Ambition or...well...not?

So this morning I was wandering around the web a bit, perusing submissions in general when I stumbled upon something. “The Nelson Algren Award.” Ever heard of it? Me either. So I had a closer look.

Evidently it’s a short story contest in honor of, you guessed it, novelist Nelson Algren, author of “The Man with the Golden Arm,” a story about drug addiction that was later made into a 1955 film. Almost immediately I noticed the “payout.” Wow. Five grand awarded to the winner and twelve hundred to each runner-up. Not bad. Plus, the winning stories will be published in The Chicago Tribune.

So I’m thinking, Hey, I’ve got one... when it occurs to me: the word count. What was the word count? Specified right in the next paragraph. 10,000 words maximum. Mine’s twelve. Which means, I’d have to edit again. And I am soo done doing that!

But really, most editors are after short stories that cap-off around 10k. So why not give it a run thru and cut a few words? Seriously. What could that hurt? It’d probably take a week at best. And I could submit again... back on the wagon, or off... however that goes.

My wife though, she’s the sensible one of us. She's one of few who "get" me. I’m more of an ambitious and spontaneous type that, when combined, make my endeavors end up either outright astounding, or utterly disappointing. But that's just me. I tend to think of it like bi-polar-ism: the good is phenomenal, and the bad is disastrous.

Anyway, I hinted to her about submitting into the contest. (Okay, I flat out told her I wanted to do it.) And she had something to say about it too, but I didn’t listen. I sort of plugged my ears and hummed. She’s probably right though, but I’m more focused on the fact that, sometimes, first-time authors do land that Big Break.

So I have to try.

Winners will be notified by August 2006. So when Sept. 9 rolls around and my P.O. Box is still dusty, I’ll know Lisa was right. First things first though, I need to read all the “Rules” and see if it's really something I want to do. Responsibility, sheesh...