Have you ever joined a writing contest? If your answer is no, that’s completely fine. Maybe you aren’t confident in your writing, or perhaps you’ve just simply never thought about it. There can be a multitude of reasons why you haven’t, but there are no reasons as to why you shouldn’t start!
Whether you like, love, dislike or outright hate writing, that might not actually matter. Many contests are free to enter, and if you really wanted, you could enter them with minimal effort.
The chances of you winning are zero if you don’t care to try, but what exactly do you lose by trying? Nothing at all! In all honesty, entering writing contests is kind of an awesome thing to do. Many people don’t realize they exist, and lots of them don’t enter!
You would be surprised by how many writing contests have started off with a very small number of contestants before growing over the years. That’s exactly why you should be on the lookout for new ones. When they’re newer and less popular, your chances of winning are greater and you will likely get more in-depth feedback on your work.
You have so much potential; who knows how many you can win? Some contests have an entry fee, but they’re typically inexpensive. Plus, if you’re paying to enter, it may prompt you to actually try harder. This could increase your chances of winning by a landslide!
There are other reasons as to why people may be wary of joining a writing contest. Sometimes the judge(s) can be subjective or even biased because every reader has their own preferences.
I’m not telling you to join these contests because winning could give you a higher rate of book sales or opportunities to achieve some publicity. Although, both of these factors are very feasible, and if you seek to have a future in literature then you should consider them while pondering whether or not you have the courage to submit your work.
If not, and you don’t consider yourself a writer, then that’s not something you have to worry about. However, the opportunities and awards are still open to you! I seldom see writing contests where they require you to be an English major to join, and participating in these tournaments are actually even more beneficial to you than prizes.
Some contests, such as Little Infinite, provide a huge variety of prizes depending on what contest they are hosting. I’ve seen things from books down to fancy trinkets like oracles from well-renowned authors! However, not only do some of these contests, such as NYC Midnight, give entrants a plethora of prizes and an awesome opportunity to express creativity and create worlds of imagination, but a lot of contests also provide feedback in return, broadening your knowledge within your work and giving you the opportunity to develop new writing skills.
At times, these little accomplishments in life are always beneficial to have. When you really think about it, the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to applying. If you participate and end up losing, you might feel disappointed, especially if you were proud of yourself and what you turned in. However, that doesn’t mean your pride should go away; you still accomplished something by trying.
One of the best parts about this is that you can always try again. That’s why so many contests are available. If you are consistent and take in the feedback you receive, you might be surprised to find that engaging in contests will better your academics. What a nice benefit to have from simply writing for fun!
Regardless of being the number one writer, you can still say that you did it, you participated!
Although I strongly encourage you to try something new and give a contest a shot, I hope you realize there is more to it than winning. There are many people who don’t enjoy reading or writing, but for those who do, take these chances to grow in the craft and love what you do.
If you don’t triumph in the end, you will know that you tried, and you will have the opportunity to not only try again as many times as you’d like, but you’ll have the advantage of continuously improving your skills and turning in your best work every time. There is nothing to stress over and no grade to worry about. Find the time in your busy life and give it a shot; I believe in you.
All in all, if you still haven’t considered submitting your work into a contest, that is okay. And if you have, good luck!