Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Nathan Bransford's First Paragraph Challenge

I'm not normally one to link to contests, but for aspiring writers, more specifically, querying aspiring writers, this is a good one to check out.  No need to enter (although I did; entry #628 out of thus far 724 entries) but it is a great lesson in humility for anyone wondering why you might have gotten that rejection letter, or, more likely, no response at all.  It gives a new appreciation for what agents and editors face on a daily basis.  Just reading through a few of them, I saw how fast that no could pop onto an agent's lips.  Some were interesting enough I clicked the link to the author's blog, which I think is pretty good.

At any rate, you should check it out.  But be warned, you may start to question everything you believe about your own writing.

5 comments:

Patti said...

It seems everything I'm reading today is making me question my own writing, but still I'm going to go check out this link. It can only help - right?

Southpaw said...

I read though some and I say 1 out of 10 had me interested. Some other may have but I needed more.

Amy Saia said...

I posted mine early on yesterday, but saw I had a mistake. Argh! How did I not see it all these months?!

MC Howe said...

Patti - Don't worry. Hopefully it's designed to make you recognize your weaknesses so you can correct them.

Holly - It's easy to dismiss them when there are so many to pick through.

Amy - I saw yours and liked it. Didn't notice any mistakes.

Unknown said...

i'm now number 1135. with this many entries, i have zero hope of winning.