Announcing the Creative Construction weekly creativity contest!

When it comes to keeping the creative self alive, some of us need a little extra help making sure that our creativity doesn’t slip into utter dormancy in the face of other demands. Even though we know that being creative is one of the best ways to stay happy and fulfilled, we often put that aside to take care of our endlessly needy and ungrateful family members our cherished loved ones whenever the two compete. Adding domesticity and, for most, work life into the mix often results in panic attacks and depression head-scratching.

For those of us who need it, here’s a new way to lower the bar a little bit while finding a bit of motivation to actually produce. Each week, a new prompt will be posted at this blog. Use the prompt however you like. If you’re a writer, create a short prose poem, a single line of text, a haiku, or even a short story or personal essay. Whatever you want. There is no minimum or maximum word count. If you’re a visual artist or designer, incorporate the prompt into your work as literally or figuratively as you like. Submit a doodle if that’s all you had time for. And feel free to cross the lines. Maybe you’re a writer, but you happened to get a photograph that works for the prompt. Mix it up.

To enter, send your work to creativereality@live.com. Writers should include their submission directly in the body text of the e-mail. Artists and photographers should attach their work as a jpeg. Enter as often as you like–multiple submissions for a single prompt are welcome. There is no limit to how many times you can win the weekly contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.)

Each week, the winner will be announced on Wednesday, and the winning entry will be posted along with the prompt for the following week. And, because it’s nice to actually win something when you win something, each week’s winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com.

Winning entries will be selected by me and a rotating panel of judges. All judges have professional experience in publishing and developmental editing as well as the world of visual arts.

For this week, the prompt is: “View from the window.” Use it however you like. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight on Tuesday, May 6. Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. (Brief caveat: I’m due next week, so if the winner and new prompt aren’t posted on May 7, I’m at the hospital hut-hut-hooing. Will take care of the post ASAP.)

Questions? Post them as comments and I’ll respond. Good luck!