WRITING
5 Ways To Fail A Writing Contest
Mistakes I’ve made along the way
Once I finished writing my first novel, I realized some writing credentials might help me on the road to traditional publishing. I didn’t have a blog, or a massive social following, and I did not have any bylines to my name.
Within my critique group, multiple authors were working on pieces for writing contests, and winning. The longer I was part of the writing community, it seemed everybody was submitting to contests and getting ahead.
So I decided to give writing contests a try.
Here are ways I failed writing contests, and other ways writers trip ourselves up in the process.
1. Miss the deadline trying to decide what to write
I’m guilty of this one just in the last year.
For one of the writing associations I belong to, there’s an annual writing competition. Not only is there a financial award for the winner, but the top pieces are included in a published anthology. Those are great writing credentials.
The topic was broad, like being told to write about “light”, and I immediately balked.
What would I write about light?
Many of my writing friends were drafting away, while I spun in circles.
I wish I’d kept count of how many hours I worked “brainstorming” to come up with an idea. It had to be the equivalent of a week’s work. I thought about it constantly. And sometimes instead of working on my current work-in-progress.
Not good.
It’s one thing if I’m writing an assignment for work, but a writing constest is voluntary. And that contest was only one of many writing contests available.
What I learned: If it’s not working, move on.
If I’d recognized that the contest wasn’t a good fit for me, I could have used the time to find a better contest and topic. I could have been done already. And heck, I might have had a chance at winning. Who knows?
2. Choose a contest that doesn’t fit your style
There was a writing contest with extremely specific parameters, requiring certain words be placed at specific locations in word count, and the whole piece had to be a set number of words.
I’d never heard of such a contest before, but as other writers shared their work with me for feedback, the results were breathtaking in their creativity.
I wanted to do that, too! And some of those writers encouraged me to try.
“It’s fun!” they said.
Draft after draft, I tried to shove my thoughts into that specific box, and barely made it past the first paragraph.
I watched others write brilliant stories, and for a while I wondered what was wrong with me. Why couldn’t I write like that?
Instead of tapping into creativity, I wasted so many hours in frustration when I could have been writing something else.
The deadline came and went, and when people asked if I’d entered, I muttered a defeated, “no”. To me, it seemed like a failure as a writer.
But the truth is that everybody has a different writing style, and we’re all in different stages of our writing careers.
For some people, this sort of challenge to their creativity sparks great ideas. For others, such restrictions are too stressful. It’s important to recognize where you are in your writing journey, and work with what you’ve got.
Every day I work on my craft and become a stronger writer. Maybe someday I’ll give such a contest another attempt, but I’m OK with accepting that might not be my style.
3. Ignore writing contest rules
Formatting will get you every time.
Some contests are more forgiving, and will reach out to you if your piece doesn’t meet the guidelines.
Most will not.
I was fortunate that the one time I rushed an entry it was to a contest that gives readers one chance to fix whatever is wrong before being disqualified.
When the rules state the first line indent should be 0.25", make sure every single indent is a quarter of an inch. Word sometimes likes to autoformat, and I often forget to disable that feature.
It’s tragic to put your heart and soul into a piece only to get disqualified for a technicality, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. In the future, I’ll set aside specific time to check, and recheck, formatting.
4. Fall into Comparisonitis
Everybody has that friend who is on a roll: entering, placing, winning, getting published, etc.
Unfortunately, it’s possible to be incredibly happy for your friend while still wondering why you aren’t having the same experience.
I work with some incredible authors I consider friends. But as we work together to help each other grow as authors, it can be easy to forget we’re not all at the same experience level.
Some people have been writing for years before entering the writing community. To others, certain techniques come naturally. And we all have different amounts of time we are willing/able to commit to learning more craft.
No two writers are alike, so each of us will have a different time to grow and a different time to shine.
How did this impact my attempts to enter writing contests?
I tried to enter contests because I heard about them from others. After seeing friends enter, I wanted to enter, too.
What I should have done was conduct research to find a writing contest that was right for my current experience level and style.
5. Don’t learn from your mistakes
I may be guilty of this, but mostly I’m trying to avoid it.
If I don’t take a look at my attempts and my success rate, I’ll never know whether my entries are worth the time I’m putting into them.
And for this time in my writing career, I’ve assessed that a contest is only worth the time investment if it immediately strikes me with inspiration. Otherwise, I have many other options.
Maybe in the future I’ll enjoy the challenge, but for now I’m going to enjoy where I am and make the most of what experience I have.
Feedback is crucial, whether in the form of a self-assessment, or found another way.
Entering contest after contest and hearing nothing back? It might be time to get some feedback on those pieces. Share the contest rules with a critique partner and ask if your piece is hitting the mark.
Rely on a writing friend whose advice you value. Let them act as the contest judge, and give you their impressions.
It can be hard to hear what isn’t working, but knowing what’s wrong means we can actually fix it.
For me, having a writer friend remind me it’s OK not to be inspired was all I needed to ground myself back in reality.
Writing contests can be a great boost to our writing credentials. For authors pursuing a traditional publishing route, contests demonstrate your abilities to agents and publishers who might take a chance on your work. For self-published authors, contests can be helpful exposure.
Those five mistakes held me back from reaching my true writing potential over the past year or two. Hopefully now that you know, you’ll be able to avoid them and go on to win contests and continue building your writing resume.
