Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

The Best of Times Short Story Competition

Spring 2014 results

Note: stories are available for reading only where the authors have given permission.

First Place ($500)

Darcy-Lee Tindale, NSW: "Choose Your Own Adventure"

Second Place ($100)

Geoff Covey, QLD: "Saving Time"

Third Place

Edward Burger, VIC: "The Clumsiest Person I've Ever Known"

Highly Commended

Heather MacKenzie, QLD: "Eureka"

Kate Williams, QLD: "The Wrinklies"

Ian Ward, VIC: "Arachne"

Commended

Loren Auder, QLD: "Crystal Twigs"

Radheya Jegatheva, WA: "How Not to Write a Story"

Fiona Skepper, VIC: “The Divine Wow Wow”

David Day, ACT: "The Knockout"


There were 74 short stories in the competition, from 62 entrants.