[AJay2000]

There are a couple of definites in life - two of them are: 1. If you want to be a good singer, you listen to as much music in the genre as you are trying to perform in, and 2. If you want to be a good writer, you read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on.

If you want to be a good short story writer, I suggest reading everying written by Anton Chekhov and Alice Munro. They are the two ABSOLUTE gold standards in short story writing over the last 100 years or so.

I don't think I'm letting anything out of the bag here. They both highlight the three most important aspects of short story writing: Character, Character, and Character. I went to a reading by Pam Houston, a writer/teaching in the University of California collegiate system, and I asked her what the key to writing short stories was, and she told me to go read John Updike and see how he wrote his characters.

Needless to say, I will be writing my own short story for this competition, and I rely still too much on plot and metaphor. There is only so much you can do with 3000 words or so, so one of these days I may actually realize how to write really good characters.

Good luck to all, and I can't wait to read all the entries.

- Jay