Florida Weekly Writing Challenge: An inside View
The June meeting, held on June 15, 2024, featured Laura Tichy-Smith, current moderator for the Florida Weekly Writing Challenge. Tichy-Smith shared an interesting history of the contest which started in 2010. She also provided the inside view of what often makes for a winning story.
During the summer, Florida Weekly publishes photo prompts to inspire amateur and published writers to submit fictional stories inspired by one of the photos. Creativity is the goal, using a photo as a springboard for the story – not to write about the photo.
This year’s Writing Challenge consists of five rounds, each presenting two phot prompts. There is a 750-word limit, and submission is restricted to one entry per round for each author. Writers must choose only one of the two photo prompts to write about.
Laura’s deliberations begin with “speed reading” each entry in three minutes for overall quality and appeal. A handful of stories make it to final rounds simply on the quality and power of the writing.
At the close of the Challenge, winning stories are published in the Florida Weekly along with interviews with the winners. This year, as in recent years, the grand prize is a certificate for a Gotham Writers Workshop course of the writer’s choosing. Three honorable mentions receive Amazon gift cards. Members were encouraged to participate in the remaining two rounds. See the Florida Weekly Writing Challenge for current photo prompts and submission instructions.
Business Items
- GCWA Annual Writers Contest – Deadline Extended
The deadline for submissions into the annual GCWA Writer’s Contest has been extended from May 31 to June 30, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Due to unforeseen hiccups with transitioning to our new web platform, the gift of time is being offered to writers around the world. Submit your best work! Mary encouraged every member to submit at least one story.
Judges are still needed for all three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Please email executive@gulfwriters.org.
- New Members
We were delighted to welcome three new members to GCWA this month: Dave Kratzke, Malaina Purdon and Jewell Hunt.
We also welcome returning members: Lori Swick and Richard Georgian. Lori Joan Swick author of Comfort and Mirth and Dreaming~ The Sacred Art. She is an award-winning poet and essayist. Richard Georgian was previous GCWA president, and is author of Cossacks, Indians and Buffalo Bill and Georgian Rider Chronicles.
NOTE: Georgian has a collection of 3,500 books which he is giving away (monetary donations are welcome, you determine the value). His inventory includes books on craft, classics, full collections, and signed works, covering every genre. He offered to bake cookies for any writer who wants to visit him in Lehigh Acres to select some of his books to add to their own collections. To arrange a visit, call him during the day at 239-989-6090 after 10:00 a.m.
And we’ll give a shout-out to our members who Zoomed in on the meeting: Thank you for participating from a distance!
- Website Update
Ed Donlin shared the Website continues to be a work in progress and encouraged members to try out the new chat/forum feature. If you are having difficulty logging in, or have feedback on the site, please email Ed directly at: boatguyed@gmail.com for assistance.
- Community and Conversation
Approximately ten members went to Buckett’s for lunch and lively conversation. At one end of the tables, Mr. Ayers and Mr. Head shared about their service in Vietnam and southeast Asia. Both have published books on their experiences there. The time socializing and building relationships was well spent. Consider joining other writers for lunch after the July 20 meeting.
