I Submit to Writing Competitions Without the Intent to Win.
4 Reasons Why You Should Too.
I’ve started this habit where I enter writing competitions. Most of them are fiction, short story, flash-writing competitions, and 98% of them have an entry fee. Yep, you just heard me right. I pay someone else to lose.
This all sounds severely self-deprecating, and you’re probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. But I’ll tell you now, there are four solid reasons why I do this, why I succumb to this insanity.
1.I initiate the habit of working under a strict deadline.
When I initially decided that I wanted to avidly start writing again, I didn’t start by setting my own deadlines. I was NOT that responsible. In college, I did my best work under pressure. This was usually the pressure of a deadline. It’s not that I would procrastinate on purpose. Rather, I would give myself adequate enough time to work on something like a project, but my big ideas wouldn’t come until only a handful of days before. I typically always made deadlines, but when I started writing no one was making deadlines for me. I started writing a book but would only pick it up when I felt like it, or when I wasn’t busy. Entering my writing into competitions gave me that deadline looming without yet being a professional writer. It’s grooming me for my future.
2.I get inherent joy from practicing my art and sharpening my skills.
Entering competitions is exactly this — an opportunity to become better at something that I already do. It’s an opportunity to get a new prompt to write to, to change to a different perspective, to experiment with an alternative genre than the ones I’m most comfortable with. It an opportunity to explore, and integrate myself into a new environment, to stretch myself outside of my comfort zones. This is what becoming better is all about.
3.I’m getting comfortable with rejection.
I read a lot of articles on how to improve where I’m at. There are a TON of posts on Medium alone on how to be successful, more productive, more accomplished. One thing that they all have in common? Failure. Rejection. I read so many success stories of individuals that state that in order to get somewhere they had to be rejected a multitude of times before they were successful. At first I thought it was coincidence, or it was a part of some formula for success. Then I realized that I really do have to fail a lot, I mean A LOT, in order to get to a place where something works for me. As I’m constantly changing and growing, the quality of my work is too. Therefore, I need to get comfortable with rejection because there will be a lot of it in my journey. Entering into these competitions without an expectation of winning, braces me for not winning. Because frankly, I’m just not there yet and I know I’m not. One day I will be, though. I’m embracing this failure in a positive way, in a way so that I become accustomed to it, but it also isn’t such a big hit when it happens. Practicing failure is preparing me for my future success. I immediately think of this as the moment in The Princess Bride where Cary Elwes took small amounts of poison so that he became immune for the one single moment of the Game of Wits with Wallace Shawn. He spent his whole life preparing for this one moment without even knowing when the skill would come in handy. I think of entering these competitions as gaining an immunity to rejection.
4.I’m a part of something bigger.
As writers, we do a lot of our work in solitude, and entering competitions breaks me out of that to be a part of a community. Let me explain. I grew up in a really disconnected family and because of that I’ve spent a majority of my life finding other individuals to surround myself that I can assimilate with. I usually call them my people, this references the people that really get me. By entering these competitions, I surround myself with others like myself. Regardless of winning I’m a part of something bigger, with the people that get me most. Maybe I’m not always the best at something, but at least I’m surrounded with people that strive for the same things as me, have the same passions, and understand similar frustrations. I always read the winning essays because it’s fascinating to me, getting to the core of someone else’s mind, someone else’s inner workings.
Another way I become a part of something bigger is by attending writing conferences. Writing conferences are a way for me to hone in on my craft and surround myself with my people. I get to sit next to others like myself — individuals creating other worlds, main characters, personalities, communities... That shit is magical! Starting last year, I attended a One-Day Writing workshop in San Diego. I got the privilege of networking with others like me, surrounding myself with people that just wanted their voices heard by the masses. I can tell you right now, nothing is more inspirational and energizing than surrounding yourself with other people JUST as excited as you about writing, but hiding it like they are calm and collected. Every single individual was pumped in that conference, but everyone was hiding it like they were teenagers pretending they didn’t care. I vowed I would find the time and money to always do something like this for myself, and I’m about to do that all over again this month when I attend a Creative Non-Fiction Writer’s Conference in Pittsburgh. I’m excited to be with my people, to learn from others, and network in ways that are typically not possible from behind my computer screen.
Entering pieces into competitions can teach us so much more about the struggle that goes into really giving life into writing. Under stress, deadlines, word counts, and millions of other restrictions, we can figure out EXACTLY where we’re at. We can figure out more about ourselves, more about our limitations.
I initially started this insanity just because I wanted to get back into writing regularly and the deadlines put me under the pressure to do so. If you’re wanting to get back into writing and don’t know where to start, you want to improve your relationship with rejection, or you just want to gain more experience in what you’ve already accomplished… WRITING COMPETITIONS ARE FOR YOU! Really, writing competitions are for anyone (not just aspiring bloggers and writers). If you go into them realizing that you’re paying to help improve your craft and not necessarily paying to win, you’ll find you get much more out of the experience. Think of it as a class, or a strange form of professional development! You’re really investing in yourself. I have yet to win a competition, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t enter into them.
Here are some writing competitions that I’ve submitted to or researched, it’s also as easy enough as Googling American writing competitions. This list is mostly for you. I encourage you to submit some of your work into at least one competition. Then tell me about it. I want to hear about your journey!
St. Francis College Literary Prize
Brooklyn Film and Arts Festival
NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Competition
Thank you for your time, your support, and for being a part of my journey!