Short story contests

I just entered a 24-hour short story contest at WritersWeekly.com. I'd never heard of the idea before, but apparently the editor sends a topic on a designated day, in this case January 22nd, and writers then must submit a story on that topic within 24 hours. You aren't told the topic or word length beforehand, so it's all a surprise. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, and it will be a great challenge to try something totally new. I'm very curious to get the topic and see how it goes. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if I get the topic and immediately draw a blank, but fingers crossed that won't be the case.

I've been amazed at the number of contests I've come across, I had no idea there were so many. This is the first one I've entered, but I'm looking forward to exploring the contests and entering many of them. It seems like a great way to get more experience and more writing under my belt. If nothing else, the stories will be fun to try.

I have to say this NaBloPoMo posting is harder than I thought it would be, and it's only the 5th of the month! But it's great practice, which is exactly what I wanted. I think I am going to try some of the prompts on the site, and see what I can come up with from there.