BBC Competition: My Story

I can't believe I did it: I entered a story competition. The BBC is inviting people from all over the country to send in their extraordinary real-life stories, and I've been reading them over the last few days. The range of themes is huge; some are happy, celebratory tales, and others are absolutely tragic. There are a surprising number of stories concerning the death of a child - so mine is not unusual at all, and there is little chance of winning. But I do believe in signs, and the closing date was the same day as Maia's birthday, so it seemed right for me to enter. The prize involves participation in a BBC series, which is scary. However, the other part of the prize, which would be a dream come true, is the publication of your story in paperback. I bet you couldn't buy the sort of publicity a TV series would provide...

The organisers firmly state that is not a "writer's" competition: they want everybody to have a chance, and presumably they've got ghost writers lined up for the winners. I wouldn't like that too much; I'd much rather write my own story, but I like the open nature of the competition all the same. People could enter who normally wouldn't even try, because they are reassured that grammar and spelling and writing skills play no part in the judging criteria. Despite that, there are lots of tips, videos and links for would-be writers, so it's quite a good writer's resource. At any rate, it has got me thinking about how my own book could be any more interesting or inspiring than anyone else's, when there are so many stories out there.

Today my story made it on to the BBC website, so even if this is as far as it goes, I'm pleased. It feels good that somebody else read my work and posted it up for others to read - that my work exists in cyberspace somewhere other than my own blog.