Poisoned Purple Pen

From Prince to the Quills

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30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS  (13+) WDC's Longest Running Blog Competition - Hiatus #1786069 by Fivesixer

Prompt: Check out "The Quills"   by Quilli ☕ , and then take a quick look at the list of items nominated so far (the cutoff for noms was 1/31/17, and the list hasn't been completely updated yet) here: "Invalid Item"   by A Guest Visitor . Pick one of the items nominated for a 2016 Quill, and review it. Post your review in your blog using the Invalid Review tag, tell us what drew you to that particular piece in the first place, and if you have any previous Quills ceremony experiences please share them with us (and if you don't, based on the links in this prompt, give us your idea of what you think the WDC Quill Awards experience is like from an outsider's perspective).

"Prince Musical Writing Challenge Contest"   by Princess Megan Rose Review of "Prince Musical Writing Challenge Contest"

I chose the Prince Music Challenge because it was something I participated in during WdC's big birthday bash. First, I love Prince and his music. He totally shaped my teen years. I was shocked by his sudden death, and knew that there wouldn't be anyone quite like him again in my lifetime. He was pure raw talent, and that is so hard to come by. I had the pleasure of seeing him in concert and it was the most amazing thing I'd ever witnessed. If you had the chance to see him live, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I thought participating in the challenge was going to be really easy. I mean, how hard could it be right? Pick 16 or your favorite Prince songs and use a few lines of lyrics to write a story, or poem around. I came up with list right away. But as the challenge kicked off, I soon realized it wasn't as easy as I thought. So then I started making changes to the songs I was going to be working with. It pulled me out of my comfort zone. I don't write a lot of poetry, but suddenly it was something I felt the pull to do with regards to the songs I'd chosen.

It took me almost all 30 days to complete the 16 writing assignments, and in the end, I was better for the challenge. I spent that month downloading songs by Prince I'd hadn't heard before, and I got to enjoy the songs from my past that spoke to me. It was also great to read what the other participants came up with as well. It's always a good thing to stretch yourself and find out what your capable of.

Princess Megan Rose puts her heart into her activities on WdC. The nomination is well deserved. I love contests on our little home away from home. And this one was well run by Megan, and she wasted no time giving out prizes and reviewing the entries that came in. If she has another challenge, I would highly recommend participating in it.

As for the Quills, I've seen in on site before, but this is the first year I've ever been nominated. It is quite the honor. No one in my personal life really gets that, but to me it's amazing. We work so hard throughout the year to produce solid writing, and look to our peers to help us become better writers with their insights and observations. Writing something that speaks to someone else is a goal I strive for. To know that I've touched someone with my stories is an achievement itself, but knowing now that I have a few items going head-to-head with others that admire on the site is crazy. I don't think I have wrapped my brain around it completely yet. Nominations have closed and now comes the hard part. I don't envy the judges that will spend time reading all of the fantastic work that we have written this past year, but I'm excited. It's hard not to be.

To all of the other nominees, Congratulations. I'll be rooting for all of you.