Participating in writing contests can offer 6 key benefits I used to enter writing contests, but I haven’t done so lately. Writing contests are fun when you win, and I had a few wins early on. Interestingly, as I’ve improved as a writer, my success rate has dropped to zero. Hence I’m now less motivated. […]
I have paid to enter some contests. It’s okay when you win, but it’s a double hit when you don’t. Contest Fees I’ve paid from $1 to $20 to enter contests, and each time they gave a compelling reason why I needed to compensate them to consider my work. And each time I’ve felt duped […]
I’ve paid to enter some contests. I don’t mind it when I win, but it’s a double hit when I don’t. I’ve paid from $1 to $20, and each time they gave a compelling reason why I needed to compensate them to consider my work. And each time I’ve felt duped afterward. Going forward, the […]
We need a realistic view of our history to plan a reasonable vision for our future My wife sometimes says I view things as though my glass is only half-full, that I’m pessimistic. I counter that I’m simply being a realist, but the truth is I’m not sure who’s right. Perhaps a bit of reality […]
I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve received very little rejection from the articles I’ve written. In fact, aside from contests, I haven’t won and a few editors who never responded, I can’t recall a single time I’ve heard “No!” But that’s just for articles. For books, my results are different. Half the time, I hear […]
Last week I talked about writing contests. These competitions come in two flavors: free and fee. I generally don’t enter any fee-based contests, though last week I made an exception. Here are the pros and cons of both. Free Contests: Freewriting competitions are egalitarian; they are fair and open. This appeals to my sense of […]
I sometimes submit my work to writing contests. And I sometimes wonder why. Though I want to win, I don’t really expect to. This isn’t self-deprecating; it’s realistic: I write nonfiction and most of the contests I enter are for fiction. So why do I do it? To Stretch Myself: Many of the contests I […]
A couple of weeks ago, I did something I never expected I would do. I impulsively entered a poetry contest. Yep, that’s correct. A decidedly non-poet entered a poetry contest. One of the blogs I follow (and highly recommend for all writers) is Rachelle Gardner‘s. On March 16 Rachelle posted a quick haiku writing contest […]
A logline is a brief summary of a story that is designed to hook the reader. Ideally, it is one sentence long. I recently entered another writing contest, where the challenge was to write a logline. Not just any logline, but a really bad logline. The rules were it had to be one sentence and […]
Last month I mentioned that I entered a writing contest, my first one. I opted to enter this particular contest simply because it would not require a great deal of time or effort. It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s that if it required writing a short story or essay, I would be hardpressed to invest […]