All you have to do is write. If you packed a picnic lunch and went to the beach and watched the kids in the surf, the dolphin pod just offshore and that certain quality of light in the sky as summer gives way to fall and you fell into the grace of the world; Write about it.
If you were a delegate at one of the conventions and you were utterly inspired by or dismayed at democracy in action- we want to hear from you. Did you take your grandma to Norway to find the particular fjord that she remembered as a child and did you unearth a past that you didn’t know was also yours? Write about it.
Most human stories are about traveling, have traveling in them, or occurred as a result of travel. If your heart traveled while you stayed right in that same ol’ chair-- Share it with someone; in particular, share it with us. We’re your fans already.
It is our human tradition of telling stories that separates us from the beasts and always serves to renew that within us which is truly real. Please take advantage of our invitation to share your stories with us.
The Logistics:
1) Contest runs from 9/15/08 – 10/15/08. During this time writers will submit their writing and photos or scanned images/artwork to bestvoice@deeptravelers.org. We will post the work to the Extravaganza blog. If you don’t have a title we will use the first few words of the first sentence for a title.
2) Community participation. This is for and about YOU! You are invited to join deeptravelers.org in order to join the Extravaganza forum. Readers and writers can discuss the Extravaganza blog and compare pieces in this forum. If you are particularly moved by a piece you are welcome to comment on it within the Extravaganza blog.
3) A word about participating in the Forum and commenting in general. We love writers and we know that some of the best writers are the most delicate of folks. As such, we ask that comments be written in the spirit of appreciation and support- with criticism that is helpful. The Extravaganza blog and forum will both be fully moderated. Any comment deemed inappropriate will not be published to the site.
4) Judging—You (The DeepTravelers Extravaganza Community) are the judges. On 10/16/08 we will open an Extravaganza Poll. Each blog title will be listed in the poll. You vote for your favorite piece. We will leave the poll open for 4 days but the results will be concealed.
5) The Winner- On October 20th, we reveal the results of the poll and crown our first winner of the DeepTravelers Travel Writing Extravaganza. We will contact our winning author, get their address and overnight a cashiers check in the amount of $500.00 to them.
6) You have nothing to lose! So start writing!
7) You may enter up to two pieces.
8) We are not concerned about word counts. It’s not the word count, it’s the journey!