Whitney Whitener shares her experience and advice for entering writing contests.
Writing Contests With Whitney Whitener
Award-winning short story writer Whitney Whitener will share her experience writing for contests including the benefits of contests, where to find contests worth entering, and how to improve your chances of winning.
About Our Presenter
Whitney Whitener is an award-winning short story writer, winning her first international contest (first place) for her Flash Fiction, Love at First Sight in 2022, and her second international contest (third place) for her short story Nanny in 2023. Before turning to creative writing she spent 10 years in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) teaching classes in culture, literature, and academic writing, in California and Chile.
You can find Whitney on Instagram at @whitneymwriter
General Meeting Information
Our meetings are free and open to the public. We encourage you to invite members of the Brazos Valley writing community to join us!
Our regional meetings feature guest speakers sharing writing and illustration tips as well as industry news and social time for members to meet and network. Meetings are preceded by a gentle critique (see below). Meetings are streamed via Zoom and available for replay. Login details and replay links are available on each meeting's event page.
Meeting times:
Last Wednesday of each month (minus July, Nov & Dec)
11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Gentle manuscript critique
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Guest speaker/featured activity
12:30 p.m. - Social time followed by lunch at a local restaurant (meal not covered by SCBWI)
Location:
Zoom and in person at The Arts Center of Brazos Valley, 4180 Hwy 6 South, College Station, TX 77845
Gentle Critique info:
If you’d like to share your work in progress with others and receive or provide feedback, please bring printed copies of up to 5 pages of a manuscript to share. Zoom participants will be allowed to screen share in order to receive feedback. Please see this handy guide on critique etiquette if this will be your first time participating in a critique: https://www.scbwi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014_LA_Dos-and-Donts.pdf
Be Our Next Meeting Guest
Passionate about a specific kid-lit related topic? Want to practice your upcoming school visit presentation? We’re always looking for guest speakers for our monthly meetings. Our meetings are cozy and supportive - a great place to get your feet wet as a presenter and get to know your local children's literature creators. Feel free to pitch us! Guests can present in person or via Zoom and receive $50 compensation as well as lunch after our meeting. Presentations take place on the last Wednesday of the month from 11am-12pm and can be in the format of workshops, interviews, slideshows… you name it! Pitch us your ideas at brazosvalley-ra@scbwi.org