Writing.com Contests & Activities Newsletter

Writing.com has several weekly newsletters, which come out on Wednesday. I enjoy all the newsletters because each one is inspiring. This week’s contests & activities newsletter, which Spidey edited, reminded me that entering a contest is a good way to learn. Entering a contest lets a writer step outside her comfort zone by attempting a new form or genre. It gives a writer a chance to learn by reading other entries, I find that reading other entries exposes me to different viewpoints and this is another way to learn.

I’m Playing Follow the Leader again

I am participating in the Follow the Leader Journal contest on writing.com again. This is the first time in 2009 that I have participated in this contest; however, I participated in it in both 2007 and 2008. The name of the blog I am using this year is More Snow Melt.

I am scheduled to make the leading entry on Tuesday, May 5, and I have no idea what to write about. I'll know before tomorrow, of course, but right now I am just contemplating ideas. As usual, nothing I come up with seems right. I think I need to do some free writing to see what subjects I can find.

Perhaps I will write about getting my dining room back or the soda machine in my garage. Both of those subjects have potential, especially when it comes to a poem or short story.

Journal Writing in a Contest

I entered the Follow the Leader Journaling contest at writing.com again. This edition of the contest started on September 11 and end on October 1. Each day one of the contestants writes a lead entry and the rest of the contestants respond, in some way, to the entry. The responding entry must have the same title as the lead entry.

My leading entry titled "Coffee and Chocolate", occurred on September 12. My writing.com blog is Snow Melt. This is only the third day of the contest, but it has already inspired some very interesting posts in the contestants' blogs.

I picked coffee and chocolate as my subject because those are my favorite foods. These two items top the list of the things I like to eat and drink. Coffee and chocolate has played an important part of my life since I was a child. My parents and my grandfather (my mother's father) were coffee drinkers. Therefore, it is only natural that I drink coffee.

I can drink coffee all day and sleep at night. I am also one of those people who likes strong coffee. All though, most of the time I drink my coffee black, I do like specialty coffees. I am especially fond of the coffee that has chocolate in it. In fact, a few weeks ago I had a new coffee and chocolate treat, it was called "chocolate covered coffee beans", they were heavenly.