First Things First

Randy Richardson

The overdue second issue of The Write City starts with First Things First, which is not only a way to open it but also the title of a writing contest sponsored by the Chicago Writers.

The winners of that writing contest, in order of finish, are: Bethany Hiitola, Mary T. Wagner and Gracie Hill. Their challenge was to take one of ten famous opening sentences from literary works and build from there. There were no restrictions on how they built it. They could use poetry, fiction or nonfiction. But they were limited in how big they could build it. Five hundred words to be exact.

It was not an easy challenge, but these three writers all conquered it. Read their entries and you will see why the judging was so tight. They say so much in so few words.

The challenges we all face as writers is a theme of this issue. So along with the words of Bethany, Mary and Gracie we have those of Jen Wilding, who, in "Writing on the Fly," tells us how we can use improvisational techniques to spur and improve our writing. Randy Richardson splashes some humor on the topic of procrastination in "Cork in the Whine." In a special interview, prolific horror-thriller writer Robert W. Walker tells us how he's managed to write and publish more than 40 novels. And we end on a poetic note, with Susanna Lang taking us on a Chicago journey in "North to South."