Writing Contests Are Not Beneath You

Have you ever wondered if there was a way for you to practice your writing in front of a live studio audience without making or breaking your career if you write junk?

Please look stage left for your answer - writing contests. 

I'm not sure when writing contests gained the experience of being a waste of time. 

Some of them give you money as a prize - how could that be a waste of anyone's time?

Not only this but they can be a valuable experience for both the newbie writer testing out their writing muscles for the first time or for the highly seasoned author looking to fill the gap between projects. 

Here are some benefits of entering writing contests and why they are worth your precious time. 

Exposure 

As a writer or author, you are a very little fish in a very large aquarium. Sure you might be brightly colored and can do some neat tricks, but not many readers are going to be looking at you when a giant shark is swimming directly in front of their face. 

Entering into writing contests is like putting your little fishy self into a smaller aquarium with more similarly sized fish in all sorts of colors. 

In that contest, you might be the star of the show instead of getting lost in the rocks.  

Receiving Constructive Feedback 

Feedback can be a hard pill to swallow no matter what level of writing you are on - but I will say receiving feedback on a small scale hurts a lot less than feedback received at a moment that might seem like a pivotal make-it-or-break-it situation. 

Finding your strengths and weaknesses on a small scale can help you focus on those when it comes to writing longer work. 

Building Your Portfolio 

Depending on what road you want to travel in your author journey, it's a good idea to have a portfolio of published work behind you. This can be a powerful thing to have in your back pocket when applying for grants, colleges, writing programs, and even when querying agents or submitting to publishers. 

Practice 

If there's no other reason to participate in writing challenges then let this be the one for you. 

You will not improve your writing by thinking about writing, dreaming about writing or doing anything that is not actively writing.

If a runner wants to prepare for a race they practice. If a singer wants to hit a certain note in their song they practice. 

If a writer wants to write better books, they need to practice. 

Not only is entering into these challenges practicing your writing craft, but also in building that backbone you're going to need to flay your heart open for the world to take a step inside and look around, as one does when they put their work out there to be judged. 

Building A Community 

You know who enters into writing challenges? 

Other writers. 

Where there are writing challenges there are forums, social media groups, and community events, both local and online where you can venture out of your written world and meet other like-minded individuals who have a drive for writing just like you do. 

Some of the people you meet in these groups become not only writing partners for life, but friends to lean on and celebrate every milestone you reach from then on. 

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Take a few hours to search for writing challenges available in your area or that are available to enter online. 

If anything, it's a wonderful way to stretch your writing muscles and procrastinate doing the laundry. 

Best of luck! 

B.

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This story was originally posted on Medium.

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