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April 25, 2007 | 5 Comments

Dear Garrison,
I thought you would be uniquely qualified to help with a small family matter we are having. How do you console a nine-year old writer who has just found out that the short story he submitted to a county-wide competition has gone unrecognized? It was a nice little story about a bear in a silver Mercedes who thwarts the evil intentions of a mad scientist. All in 500 words. But it didn't impress the judges, about which our son is quite disappointed.

As we listen to your show regularly, we thought any advice or words of wisdom you might have would help him pick up his pencil and keep writing. Thanks.

Mike
Chico, CA

A writing contest is a game and you play it for fun. It's the same as in baseball: you'll play better if you love playing the game itself, and if you love the game, you'll accept losing. The game is the beautiful thing, and you'd rather be in the game, and losing, than be in the bleachers watching. I'll bet his story was terrific, and if he's unhappy about losing the contest, he can write another story about the bear in the Mercedes who helps a judge whose car has stalled on a lonely road and who is just about to be attacked by a mad scientist. "How can I ever repay you? You saved my life," said the judge. "HEY! Are you the same bear who was in that story in the contest I just judged?" The bear nodded. "Oh man, am I embarrassed," said the judge. "I loved that story so much, I got excited and spilled coffee all over it and so the other judges weren't able to read it. That's why it didn't win first prize." "Not a problem," said the bear. "I'm all over it. But the charge for this ride to town will be $5,000." The judge thought for a moment. He could hear the mad scientist whooping and yelling in the woods. "How do you spell your name?" he said, pulling out his checkbook.