What was it about Vita’s story that made it stand out?

Vita’s story was outstanding because it was beautifully crafted, I felt that quite a lot of work had gone into the editing. She used marvellous language but she didn’t over do the detail, the description. Good language, which is like jewellery, one or two fine adjectives or similes or metaphors work very well, but if you put in a whole lot it can be counter productive. Vita’s story had pace, it moved fast from beginning to end and it was authentic. I felt that I was living through those characters. It was also a wonderful balance of emotion. Many stories and the stories that I used to write when I was young were full of trauma, full of drama, they were so operatic in their tragedy. Life is a balance of emotions and I think its important to remember that when you are writing. Sometimes there is what I call therapy writing when people off load their problems into their stories. Now that’s okay for their own personal journal, but it’s not going to get you points in a competition.