Why do you, or don't you, take part in writing contests?

[big soft moose]

I've disqualified myself as the owner. I used to like them a lot when the prompt hit me. I'd either see the whole story in 10 seconds or wouldn't bother. Kind of miss that. Maybe I'll amend that policy.

There was a time long ago in a forum far far away when Wreybies was accused of cheating by an asshat because he was the admin and therefore clearly he'd done something nefarious in order to win...this of course was BS, but it did lead to a staff don't enter vibe which persisted up until round about the time that i took over as admin and said, if i want to enter i will... i largely don't but thats to do with time pressures not any rule that i can't

 

[CatrionaGrace]

You mean, move to Canada?

Unnecessary. I live at a mile above sea level in Wyoming. Corbin Dallas lied about his meat popsicleness, but it can be a real thing here if one isn't careful.

 

[Luxuria]

in ref of EWF he also had a huge tantrum about how the contests were rigged which was why his work never won... I can't help feeling that his ahh work might have been the common denominating factor in that

Eek. Even I am not that bad. At least I am aware of my flaws and that I need to work on them.

 

[Set2Stun]

Not to derail, but I always love to see Fifth Element references (my personal favourite film)

 

[Clutch]

I write in the contests as motivation because it's the only time I ever write. I like the deadline, and the forced topic.

I mostly enter the flash contests though...I find I'm a better writer when I'm forced into the tight constraints of that word limit. It seems like when I'm given the larger word counts of the short story contests I tend to come up with plots that are too large to finish by the deadline.

Knowing the themes ahead of time doesn't inspire me in and of itself...I won't write for a theme months in advance of a contest. I still need that deadline to motivate me.

Is that weird?

 

[Set2Stun]

Knowing the themes ahead of time doesn't inspire me in and of itself...I won't write for a theme months in advance of a contest. I still need that deadline to motivate me.

Is that weird?

Not weird to me! I prefer not knowing the theme until the clock starts ticking. It's part of the challenge for me, and yeah, the deadline sure is a great motivator !

 

[Seven Crowns]

It's funny how the mind starts thinking and ideas start from some of those prompts. Some days, I just can't think of much. But give me a sentence someone else has written and I can turn it into a scene. Then what you do is go back and erase their sentence. Now it's all yours!

 

[Rath Darkblade]

There were several such incidents over the years, the underlying problem was a small group of members who had a very high opinion of their own work and worth and set themselves up as arbiters of what was 'good writing' ... one of them while arguing with me about why he shouldnt be banned proclaimed that we should be grateful to him for donating his writing to the site... shortly after that i banned him. (all said clique left or were banned in the end)

in ref of EWF he also had a huge tantrum about how the contests were rigged which was why his work never won... I can't help feeling that his ahh work might have been the common denominating factor in that

Sigh. Can we please all collectively agree to stop taking our own work so seriously that we must reflexively attack anyone who even tries to help us with it? Is that too much to ask for?

I know us writers can be a moody bunch, and I know we work hard on our own stories (and sometimes even consider them our "babies"). But ...
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Personally, I don't always take part in writing contests because I already have one large, overarching WIP I'm working on, and when I'm done drafting a new chapter, I prefer to take time out from writing and do something else instead.

Other times, I just don't have anything to say about a contest's topic, and that's fine. Not all of us can write about everything all the time, nor should we expect ourselves to. (You know what they call an author who writes about everything all the time? A paid professional ... who will shortly, and almost certainly, either burn out or run out of things to say).

 

[Naomasa298]

Sigh. Can we please all collectively agree to stop taking our own work so seriously that we must reflexively attack anyone who even tries to help us with it? Is that too much to ask for?

You weren't on the forum when exweedfarmer was. This does not apply to him.

 

[Luxuria]

Sigh. Can we please all collectively agree to stop taking our own work so seriously that we must reflexively attack anyone who even tries to help us with it? Is that too much to ask for?

I try. But also, with the contests, I become perfectionistic. Because it says to upload the 'BEST' you can do. Which for me, means angonizing over the work until I feel like it's ready. For example, the Christmas Carol story I submitted on the Old Forum was 6-7 Drafts/edits. Sure, this might be good for novels, but it's so exhausting for a short story contest.

 

[Naomasa298]

I try. But also, with the contests, I become perfectionistic. Because it says to upload the 'BEST' you can do. Which for me, means angonizing over the work until I feel like it's ready. For example, the Christmas Carol story I submitted on the Old Forum was 6-7 Drafts/edits. Sure, this might be good for novels, but it's so exhausting for a short story contest.

