I Am A Writer

In writing there are winners and losers.

I’m both. Most writers are. Heck most humans are.

And really this goes for every aspect of writing… There are writers who are winners with story concepts. The writing is so good that bidding wars for the book occur and there are writers who can’t sell their story to their own mothers.

There are writers who get their indie published books out there and publishers coming knocking because sales are so amazing. And writers who, again, can’t sell even one copy to their family and friends.

In this instance though I want to talk about the winners and losers of writing contests.

Now, don’t get me wrong I think writing contests, the legitimate writing contests where some judge, somewhere, must actually read your work and critique it, then score it, are great. In every way. Contests in general are a way to get your work out there without the time and expense of publishing it first. Though many organizers are adding contests for the already published works, many still want to judge those unpublished pieces. So contests are good. At least those that aren’t the “vote for me on [name the social media platform]”. Stay away from those, they are not much more than popularity contests, and have nothing to do with writing talent.

Know, not every contest is good though. Most that are sanctioned by Genre Guilds are fair. Most… (not there for the Sad Puppy drama several years back? Just be thankful and move on). There can always be that one time where for whatever reason something, let's say less than ethical, went on. So vet contests before entering. And should a contest turn out to have issues… don’t take the results too seriously. Heck don’t take any contest too seriously, even ones that are won. Because contests, like agents, like editors, like publishers, all work based on subjective understandings. The whole one editor's trash is another editor's movie op.

Still, with contests there can only be one winner, which means everyone else is a loser. As my husband says, (he’s wickedly competitive, I’m not) second place is first place loser (not sure where that leaves third place and honorable mention, but...). And when it comes to having one's attempt at creating a novel judged as not “good enough” it can feel… Well it sucks. It sucks hard. It flat hurts. It hurts a writer’s pride, confidence and willingness to put work out there. I know, it’s happened to me. Within the span of two months I had a series of books (four) take first place and I had a brand new, unpublished work, judged as “a good first attempt at a writing career”. Seriously, with more than twenty books under my belt, two genre awards, a USA Today label, and several other accredited accolades, someone thought my submission was so bad that I was an amateur writer.

Now I could say something I suspect about that specific contest, and evidence is showing my suspicions may be very close to fact, but I have no proof that supports what I believe, so I will not lament over it. What will I do? Well…. I’ll do what I suggest all us losers do when we get a harsh rejection of our talents.

I’m going to give the criticism some real consideration. I’m going to go back and look at all the things that bothered the judge. I’m going to ask myself, did it only bother the judge because on this particular day the overworked, underappreciated, PAID, umpire in the game of novels got served the wrong coffee at their morning shop stop? Did this referee of the word smiths lose their wallet, keys or cell phone before they sat down and read my submission? Was it just another crappy Monday? Therefore, causing a bias of disinterest, or dismissal in the reading? Or, was my writing just THAT bad?

The next thing I’ll do is all see if anything at all, regardless of how I received the judgment of the works I received, said is useful. And by useful I mean do I actually NEED to change mass amounts of my story to make it a relatable, salable book people want to read. And if I find the answer to be yes, no, or maybe, I’ll sit down and make those changes to see if it improves or wrecks the story.

Meanwhile, though, I’ll take pride in the fact I did enter the contest. It does take courage for a writer, any artist really, to put their work before strangers and say, “hey tell me, HONESTLY, what you think”. I’ll continue to believe in myself and my writing, not because I’m vain, but because I still ENJOY everything about the process. Even those painful parts of it. And I’ll look again for another contest to enter so I can go through all that angst again. Because while being a loser hurts, being a winner is fun as heck. And the same as when I wrote that very first sentence and the next, then had to delete an entire scene and start again, all the way to when I wrote ‘The End’, same as when I got the rejection letter, and then a publishing contract, the same as when I got no reviews, then bad reviews, then great reviews, it’s all about staying in the game.

This is just how writers need to approach every “set back”. Look at the criticism, ask if it's fair, if it fits, and if it's at all helpful, then use it. Use that criticism to become a stronger writer, a stronger artist, a stronger person. Stay in the game and play at it better next time.

I am a writer, my game is writing and I am both a winner and a loser…

and that’s how it should be for everyone, no matter the contest.

I Am A Writer

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Be Safe Marie Hall