#282: Endings & Beginnings with David Restaino

This week, we're running a takeover in collaboration with Reedsy freelancer David Restaino. The winner of this contest will not only be awarded $250 — they’ll also receive a special bonus prize: personal feedback from David himself. For your chance to get insight from one of Reedsy’s very own professionals, read on! Here's David:

Hi writers,

I’m David Restaino, a writer and freelance editor who specializes in short fiction, literary fiction, and children’s books. After slogging through academia and receiving an MFA, I currently work with a literary non-profit and as the associate fiction editor at The Maine Review. As an editor, I’ve worked with several prize-winning and nominated writers. I aim to bring nuance and sensitivity to all my clients’ work, no matter whether they’re an established or emerging writer. For me, it’s the unique voice of the writer that sets a story apart. Helping people find confidence in that is what I strive to do every day. 

Winter signals many things: the closing of one year and the opening of another, the shift into and out of the longest night of the year, the growth or decay of relationships, a gym membership you bought the previous January but never used (or maybe that’s just me). Life is full of these moments of beginnings and endings — big and small — and stories are just the same. A story is a journey, though hardly ever a straightforward one. And in between these moments of the start and the end, an instance of change. Of growth, renewal, discovery, or acceptance. 

This week, I’m offering up five prompts to explore these transitional events and reflect on the power they have to alter the course of one's entire life. Let’s dive in and see what emerges.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ReedsyMoments to share your stories (and potentially get featured on our social accounts)!

Special Update: The Results

David Restaino's top three picks for this takeover were: 1) "Venture" 2) "Five Stages of Reflection" and 3) "Lost in a Dark Place"

Here's what he had to say about the winning story: "From the opening line, the story pulls us right into an exact sense of place, and the narrative voice does a good job capturing the tenor of a Western. The story paces itself well, revealing enough information to keep us engaged and drive the narrative forward. Yet, the writing is economical and exact. It creates the sense that every word is needed. The control in not overburdening the prose in the story is admirable."

Congratulations to contest winner James Scott and the runners-up, Katharine Widdows and Patrick Huber!