To be clear... I love it. I tell this story often. What got me into writing as a little kid was that it was the one thing I was better at...

No I haven't "won a contest" but I was on the editorial team that picked a winner? A few years ago I worked as an editor at a small literary journal that held an annual contest. Part of my job was to read submissions and vote on them with other team members until only the highest voted submissions remained for that top spot. The whole process taught me a ton about what editors are looking for in literary journals, and what contest-winning writing looks like. Here's a spoiler:

We should all be reading more If you didn't know, reading a lot and like constantly is a pretty big requirement for an author (and thus, an aspiring one too). Not only does reading help writers find inspiration, grow in their craft, feel better about their writing because if this book can get published then so can mine! etc. etc. But reading is also the best way to stay informed on the current book market . Yes, capitalism ruined even this. Writers are expected to know what'

We get loosey-goosey with Gothic as a genre but VotV is a Gothic sorry   Lately I’ve been entrenched in an indie game quickly gaining popularity called Voices of the Void (VotV), developed by mrdrnose. While still in pre-alpha phase (meaning an early, early version of the game), VotV is already, in my opinion, a masterclass of utilizing terror and tension. The gist of the game is that you’re a scientist working in a remote research base where you collect and analyze signals f