I asked the winners of our last contest to explain why entering contests is worthwhile. All sent excellent responses and no two are the same. There are 3 responses on the page, but at the top we have our September Writing Prompts.
“You never know who is reading your work and other paths that may open.” ~~ Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte
September 2023 Writing Prompts
It’s the day after Labor Day and the traditional starting day for schools around the country.
Whether they start in August in your district, school goes year round, or the district where you live is still traditional, comb your memories so you can answer the questions that apply to you.
- What do you remember about back to school as a child?
- As a teenager?
- As a college student?
- As a parent?
- As a grandparent?
- As a teacher if you were one?
- Does your new year start on January 1 or at the start of the school year?
- How has school changed since you were a student?
- What hopes do/did you have at the start of the school year?
- What’s a class you wanted to take and didn’t?
- What’s a class you’d like to teach?
- What are your thoughts about fall?
- Write to as many topics as you’d like.
- Pick your favorite answer.
- Elaborate.
- Share and we’ll save what we love in the writing.
- Seeking feedback? Just ask.
WHY ENTER WRITING CONTESTS
WRITTEN FOR: WRITER ADVICE
JUNE 21, 2023
SHERYL J. BIZE-BOUTTE
Here is the question: Are writing contests worth entering?
Well, let me begin my answer by saying that all writing contests are not created equal. There are many reasons for this. Some contests are only open to one genre or even a genre within a genre. Some are regional and some only want to hear from a siloed segment of voices.
Even so, if you happen to be among the select few who reach the finals or the even smaller percentage who go on to win, there is nothing like being able to write “finalist” or “award winning writer” in your bio.
But win, place or no, entering writing contests where your voice and material are what is being requested can be a rewarding experience that pays dividends in several ways.
You never know who is reading your work and other paths that may open. It may not be obvious, but you give greater opportunity to your words through contests. The more eyes on your work, the better.
Every writing contest you enter feeds your integrity and range as a writer. The activity of determining what, when, where and how to enter a contest enables you to understand where your work resonates and where it doesn’t. Just taking the time to read the criteria for a given writing contest may spark your muse to create something new.
You learn to place rejection where it should be, as a part of this competitive writing world we live in and as a normal and everyday occurrence for the writer. This can help you to sharpen your voice and skillset or as I mentioned above, it can even help you to find a new writing path.
You have arrived at belief and confidence in your craft and in yourself as a writer. The very fact that you are entering a writing contest already means that you have reached the most important goal in being in this place. You have become fearless and that is the writer’s greatest attribute.
You are already a winner.
From another winning writer: “if you’re a dollar-conscious procrastinator like me, competition deadlines are one of the best motivators around, and the entry fees keep you committed!” –S. Barb
Writing competitions are worth it – Enter as many as you can!
By S. Barb
For a long time, if you asked me what skills I had, I’d struggle to answer. But deep down, writing was something I always suspected I could do. Still, I had never actually set pen to paper for fear that this would be disproven.
Then, this year, my sister told me that for my birthday she had purchased an entry to a writing contest on my behalf, and the deadline was two days away! Well, safe to say that I was more stressed than thrilled.
But it turned out to be a great experience. All my self-created hurdles about not knowing how to plot, create believable characters, or write punchy dialogue ended up not mattering as the creation process turned out to be more organic than intentional. The only things that did matter was producing something I was proud of before the imminent deadline, and the fact that the entry fee had been paid (i.e. money had been invested in this endeavour and my dream). So, if you’re a dollar-conscious procrastinator like me, competition deadlines are one of the best motivators around, and the entry fees keep you committed!
A few months on, and I can safely say I’m addicted. My only goal for the competitions I enter in 2023 is to earn back more than I spend on them, and I’ll have a ton of practice and a body of work to show for it to boot. And I’ll have written in a variety of genres (using the contests as a chance to experiment), and potentially have my work exposed to a variety of readers. And I would say that all of these are the real benefits of contests, as the chance of winning is quite slim. But, if you do do well, the rewards certainly don’t hurt! And the turnaround time and compensation is a lot better than for a lot of magazines. Many contests offer feedback as well, which can be beneficial if done right.
Another great thing about contests is that everyone has a story to tell, and there’s a contest for everyone, i.e. it’s not just a game for the professionals. Case in point- I’m currently trying to get the more senior members of my family to open up and challenge themselves by entering some memoir-writing contests, as I know they have some fascinating stories to share.
So, start small, avoid the contests with prohibitive fees, and give it a go! 🙂
***
S. Barb started coming up with stories as a child to cope with boring situations (of which there were many), a habit which followed her into adulthood. She has only recently started sharing her stories with others.
Polishing Gems Helps You Shine
By Mark Holman-Lisney
A successful novelist, who’d built her reputation through winning prestigious short story contests, once told me that each competition entry of hers had been through at least twenty edits. This news dismayed me, as I am the type of writer who enjoys creating and doesn’t enjoy the effort of polishing.
I was that kid who wanted to play guitar but couldn’t be bothered to practice and ended up playing air guitar. Begrudgingly, having learnt my lessons, I agree that competitions require considerable effort, but this has the benefit of improving style and providing a focus on the competitive world of writing.
Rather than thinking about competitions as lotteries, I think of them as challenges which will be good for my writing overall; quests that I must undergo to help me on my way to my goal. Along the way, there will be times I will need to lick my wounds, but there is hope that I will tempt a unicorn to eat from my hand.
