Entering A Contest
A Secret in her
Eyes
Story in a Contest
By Alicya Xanders
Writing is hard, and there’s a long road ahead of a writer, so settle into your authentic identity as soon as you can. I have been digging my heels in for writing competitions, since I was a teenager. Now I am going on to the next level. I try to dedicate more time to them. And you know what they say… practice makes you perfect!
Yes, it does! There’s a beautiful quote which always helped me recognize my worth: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you’re right.”
Winning an award is a friendly pat on the back—you’re doing something right, and the reviews below your work are not just out of politeness. Mark your achievements through sharing the news with your readers and friends.
Entering a contest makes you a recognizable writer, and can give you a title of AUTHOR, which is a dream of every writer. It is also a suitable way of gaining exposure. Readers comments not only help you feel more like a writer, but it also signals to agents and publishers that you have a track record.
” Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you’re right.”
There are some wonderful benefits of entering a contest, I learned:
DeadLines
You’re always against the clock when you enter a contest. But isn’t a deadline a powerful motivator? I think you’ll get more work done when you have a hard cut-off, and can finish that story in about a time limit you never ever imagined you can. And also get the idea of how long you take to write and edit a piece. it can provide yourself with spare time to review your work.
Maybe giving yourself a realistic time frame to complete and submit your work will give you a real advantage.
Word-count
Word counts are hard to manage. But it can make you a better writer. If you practice more, they’ll become your friend. Anyone can overwrite and waffle, but editing is where the magic happens. Managing word counts not only ensures that they will consider your piece, but ensure that your story is sharp. There are a lot of writing softwares that manage word-count. You just have to google them.
Hope of Victory
You might win the contest; you also enter into competitions because you want to be recognized. There’s nothing more satisfying than someone says congratulation. We love it !
Or maybe you’ll get a prize. This might not happen straight away, but it is something to aim for and every time you enter into a list you should celebrate. It’s an enormous achievement. Getting work highlighted by a judge tells you you’re heading in the right direction.
Winning an award is a friendly pat on the back—you’re doing something right, and the reviews below your work are not just out of politeness. Mark your achievements, through sharing the news with others.
Criticism
A writer who wants to know the worth of his writings needs to learn to take criticism. It might be difficult at first, but that’s fine. I think a writer should be realistic to take criticism. Feedback will make you a better writer.
Judges sometimes offer feedback which can be valuable; they’ll probably be honest with you. It can be tough things that could hurt you, but you don’t have to act on every advice but always think it through.
Writers can benefit themselves by entering writing competitions. Enter them because you hope to win but also enter them to hone your craft and to validate yourself as a writer, both in your own eyes and in everyone else’s.
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4 Comments
Salman
I hope you got good results. Your cover looks incredible. Good luck Alicya.
Alicya Xanders
Thanks you.
Salman
I am sorry, I missed that. I hope you got good results. Your cover looks incredible. Good luck Alicya.
Alicya Xanders
Yeah, I like it too.