I wrote a while ago that, to my delight, I’d been shortlisted for the Marlowe and Christie First Novel competition. Well, that was as far as I travelled in that particular contest. I made the final ten but did not win. However, any metaphor about crumbling cookies would be misplaced. The result simply made me revisit my manuscript and polish it further. I then sent it to a literary agent who I considered would be a very good fit for my work.
And now, I have news of a further shortlisting. My latest novel has been shortlisted for the Stockholm Writers Festival First 5 Pages Prize.
The organisers have said there were 1164 entries from around the world for Stockholm,
so to make the longlist and then the shortlist was another thrill for yours truly.
Word is that the first five pages of a manuscript are the most critical; that if you don’t capture the reader with your opening, it probably won’t fly.
…And if that reader is a literary agent, then the loss is particularly painful.
So, I look forward to hearing the outcome of the Stockholm Prize. Whatever the result, I strongly recommend to anyone wanting to go further with their writing,
to submit their work to competitions. The challenge adds discipline to your writing, encouraging you to review and rewrite.
And rewriting is where the magic happens.