Entering competitions can be expensive so perhaps one less beer or coffee per week, whatever your pleasure, can build a competition budget. This can be seen as an investment in your health and potentially an entry on your CV.
Competitions should make you think about your audience: What will the judges want to see? What types of stories won last time? Is this the correct competition for my style of writing?
Considering the audience provides practice for thinking about how to impress agents, and what market your writing is suited to.
Rejection and hope are the flip sides of the writing game. Not making the longlist is depressing, but as the novelist also noted, she eventually won competitions with stories that had previously flunked. Therefore, if you have put the effort into your story have faith that it could be successful elsewhere.
There is always an element of luck as tastes are fickle, but the more preparation you put in, the greater the chance that you will tempt that magnificent horned beast out from the undergrowth.
Good luck.
***
You might have gained the impression that I know a successful novelist, but she shared her wisdom with thirty others in the same workshop. It is all in the telling, right?
Mark Holman-Lisney’s writing is rarely let out into the wild, but he has been published in a few journals and competition anthologies. Often accused of daydreaming, he believes the key to a happy and contented life is to aim low and miss, and therefore is grateful if readers find his writing entertaining or thought provoking.
August Writing Prompts
Here are some questions to get your creative juices flowing.
1. Describe a specific fence—one that you’ve seen. What side of the fence are you standing on? What is being kept in? What is being kept out? Why does it matter?
2. What are the fences and/or boundaries in your life? Do you ever move them? Why or why not?
3. How do you feel about AI? What are the benefits and what are the dangers, especially to creative thought and originality?
4. Write about a time when you believed you had to be dishonest. Did you get away with it? Does it still bother you? What did it cost you?
5. Where do you get your inspiration?
6. How do you lift yourself out of a bad mood?
7. For what in your life do you feel most grateful? Why? If you’re writing fiction, memoir, or creative nonfiction, answer for both your protagonist and antagonist as well as yourself.
8. Imagine you are given $1,000,000 to dispose of anonymously. Who would you give it to and why?
9. If you could change one thing about the world, what change would you make? Why?
10. What do you think you’ll be doing in 2028? What would you like to be doing then?
Want feedback? Want to know what we love in the writing? Share it with us in the comments or through the contact box.
July Writing Prompt
- List the sounds of summer
- List the foods of summer
- List the scents of summer
- List the places you associate with summer
- List 5 memories related to summer
- List rituals associated with July 4
If you made a list for each of these, you have enough topics here to keep you writing all month. Pick one–any one to start. Let one image or event lead you to the next one. If you want to share a scene of your summer collection or one of your lists, please put it in the box below. We’ll only say what we love in the writing.
Writing as Spiritual Practice
By Ronald Chapman
Author of The Dark Side of Grace
Since the release of my latest novel, The Dark Side of Grace, I find myself in discussions with readers and reviewers, and I’m profoundly aware of the effect of story. Often, the effect can only be seen in retrospect, and sometimes that result is profound.
In order to understand why, we have to first appreciate that we are sense-making creatures. We are compelled to make sense of ourselves, our lives, and the physical and ethereal realms in which those unfold. We do so as interpreters, as storytellers. This is at the heart of our spiritual seeking and questing. We may not be aware that we are ever-grappling with that which is emanant from what we cannot see or touch, but our incessant story-making, our propensity for imagining and wondering, and even our dream life, show us we are always seeking to somehow reconcile ourselves to everything.
Even though we often prove to be unreliable narrators, the act of trying to narrate is most powerful and potent. My long-time, late mentor, who I affectionately refer to as Master Samwise, pointed out that when we try to write to narrate, we slow down the impossible stream of thoughts and impressions in order to weave some coherent frame through which we can draw meaning and perhaps even purpose.
The act of writing is the means by which we wrestle with what Alan Watts, the great philosopher-author, proposed that we most fear – the flux that is reality.
Even if this is not enough to capture our attention, as a member of twelve-step recovery groups, I often hear “You have to give it away to keep it.” That’s the proposition that recovery depends upon service to others. Yet my experience tells me it is in wrestling to create narrative out of mesmerizing moments that we can finally grasp, meaning, which allows to hold onto the magical, mystical things, and thus to pass them on to others. (As an aside, perhaps we are all in spiritual recovery.)
What then does this say to us?
Write. Write in journals. Write poetry. Write long-winded expositions. Write blurbs. Write as wishes to be stored for some future date. Write to your children, and grandchildren, and for posterity. Write. Just write.
If it is true that we must make sense, and we must create meaning and purpose, and story-making is the gift from God or gods that allows us to do so, then the greatest thing we can do is to use the gift. Next, we watch and see where it takes us, and what it reveals. We can then come to our senses.
About the author:
As a workshop leader, facilitator, and motivational speaker for 35 years, Ronald Chapman has shown countless people the means to work toward their own growth and transformation through his practice of Seeing True and his Progressive Recovery approach for 12-step recovery. He is the author of the novels A Killer’s Grace and My Name is Wonder: A Tale of Adventure; the recovery guide Progressive Recovery Through the Twelve Steps: Emotionally Sober for Life; and the inspirational books Seeing True: Ninety Contemplations in Ninety Days and What a Wonderful World: Seeing Through New Eyes.
Editor’s Note: Although I haven’t yet read The Dark Side of Grace, I’m quite curious and looking forward to it. A review will appear at a later time.
Always a great resource and full of inspirational ideas. Thank you!
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B. Lynn Goodwin