Alas, there was no happy ending but to be short listed again was enough. I told everyone I knew, all my family, my friends and work colleagues. Then, lo and behold, I was short listed for the 2008 William Trevor Award. I discovered writers like Carson McCullers and Chimamanda Adichie and I learnt that all writing is rewriting. We exchanged favourite short story books.
Like all good teachers, Vincent encouraged the class to help each other. I realised too that I was a poor speller and that I should have paid more attention in school and I might know more about syntax and what a semi-colon is for. He explained some of the craft of short story writing, things like story arc and classic forms.
Vincent has won the ‘GPA First Fiction Award’ and the Francis McManus Award. So, I signed up for a writing workshop with Vincent McDonnell in Frank O’Connor House, Cork City.
#What is another word for slow learner how to
In 2008 it occurred to me, that if I wanted to learn how to write, I ought to attend a fiction class. Months passed and I wrote a couple of more stories and sent them out into the cold world but they too sank without a trace. I sent the story off to several short story competitions. Then one Christmas, in that undefined period between St Stephen’s Day and New Year’s Eve, I found myself starting a new story. I didn’t write another word for a long time. It was highly unlikely I’d ever be here again. I quaffed more of the sparkling wine, as much as I could, and ate more canopies, as much as I could. Then I wondered how the hell did my story make it onto the same short list as her story. Her story was real and beautiful and this is how short stories should read. I was gutted when I did not win the Francis McManus but that was nothing compared to how I felt when I heard Ms Ní Choncúir’s story. Then an actor came on stage and read Ms Ní Choncúir’s short story. They called another writer’s name, Nuala Ní Choncúir. When they announced the winner- they did not call my name. And I was just as relieved not to be placed second. When they announced the third placed story I was relieved it was not me. Nevertheless, I was not surprised when a couple of months later, I found myself in the bowels of RTE munching Ritz biscuit canopies and quaffing sparkling wine with the other twenty-four writers who had made the short list. I wasn’t a member of a writers’ group and I had never attended a writing class or even studied writing. I didn’t show my story to anyone else as I kept such things as writing short stories a closely guarded secret. So, I wrote a short story titled ‘Remote Control’ and sent it off to Montrose. The prize money was €3,000 and like I said – I can do that. I had no idea who Francis McManus was or that every short story writer in Ireland would enter this competition.
Way back in 2002, I heard a radio ad for the RTE Francis McManus Short Story competition.