 Contests & Activities: March 12, 2008 Issue [#2280] |
  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: esprit  
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Losing a contest or being rejected by a publisher doesn't necessarily mean your writing is weak. It means the judges saw something special in the winning piece. It may have simply been the formatting or the colored fonts - or the mood of the judge. Or the cover letter, or the full moon, etc. etc. etc. Who knows why one wins over another?
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Why You Should Enter Contests
You know those irritating members who get on your nerves by consistently winning over and over? As soon as you see their names on the list you give up, don't you?.
How did they get to be so good? Were they born that way? Do you think they won their first contests? Uh huh - they practiced with every contest they had time to enter; win or lose, they kept writing.
As I browse the forums such as General Discussion, I see questions from new writers on how to begin their novel. They're stuck with no ideas and the first line just won't come.
My suggestion is to not try to write a novel - enter a contest. Don't even think novel. Think scene. Short scene. Short story. Flash fiction.
Take advantage of the prompted contests. The Poetry Slams. Fifty and hundred word contests. They are there to get the imagination going. They teach deadlines and how to stick to a word count. The prompt is used to cure the lack of ideas. Everything is there, all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Contests are good practice for turning in a piece of writing on time, for following instructions, to improve proofreading, and on and on; use them! So what if you don't win? It isn't about winning, it's about learning. Come on, try. You gotta make it your Mantra to convince yourself. Repeat: It's not about winning.
This most popular contest changes the prompt and genre every day. Typos don't count either. It's all about the story and following the rules of the host. Good practice!
Those of you who need ideas will find contests wonderful in loosening your imagination, and your fingers really will be on fire. Some of these contests even give you the first line. Exactly what many have trouble with.
Don't enter a contest with winning topmost in your mind. Remember your Mantra. Read the other entries and notice the variety of ways a prompt can go. Your imagination is growing and needs this exercise. Someday you'll win, but you won't be finished. Keep practicing and you'll become one of the irritators. Then you can pass on that unrealistic Mantra you've grown to hate.
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