Spring break began today, which means no students for two weeks. Which means I tackle the runoff issues a change in Daylight Savings Hours caused. Though I like my job a great deal, stressed out teenagers do try my patience, and the prospect of a two week stint at home seems to elevate their stress levels.

Things are going very well. On track with my queries, maybe even a week or so ahead of schedule. After great reflection, I have revised a New Year’s resolution. Originally, I planned to enter twenty writing contests. All of these were very distinguished affairs, and I’d be proud to win, place or show, honorable mention in any of them. But there were two contests that really mattered to me more than the rest, so I decided to focus on them exclusively and set the others aside for another year.

The first is a screen writing competition, the most prestigious one in the United States. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about screenplays, and this morning I reread one I wrote three and half years ago. It needs a little bit of editing, but I actually still like it, both in concept and in execution. For me that sort of sentiment is unusual, because unless I have polished something with great precision, the more time passes, the less I enjoy the finished product in the rear view mirror.

Although it works, I am not entering the nearly four-year-old screenplay, however. I’ll revise the piece as a warm up, and write a brand new one. Since I think and plot in visuals, and by nature favor dialog and action to narrative, if the right idea strikes, I can move pretty quickly in that form. And the right idea is the one I was willing to set aside The Confession for–a concept envisioned as a short story, novel or screenplay. I’ll just run with the screenplay for now.

Five winners receive a substantial cash prize and a series of pitch meetings with studio personnel. A nod which would look pretty fantastic on a query letter.

The second contest beckons the unfinished novel to step forward. While First Chapters required a complete manuscript, and I was in no position to finish The Confession in six weeks, this contest expects the novel to be undone. The winner must finish the manuscript they entered within nine months of acceptance. Sounds like a good fit for The Confession.

Odds of winning either contest are roughly a thousand to one.

Either way I get some writing in, and put it out there.