“One Might See It That Way” reviews
For 2024 I decided to expand my writing scope and enter a number of writing contests that will stretch my skills. My favorite contests are from NYCMidnight. Every few months they have a new writing challenge and thousands of people around the globe pit their skills against each other in a multi-tiered writing contest. These include 100-word microfiction, 250-word microfiction, and short stories, among other types. You get a writing prompt - a genre, an action, and a word. From that prompt you spin a masterpiece, in 24 hours for 100 words, 48 hours for 250 words, and a whole week for a 2500 word short story.
It’s harder than it sounds. Trust me.
The latest contest was the Short Story. I had never written a fairy tale before, but now I have. Take a look on the writing samples for the story itself. Here’s what the judge’s liked about the story -
Judge #1
I really enjoyed this story's class fairy tale vibes--the king and queen, the evil witch, the princesses in the woods, the fairy "godmother" type figure. But, I also like that it is different enough that it isn't too predictable.
Judge #2
This is a fully fledged and complete fairy tale which spans a number of years and characters within its word count.
Beginning in true fairy tale fashion, we have a King and Queen who have an issue - the lack of children. This is a quintessentially "fairy tale" place to begin this type of story.
The yearning for children and to continue their line has often driven royalty of these types of stories to make deals they really shouldn't. And so, it is a wonderful place to begin, which sets the tone of the story perfectly, whilst introducing the expected tropes of the genre alongside it.
Ravella is a great antagonist - driven and single-minded. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and is prepared to wait any number of years to do it.
Again, perfect for this genre, but with the added bonus of a backstory which explains how her heart darkened all those years ago, and why.
Judge #3
The author created a well-developed conflict, where more than one character sought a long-held desire. Thwarted by her lover, Ravella craved power. Kate had a longing to be who she was, while both the Queen and Aerwyna wanted to be part of a bigger family. It was great to see so many females pursue different dreams readers could relate to on some level, even if it cost these characters dearly.
Aerwyna and Kate's friendship was very unique, two schemers who wound up doing good for their own families and the kingdom. It wasn't the most virtuous friendship, but they helped fulfill each other's dreams, and it was a lovely partnership the reader's rarely seen (a princess and a banished fairy).
