Why Should I Enter a Writing Competition?

Are you unsure about entering one of our writing competitions or one of the many writing contests featured on our site? Maybe you’ve never entered an online writing contest before, or maybe it’s just been a while. You can no doubt come up with lots of reasons why you shouldn’t throw your hat into the ring but here we are giving you plenty of reasons why you should.

The much-revered former US President Theodore Roosevelt wrote that:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

We would readily admit that the 26th President of the United States was probably thinking about greater, more daring deeds than entering a writing contest when he wrote these now-famous words. However, the underlying principle remains pertinent. In essence, what have you got to lose? Even at the worst, if your entry fails to win a prize or earn commendation or make it onto a longlist, at least you have dared to dream and have been bold and will never have that nagging, unanswerable, question, “what if?”.

Competitions Are Fun

Perhaps the main reason to enter your work into one of the writing competitions is that the whole process can be fun. First of all you have to decide which competition to enter because there are numerous options including those for flash fiction, poetry, short stories and novels. Then you need to plan your piece, possibly working with friends who might enter as well to help each other along and offer advice and encouragement.

Once you have sent your entry you then have the excitement and anticipation as the judging process takes its course. Will your poem or story resonate and claim one of the prizes or at least make the shortlist? This part of the process can feel like waiting for Christmas as a child but there is no doubt your excitement will build and grow as first the deadline for entry passes and then the announcement of the winners arrives not long after.

You Might Win

As with most tournaments and competitions, there will be more people who do not win than the small number that do claim one of the prizes. However, for all that you might believe you have no chance, it is a simple truism that you may in fact win! Every one of our competitions has multiple prizes (as is the case with most contests run by others that we feature on the site) and whilst the standard of entries is likely to be very high, judging is always subjective to some degree.

So, wherever you are on your journey as a writer, you have a chance to win, because maybe your story will be the one that resonates with the judges. Even if you don’t quite manage to claim first prize, perhaps you will win one of the secondary awards, which is still a huge achievement. To state things as clearly as possible, most competitions have multiple prize-winners and if you enter, one of them might be you!

Entering Makes You Write

Epictetus, the Greek stoic, said “If you want to be a writer, write” and that sort of logic is tricky to argue with. It is not always easy to make oneself sit down and write but entering a competition is perhaps the best way to motivate yourself. Once you decide to enter Roosevelt’s arena and risk getting dust, sweat and blood on your face, you simply know that you have to write.

Having that competition deadline there is a great motivation and if you struggle to sit down and actually write, yet still aspire to be a writer, then entering a competition may be the nudge you need. Once you take that step and begin to write you might just find the whole process enjoyable and keep on writing and then, as Epictetus tells us, you will be a writer.

Let Others See Your Work

It is all very well following the fine advice of Epictetus but if nobody ever reads your work, are you really a writer? We would argue, strongly, that you are and if you want to write solely for your own pleasure then that is a very fine reason to pick up the pen. Or your Mac. However, allowing others to see your work is a key step if you want to become a writer as the term is more usually understood.

Showing what you have written to friends or relatives can be daunting and many aspiring writers fear the judgement or criticism of others. By entering your work into one of our competitions you can take that first step towards going public but in a very safe, anonymous way (you can even use a pen name if you like). In addition, by entering you will get some idea of where you are in terms of your craft.

Even if you have shown previous work to family members, friends or even people from a writing group, and they have been positive, it is easy to retain a nagging suspicion that these readers of your work are just being kind. Should you choose to enter one of our competitions and be fortunate enough to claim a prize or receive a commendation then this external validation that yes, you can write, you do have talent, is a wonderful feeling. It might even provide you with the added motivation to write that novel that has always resided in your soul and mind or to finish that short story you began years ago.

Of course, that is not to say that if your entry does not win one of our awards (or any other) it is no good. As we have said, in most contests of any nature there are more “losers” than winners and many of the entries we receive may not finish in the top three or five and yet they may still be superb. Ultimately, though, we come back to where we began: what have you got to lose?