Think of it this way - what you get out of that process is a finished product. Something complete. With a novel, you could do that for 20-30 chapters and still not have one. My satisfaction comes from actually finishing something. I don't get it often enough, though.

I do perhaps one draft, and maybe 2 edit phases, although I will also revise the first draft as I go. That's probably why I don't win anything.

 

[Set2Stun]

Starting to feel like not overthinking things is kind of a writing superpower. Sometimes I'll write a flash piece in 2-3 hours, skim over it a couple of times to catch word repetition, unintentional rhymes, etc. and then just post it. I do not give a shit if someone, or everyone, doesn't care for it.

 

[Seven Crowns]

Starting to feel like not overthinking things is kind of a writing superpower. Sometimes I'll write a flash piece in 2-3 hours, skim over it a couple of times to catch word repetition, unintentional rhymes, etc. and then just post it. I do not give a shit if someone, or everyone, doesn't care for it.

There's something to be said for that. Trusting yourself isn't always easy.

 

[Set2Stun]

Decided to make a post about it lol

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014180811554054573

 

[Rath Darkblade]

There's something to be said for perfectionism, of course. But an author letting others look over his/her work afterwards is always a good idea: they could catch things you might have missed (e.g. a misspelling or two, a grammatical error, or even something factual).

This is not a reflection on the author. We're all mortals. We all get tired and miss things. We also have our own experiences and our own knowledge that leads us to suggest things to others (only suggestions - there's a huge difference between "Maybe you could ..." and "You must..." etc... unless the suggestion is for a misspelled word, etc.)

Maybe it's just me, but I've been working with several critique partners for about six/seven years, and I'm very grateful to them for helping me. I learned and improved so much simply by listening and reading.

 

[Stuart Dren]

There's something to be said for perfectionism, of course. But an author letting others look over his/her work afterwards is always a good idea: they could catch things you might have missed (e.g. a misspelling or two, a grammatical error, or even something factual).

This is not a reflection on the author. We're all mortals. We all get tired and miss things. We also have our own experiences and our own knowledge that leads us to suggest things to others (only suggestions - there's a huge difference between "Maybe you could ..." and "You must..." etc... unless the suggestion is for a misspelled word, etc.)

Maybe it's just me, but I've been working with several critique partners for about six/seven years, and I'm very grateful to them for helping me. I learned and improved so much simply by listening and reading.

I reckon it's about whether it's been solicited or not. When people want their entries critiqued, they haul them to the workshop after the winner's announced, which works just fine. No need to clog up contest threads with post mortems, and especially so if they're coloured with "This didn't win because of x and y." which I think is a lame way to go about it. Actually, yeah, the quantity of votes adds a pretense that could be leveraged in a vanity-driven critique to no one's benefit at all.

I'm fine with unsolicited writing advice, but I have an entrenched take-it-or-leave-it philosophy shored up by my own judgement (of which I have an intrinsic trust for some reason). [Further] I'm so distant from my work that I'm already speeding away from it in a Ford Bronco before the pixels dry. Deprecating arrogance? Maybe. Or maybe we don't have to have a term for everything.

I wouldn't expect everyone to have the same attitude though, especially if they aren't fully confident in their opinions on craft, or life is just an ass to them and people routinely punch down at them at every god damn opportunity. Or they're just conceited, which, hell, writers got a right to be. We earned it for picking the dumbest pastime.

 

[defaux]

No need to clog up contest threads with post mortems, and especially so if they're coloured with "This didn't win because of x and y." which I think is a lame way to go about it. Actually, yeah, the quantity of votes adds a pretense that could be leveraged in a vanity-driven critique to no one's benefit at all.

Hmm. That is not the type of discourse I had in mind, and it would be less than productive. I can see though, that the context would easily lead feedback to being comparative.

I'm fine with unsolicited writing advice, but I have an entrenched take-it-or-leave-it philosophy shored up by my own judgement

I somehow always had the impression that anything I posted was open for discussion, and as with any feedback, take it or leave it based on understanding that others are not always right, either.

When people want their entries critiqued, they haul them to the workshop after the winner's announced, which works just fine

Perhaps, knowing now that this is the accepted way to do it.

 

[Stuart Dren]

I somehow always had the impression that anything I posted was open for discussion, and as with any feedback, take it or leave it based on understanding that others are not always right, either.

Historically and evidently not a universal trait for all writers at all stages. I don't blame them, either. It's just being human.

 

[Maycontainthunder]

I tried a couple of contests but my writing was so poor I came last.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I tried a couple of contests but my writing was so poor I came last.

That happened to me once. Badge of honor! Anyone can be mediocre....