By Nancy Roe
The American Heritage College Dictionary defines a contest as “a competition, one in which entrants
perform separately and are rated by judges.” A judge is defined as “one who
makes estimates as to worth, quality, or fitness.”
Most writers think of a
contest as a creative challenge under time constraints, assigned elements, and
offering prizes for the winners.
In my opinion, anyone
who has written a book, short story, poem, or blog post has entered a contest.
Instead of trying to ‘out write’ other contestants, you’re trying to win
readers. Instead of a specific panel of judges critiquing your work, you pray
that people will leave a positive review. The most critical judge of your
writing is YOU!
Any type of writing
consists of your valuable time, effort, and marketing. Let’s face it, if you
don’t tell anyone about your writing, how will anyone know you’ve written
anything?
I’ve entered numerous
contests over the past six years. I’ve never won anything, but I keep trying.
Some might say I’m wasting my time. I say I’m challenging myself. A portfolio
with a contest win doesn’t hurt your career, and it’s a fun way to experiment
with your writing.
In January, I entered
the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. There are three rounds of competition
(Round 1: 8 days to write a 2,500-word short story, Round 2: 3 days to write
2,000 words, and Round 3: 24 hours to write 1,500 words). Each round is divided
into heats, and each heat is assigned a genre, subject, and character.
Round 1 consisted of
4,000 writers from around the world. I’m thrilled to announce I placed 1st in
my heat which was assigned spy, a private club, 99-year-old man. I joined 624
other contestants in Round 2. My heat was assigned crime caper, advertising,
and a caterer. I’ll find out the end of May whether I enter Round 3. (Keeping
my fingers crossed.)
Get your creative juices
flowing, have fun writing, and enter a contest! I’d love to hear your story.
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Nancy Roe has self-published six books. Her latest mystery, Black Roses for Cassidy, was released in March 2018. She served as a panelist at the
Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference, speaking about
self-publishing, minor characters, and dialogue. On Nancy’s website, you’ll
find articles on organizing tips, recipes, craft ideas, computer tips, grammar
tips, and unusual holidays. Even her dog, Shadow, writes an article—there has
to be humor, and he’s a funny guy! Nancy is a Midwest farm girl at heart and
currently lives in Tennessee with her husband and four-legged child.
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