Happy Monday, all. Hopefully, you’ve had a relaxing and productive weekend.
Chasing Paper Dreams
Have you chased down your paperwork for the week? Create a win-win situation. Looking at mine, all the time slots are full. I knew there was adequate writing on my editorial calendar for the month, but somehow, a niggling desire for something more flagged me down and made me stop.
You see, the funny thing is, all the writing on that calendar has a dream attached to it. It doesn’t matter if the writing is for digital or hard copy, it has a history, a plan, and a dream as part of the package.
Yesterday, I was reading an email when a realization hit me. A decision was made before I got to the end of the call for submissions. Excitement always bubbled up and spills over when I peruse coming deadlines for short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The notice concentrated on competitions for those categories. I found about twenty that had potential.
Some had no cash prize, but they had readers and byline credits. Others had moderate cash attached, readers, and byline credits. The rest had really good cash prizes, readers, credits, and potential for additional contracts in future.
And the piece de resistance is that none of these had entry fees. Yep, you saw that right. No Fee.
It’s a win-win situation.
My stash pile has work that can go to several of the contests. My entry needs come down to revision, angle, and submission. Any competition-specific writing for flash fiction and short non-fiction can come from my story-generating idea list. All of the deadlines work for the current calendar.
As a result, more dreams are created because someone out there wants to see new (to them) writers and new material for their venue. Not just that, but any piece that doesn’t win is available for submission to a magazine or journal. Believe it or not, even Prada has an annual, short fiction competition which is open now.
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Some might wonder what small, seemingly insignificant, contests have to do with real writing. Entering competitions serves several purposes for all writers. It keeps their ideas fresh and their angles sharp. It forces the writer to stretch, sometimes outside their comfort zone, and to develop a more flexible writing style.
Next, it allows the writer to concentrate efforts for a short time on getting a different kind of recognition. You may think that refers to accolades. And the potential is there for that too, but my statement actually refers to personal recognition. Sometimes a writer needs to do something strictly for herself. She needs to know that she has the guts to put her writing up against someone else’s efforts in a controlled environment—that of a judged competition.
Above all, though, the practice of doing contests forces the writer to work to strict guidelines without deviation. Many writers experience a certain leniency in their compliance to guidelines after a while, especially if they’ve been publishing on any level for a few years. Contests force the issue. Knowing that hard work will be thrown out willy-nilly, without being looked at because of a tiny infraction, keeps a writer sharp.
In the meantime, life goes on as usual.
Yes, other work goals will get done between now and the end of July, which is the final competition deadline in this section. Those projects are already in progress. These contests can be used to fill time that otherwise would be wasted. It’s amazing how much idea/writing work can get done while in a doctor’s waiting room or waiting for the waitress to bring your order.
Speaking of which, I have an appointment. Gotta run. Take a quick look around the cybersphere for some competitions to consider. If you come up dry, check in here. Sign up for the newsletter and have a great time making dreams. You’ll soon find more possibilities than you’ve ever dreamed possible. Good luck.
Have a great week, folks. Keep those words flowing.
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