And the Winner Is . . . (Plus Photo Prompt)

Hey writers,

After combing through all of the stories from the last month, battling indecision, falling for many pieces, and filtering everything through our own negotiable subjectivity, we have a favorite pick from the July/August prompts.

Guest judge/WD Editor Jessica Strawser and I selected Beth Cato’s “That Strange Day” response to claim this month’s swag. She’ll grab a copy of Jill Dearman’s Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice, Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman’s Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language, the Writer’s Digest Novel Writing newsstand publication, and The Writer’s Digest Guide to Creativity newsstand publication.

Below you’ll find a photo prompt from the Kentucky State Fair. I’d go into detail about the goings-on in the photo, but don’t want to sully your impressions of the character. Although he was wily. And feisty. And wearing make-up.

Also, Jessica is writing over at Jane Friedman’s publishing blog this week. Check out her post on “thought viruses” and how they can poison your creativity.

Finally, a sincere Thank You to everyone who wrote in the last month, vets and fresh voices alike—and for doing it here. How you all produce the stories you do—with the frequency and in the time frames you do—continues to baffle.

Yours in promptland,

Zachary

*Beth, please send an e-mail to writersdigest [at]
fwmedia [dot] com marked "Attn: Zachary Petit," so I can get the goods
shipped out to you!

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PROMPT:Life in the Booth
In 500 words or fewer, funny, sad or stirring:

Write a scene about this man—perhaps a pivotal moment in his life—in the dunking booth, or elsewhere.