Participating in my first writing challenge
This post spans across two days.
22nd April, 2022
I'm mentally preparing for my first writing challenge. I signed up for the NYC 100-word Microfiction Challenge a few weeks ago. This is an international creative writing competition in which participants are challenged to write short stories in 24 hours based on genre, action, and assigned words. Participating in such contests provides writers with valuable exposure and that extra push many of us need to get those stories out. Since it is a competition that requires writing on often unfamiliar topics, it makes it also a bit more fun.
I'm excited, but I won't know the genre or keyword until midnight. Because I usually go to before 10 p.m., I'll go over my group's assignment in the morning. I had a good night's sleep and didn't seem to be bothered by the challenge.
23rd April, 2022
I woke up at 5:40 AM. I checked my inbox and found the email from the organizers. I went over the rules but decided not to check the group just yet. I began my day by journaling. Only then was I ready to embark on the challenge. I went to the website and started scrolling through the thousands of participants to find my name. Here’s what I’ve discovered:
Group 91
Genre: Historical fiction
Action: Piercing an ear
Word: reign
I was semi-satisfied with the above group. But it could have been worse too. I immediately envisioned a story that could take place in medieval Poland or another European country. I checked the website again to read about my genre:
The fact that I needed to do more research to better describe the historical settings made me calmer. “I'm good at research, so we'll see where it takes me”, I thought to myself. After a hearty breakfast, I went to the library to begin working on the story. I reasoned that a change in settings would be beneficial to me. I started doing my research. And let me tell you, I've surely learned a lot about the history of ear piercing all over the world. I decided to shift my attention to WWII. I had drafted the story by the time I left the library around noon.
I went about my day, the story brewing in my head. To distract myself from thinking about it, I devoured a graphic novel and creature day to the story in the evening to work on the word count and word selection. Every word matters in the 100-word format, and I think I enjoyed that part the most, perfecting my sentences.
I submitted the final story at 8 p.m, three hours before the deadline. Could I have done it in less time? Definitely. Was I overthinking the whole thing? Without a doubt. But, in the end, I enjoyed being in that state all day, obsessing over one story. I often note down story ideas but don’t act on them, thinking that when the right time comes, I’ll use them in my stories. Knowing I only had one day to write a story was definitely different, but I liked and needed that kind of pressure. Hearing some feedback will be great too.
Here’s the story I submitted:
Untarnished memories
12-year-old Rywka sobbed while her ears were secretly pierced in the basement of a Warsaw tenement house, her brother, Józef, holding her hand. As golden crescents sparkled in her ears, the sorrow soon transformed into a smile. Two years later, her forearm will be tattooed with a stamp-like number. Her braids will be cut, her earrings taken from her. Józef imagines his sister’s fate as he stares at the familiar, now tarnished, jewelry behind the thick-glass display at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. “Could it be…? It’s been so many years…” At that moment, in his heart, the Nazis still reigned supreme.
