Topic: Writing competitions

On the website for a well known Irish publisher, I saw a list of hints and tips for budding writers. It encouraged entering competitions but said if you are not winning them or getting mentioned then you should probably accept that you are wasting your time, or words to that effect. About five years ago I entered dozens of competitions and got nowhere. It really knocked my confidence and I didn't write at all for a long time. Are competitions really where it's at?

Competitions are all well and good and it is nice when you win them. But submitting work to magazines on a consistent basis will eventually get you known amongst editors and if you are developing well as a writer, editors will start to give you a little feedback in their rejection letters. Eventually, you will start placing stories.

My view is that you should be submitting the bulk of your stories to magazines and occasionally enter competitions - like our Writing Spirit competition :-)

I'm not big into the competitions myself, unless you count trying to get published as a competition (an easy argument to make).  

I would certainly agree with the comments above.  I don't usually enter writing competitions, but if you do place in one, it's a bullet for your resume, and something that might get the notice of an editor when you submit your work, saying you won the "I Write more gooder" competition in 2010 or whatever.  Well, maybe not THAT particular competition, but you get the drift.

Waste of time to enter competitions?  No.
Just also put your work in front of editors.

.02, give or take a penny.

It sounds a bit simplistic to say that if you are not winning competitions, you are no good.  I think, though, that submitting to both competitions and journals can give some indication of your progress - While 'winners' in both categories are gonig to be at least partly influenced by the editor/judge's individual preferences, you know you are getting somewhere when you start getting shortlisted, or occasionally, picked.  I also spent years getting nowhere - very demoralising - but did eventually get one published,  and since then I have had other successes - I think I just reached a point where my writing had developed enough.  Did you read that piece of research last year that worked out that to become really good at anything, you have to have put in some set number of hours (a dauntingly high one).  It sounds self evident, in a way, but they based it on comparison of those with evident talent at a certain age, and comparison of which ones became outstanding, and which did not.  While I think writing is, to some extent, an innate ability in certain people,  it does not go anywhere without constant working and polishing of your skills.

What we all need to remember is that competition judges (and magazine editors) are a subjective lot. What might look like nothing to one might well light another's fire.

In the past, I've had stories rejected by magazines and journals only to place them (often with no additional rewriting) in better journals. The same goes for competitions. It would be wrong to assume, I think, that editors are always right. Rejection is part of the deal. Maybe if you have had a story rejected say, twenty times, it's time to work some more on it or put it aside in favour of something else. But keep going. The important thing is not taking no as the definitive answer.

I think, by and large, competitions are good if you can win or make the shortlist. They give you a bragging point for your cv, but then so does getting published in a decent mag. And, of course, the prize money is always welcome…

The point is, keep writing. If the stuff is good enough, eventually it will find a home. But you must keep submitting.

I'd only bother sending stuff off to a competition if part of the prize was getting to have your piece published in some way. This is more important to me than the prize money, getting stuff out there. Mostly I've been sending work off to magazines, without much success. But rejection only makes me want to try harder and do better.

I've only ever entered one competition, which was for a writing bursary, which I won. Rejection, now, is another thing altogether.

I haven't tried any mag submissions in a long time but perhaps now is the time to try again.
I'm a bit of an optimistic and think that getting published be it internet, magazine, or journal counts as maxdog said, getting your name out there is important.
I have entered competitions and got a little feed back that is encouraging and kept me going but the big fish has eluded me.

The R work does not get mentioned in my house, we avoid the topic and hope that it will flower in time to the Yes word.

Maria

I must say I have had some sucess at publishing in mags and regional papers but when it comes to comps Ive not had any success, but I always use comps for themes or ideas for my stories and later find a place for them. So comps have their place too, after all, its all individual really.    

I have never entered a writing competition and to be honest, I dont know if I would. Im conscious that there will be a lot of people entering these things, because lets face it. Everyone thinks they are the next James Herbert or Stephen King. People like us however, who take the time to read and comment each others work are of a different breed. We take pleasure in writing and dream of one day seeing our manuscripts or poems in print in Waterstones or Easons.

In reply to the OP, I would like to say that winning isnt everything. And victory is seldom a sign of quality. I was a prolific reader at one time, and I bought a book on the basis that it won the Booker prize one year. Was it any good? Actually, it was just ok. In my opinion the book was more suited to being adapted as a TV movie or similar, as had the authors other works. Yet it won the Booker prize. Why? Well, I for one dont know, but Ive read many far more engaging pieces of prose than this book.

Ive had articles published in fan-zines, and also written articles for internet car forums most of which have been widely praised. Ive even had a letter publish in the Evening Herald, although that was some time ago! For what its worth, I think that for a publisher to tell someone they are wasting their time in writing for a competition is shocking. Thats almost akin to the principal of a school telling a student they were wasting their time coming to classes

In my humble opinion, we use competitions to hone our skills and develop our talent. Dont take it personally that you dont win or place in a competition. As was already mentioned, judges are subjective and everyones opinion will differ. Perhaps if the competition provides a topic to write on you could use those topics to write something and simply not enter. See if the topics can generate your words. Flex your creative muscle.

I've just been published in a few journals but haven't entered any competitions. I was happy to be published because one journal specialises in genre fiction which I write and another involves a certain amount of competition to get in and has a good standard.

Perhaps competitions would be useful if you entered a good few and saw a pattern of being placed. That would tell you that your work is probably good and provide encouragement. It is subjective though and the criteria used might overlook something notable about your work which it would be nice to hear. The main thing is to keep writing and improve by using other methods such as books and sites like this.

I did win the monthly competition here - does that count? lol

Competitions give one the boost to keep on writing. If one won a competition, that could be parallel in doing very well in or even topping an exam. Its an internal motivator for all authors, published, experienced and budding ones alike. Not wining a competition should never discourage anyone but motivate them to try even harder in perfecting their talent. Someday, someone will notice your efforts.

No its not! Here is a sentence am going to give you that will help honestly. 'Write what is within you and if you feel as if its your air to breath' then you doing the right thing, if you don't get a warm fuzzy or inspirational feeling then your not doing the right thing.