original motivation for using "Wannaskaland" is because I like to feel included, so this was how I made myself an honorary Wannaskan resident.)

Now, on to the (very loose) guidelines.

The Call for Submissions – This writing contest-opportunity-celebration invites you to share your Wannaskan origin story! My working definition is: The story of how you, your family, or someone you know landed in Wannaska or Wannaskaland. I'm especially interested in your sense of "home" and what this means to you.

Who can submit? In keeping with the spirit of all things Wannaskan, current and former residents, friends, family members, admirers of Wannaska, Wannaskaland, or the Wannaska region and/or hamlets thereof, are enthusiastically cheered on to send me a story. However, if you're not from, or living in, Wannaska or Wannaskaland, I welcome your story of "home" as well. I'm a "more the merrier" Includer type.

If you’re under the age of 18, I’d love to receive your stories as well. Because you’re a minor, I will also need a parent or guardian’s permission. So include their name and phone number in your submission as well so I can follow up with them.

How long does it have to be? Here's the advice I give to students who fret about word count when they have to write papers at school: Focus on expressing your ideas and the word count will take care of itself. That's a roundabout way of saying I'm not too worried about how much you write - quality over quantity! - but for those of you who really appreciate some good guidelines, I looked over my own blog post word counts and I tend to land in the 800 - 1,500 word range. Staying within a word limit is actually a very good practice because it helps you to hone in on your message.

Will you edit my submission? Stephen King gets the credit for asserting: "To write is human. To edit is divine." Nora Roberts: "Every writer needs an editor. I don't care how good you are or think you are." And Ernest Hemingway: "Write drunk; edit sober." (But that's a topic for another day.) So, yes, I will work with you to spiff up a piece as needed to make it blog ready. Editing to me means working with you to shine a light on the best parts of the story as opposed to being a grammar cop. 

Are you going to cut my words? I try my best to honor the author's voice and that's what's most important. And, another piece of writerly wisdom from Strunk & White: "Omit needless words," is sound advice. If honoring voice is key for writers, creating flow and good pacing is key for readers. We'll work together to do both.

Disclaimer: Haters gonna hate, but unless you have a well-crafted, thoroughly thought-out piece on this subject, I'm putting the kibosh on hate speech.

When do I have to turn it in? Ah, deadlines...On the one hand, they are great for getting butts in chairs to write the darn thing. On the other hand, I wouldn't want someone to read this after the deadline and feel bummed that they missed it. How about I set a hard deadline for May 1^, 2023 for the contest part of this celebration? This will give you enough time to agonize, get your taxes done, then take the big plunge and get ‘er done by May Day. For the opportunity part of this celebration, I always want to encourage and support brave souls who love to write, so really, you can send me something anytime and I will gladly work with you.

How do I submit? Please email your submission to kim@redshoeswriting.com I would also love it if you would write in the Subject Line: All Roads Lead to Wannaska Submission. This will help me sort my email and make sure I don’t miss your email. I will email you an acknowledgment of your piece. So, if you don’t hear from me after a week, please send me another email. I’m still adjusting to having a full-time job along with managing the home front and my writing world responsibilities, so I really do appreciate the nudge.

When will you post my story on your blog? I’d like to post them right away as they come in and are ready to go.

What do I win? I’m still thinking about this one. I value your writing efforts and the amount of time it takes to craft a story. The enthusiastic Austin Powers in me wants to say, “$100!” Chairman Joe suggested the first place winner get a date with me at The Fickle Pickle. I haven’t decided yet which direction I’ll go, but I do know there will be multiple winners – and I mean actual winners for a prize of monetary value, not just a “we’re all winners” platitude.

When will you announce the winners? I can appreciate a good deadline. (See my thoughts on “When do I have to turn it in?”) I think by my birthday, June 7^th, makes for a lovely birthday present. Of course, if there are few to no submissions, it could be sooner. So, submit something and that will make for the best birthday present of all!

If there’s something I’ve missed, let me know in the comments or email me. I will update this blog post as needed. When in doubt, I’m very much a “yes” person, a gate opener as opposed to a gate closer, so, within reason, pretty much anything goes. My intention is to support writing ventures and to give people a reason and some encouragement to write.

Happy Writing!

P.S. The word count on this blog post is 1259.