I’m in the middle of the summer Writing Battle nanofiction competition. So, I thought it would be a good time to talk about writing competitions. My experience is limited as I haven’t entered a variety of competitions. I got started writing through the Rooglewood Fairytale contest, and started participating in writing battle in autumn of last year. So, I can’t speak to different kinds of writing contests, but I did want to talk about the benefits of writing contests.
Some people are hesitant to join writing contests because it costs money, and chances are you won’t win. But, if you look at it as a method of improving your writing skills, you get a lot of bang for your buck.
Writing contests vary greatly in most aspects, but the two constants are a time and word limits. Having a specific time limit to submit a story forces you to write fast. Though stressful at the time, the pressure is great for forcing you out of writer’s block. The word limit reallly makes you think about every word, and trains you to look for unnecessary words and to pick strong words. This habit then carries over to revisions in your other writing.
Most writing contests will also provide feedback. Critique groups are wonderful because you get to know each other’s writing. But, writing contests give you the opportunity to get feedback from people who are judging solely on that piece of writing. They don’t know if this is your first time trying a new point of view, or genre. They don’t know if your description is much better than it was six months ago. You also don’t have a personal relationship with them that could color their opinions.
Writing Battle is unique in that participants are also judges. So you give and get ten pieces of peer feedback. I find that giving the feedback is just as beneficial as receiving it. When I look closely at others writing, I often find myself critiquing errors I make myself. Knowing peers will be looking at it makes me look at my writing and think about what I would say about it. Again, that carries over to my other writing.
So you think your ready to join a writing contest? Here are some you might find of interest:
Twist in the Tale – Writing Competitions