2016 was my initiation into the Writer's Games. Having only participated in NaNoWriMo in the past, I was looking forward to testing my abilities a bit more. Waiting for the prompts on Thursday afternoons and refreshing my email every two minutes to see if I placed were the most exciting parts of my week. Stretching my imagination helped me look at my work in progress in new ways, and gave me ideas of how to apply new techniques to future pieces.

Although writing a story with a surprise prompt within 72 hours, seven weeks in a row, wasn't easy, it was worth it. The Games comprised all the best elements of a challenge: free entry, inventive prompts, feedback on every piece regardless of placement, the possibility of publication, and community. Though the feedback wasn't all positive, it was given with encouragement and helped me notice patterns—strengths as well as weaknesses—in my style.

I'm so glad to have found this group and hope to compete with you in 2017!

About the author: Jennifer Worrell won second place in the 2016 Writer's Games, beating out 124 other writers overall. Her short stories are featured in the Writer's Games anthology (available in ebook and print on Amazon). You can follow her on twitter: @PieLadyChicago.