Contests and Me #MFRWauthor

I haven’t entered too many contests in my writing time, but I’m happy to say I’ve done reasonably well in the contests I have entered. Contests are a great way to receive feedback on your work without sending it to an editor or agent, and often the feedback can help you improve your work. This is true mainly because you will generally get that feedback from more than one person. If one agent or editor says, “Your characters need more conflict,” well, you can always brush that off as one person’s opinion. (Not that you should but you could.) However, if four out of five judges tell you that, it’s not something you can let roll off your back. It’s a pretty sure thing you need to take a second look at your conflict.

The thing I’ve enjoyed most about contests, though, is when I’ve judged them. It gives you the chance to see lots of different writers’ work—from really good to…maybe needs some work. And it’s not like grading papers, which, after 12 years of teaching high school boys I’ve done enough of. It’s like summarizing the good and bad points but without having to redline each and every sentence. Plus, you might spot a problem that reminds you of something in your own work, but which you can’t see in your own work. Judging is a win-win!

Based on my experience, I’d say we should all enter contests and volunteer to judge them, too. It can’t help but help us either way.

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee
Naval Maneuvers When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!