Participate in our Smell and Memory Memoir Writing Competition for a chance to get published and win prizes, including a $20 Amazon voucher and an autographed copy of Cynthia Harrison's book, Your Words, Your Story. Participation is free, and you can enter as many times as you want.
Do you remember the smell of your the perfume or cologne of the first person you ever loved? The smell of the medicine you took when you were sick as a child? Even if you don't remember these smells, if you encountered them again, memories would likely come flooding back. Perhaps more than any other sense, smell to offer a direct route to memory.
What smells bring back intense memories for you? Write about the smell and the memory in 500 words or less. Click here to go straight to the competition details, or read on for some ideas and memoir writing tips.
Not sure what to write about? Here are some ideas.
Do you remember any of these smells...
* The smell of your elementary school classroom?
* The smell of a relative's car?
* The smell of your grandparents' house?
* The smell of a meal that you loved or hated as a child?
* The smell of a doctor's waiting room?
* The smell of the place where you were when you realized something important about your life?
Try smelling these things, and see what memories the smells bring:
* Cinnamon
* Chalk
* A bandaid
* Crushed grass
* Bath powder
* New shoes
* An old book
* Orange peel
Memoir Writing Competition Details
Description: What smells bring back intense memories for you? Write about the smell and the memory in 500 words or less.
Prizes: $20 Amazon.com gift certificate and an autographed copy of Cynthia Harrison's Your Words, Your Story.
First prize is a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate. If the first prize winner is a U.S. resident, he or she will also win an autographed copy of Cynthia Harrison's Your Words, Your Story, which the author has generously donated to this competition. For logistical reasons, we cannot offer this book to winners outside of the U.S.. If the first prize winner lives outside the U.S., he or she will receive the Amazon.com gift certificate, and the book will be sent to a U.S.-based participant.
Rules:
1. If it's valid, your submission may be published on the Creative Writing Now website. Any valid submission (not only the winning submission) may be published.
2. There is no cost to participate.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like.
4. Entries must be 500 words or less.
5. All entries submitted must be your original work and must not have been previously published.
6. The competition closes on October 31st. The prize winner will be announced on the competition page by November 10th.
Important: when you submit your entry, you will be offered the option to receive e-mail notifications. Please select "yes" to this option and enter a valid e-mail address so that we can contact you if you win!
More information here.
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