Contest | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I’m sitting here, listening to birds outside my window. The sunlight throws a checkerboard pattern against the sheer curtains, and my spiderwort’s dripping with indigo blooms. In short, it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It’s hard to believe that many folks in my neighboring counties, in my neighboring states, aren’t having such a beautiful day. The birds might be singing, but their notes may be closer to songs of distress at finding their treetop homes gone. The sun still shines through plaid shirts flapping from torn-in-two power line poles. And it always amazes me to see a flower bed, bursting with reds, blues and yellows, perfectly intact ten yards from a flattened house.

Nature is beautiful yet oh, so powerful, and my heart and prayers go out to all those affected by the recent tornadoes. I’m sure there are many stories, and perhaps one of these tales or essays will be told for the Whispering Prairie Press Writing Awards.

They’re looking for poetry, flash fiction, and essays, and the entry fee is $5.00. Deadline’s June 30, 2011. Maybe by then, it will be a beautiful day in the neighborhood for us all.

It took a while, but I finally got a Chatty Cathy doll.

Now, you’re probably thinking that a girl named Cathy would of course have a Chatty Cathy. You’d be wrong. You’re probably also thinking that I moved on past that whole Chatty Cathy deficit in my life. Wrong again. There has always been a Chatty Cathy hole in my life.

But no more! Now, Chatty Cathy sits (technically, CC can’t sit. She can only stand.) on my desk, keeping me company as I type away. And if I pull the little string behind her head, she says clever things, like “I’m hungry!” or “I love you.”

Sigh. I love you, too, Chatty Cathy. And maybe it’s my imagination, but I think my writing’s improved. Especially the dialogue. So a big thank you to my friend, Donna at Donna’s Book Pub. She sent CC my way as a thank you for being a judge for the Saturday Writers chapter of the Missouri Writer’s Guild Flash Fiction contest.

I love flash, and reading the entries was as much fun as pulling Chatty Cathy’s string. Judging the entries was not as much fun, because of course, there were more than a few winning writers and it was difficult to choose the top flash pieces.

Still, I’d judge again (and not just because I may get another swell perk out of the deal). Judging those flash entries made me think critically about the elements of flash, what worked in a piece and why another piece of flash didn’t quite work as well. And thoughtful critique makes Cathy a better writer.

So if you’re asked to be a judge for a writing contest, sey yes! It’s not just about giving something back; it’s also about improving critique skills and ultimately, your own writing. And now, let’s pull the string and see what Chatty Cathy has to say to brilliantly wrap up this post:

“I’m sleepy.”

Um, I guess even the coolest doll ever can have an off day. (I still love you, Chatty Cathy.)