The state writing convention I attended this past weekend ended with awards given to those who had placed in the annual writing contest. Members and non-members entered several categories before the deadline date in mid-June. Then they waited until this first weekend in October to hear the results. In the interim, they could not submit the same pieces for publication. No, they could submit, but the piece could not be published prior to the awards ceremony.
To send your work and know that it would be months before you knew if it won or not and had to wait to submit for publication is something that takes some pondering before committing. Takes a bit of that patience thing.
I watched as winner after winner was announced, and if the writer was in attendance, he/she went forward, received their certificate and check and then had a photo taken with the winners of that category. I noticed that some names were called multiple times. I pondered a bit on what made them winners. Several of the winners this year had won in previous years, too. (Yours truly won first place in the Memoir/Inspirational category.)
Admittedly, they would not have won if their writing was not in an excellent frame. I think there were other things that made them winners, as well.
1. Determination: If you want to be a contest winner or have your submitted work published, you have to be determined. You need to set goals and work toward them. Keep them in mind day after day.
2. Passion for writing: You need to find a passion for writing and keep it alive day after day. None of this, writing for a week, then quit for a month. There can be no wishy-washy writers who can claim to be winners.
3. Patience: Victory in war is not won in short times. Athletes don't reach their prime performances at the beginning. Writers don't start gathering prizes and publications as soon as they start writing. It takes time, and we are often antsy waiting for something good to happen.
4. Believe in self: Our poster quote today fits here. I attended a panel of writers who had published novels. They all told of the extreme number of rejections they'd had before publication finally happened. I'm not talking 10 or 15, some were using numbers like 70 and 80 as the number of rejections they'd received. What made them keep submitting? They believed in the book they'd written. They believed in themselves. I cannot stress how important this is. If you believe in yourself and are patient, good things will happen.
5. Submitting: You cannot win a contest or accomplish publication if you do not submit your work. What is the worst thing that can happen when you submit? Not placing in the contest or receiving a rejection from an editor. Your feelings are a bit hurt, but life goes on and so should your writing. Writers need to develop a hard shell. Let those losses and rejections slide off your back and move on.
6. Good Writing: Besides all the things noted above, you need to acquire the skills of good writing. You do that by reading about writing in books and blogs, doing writing exercises, and writing on a regular basis. You need to note what qualities successful writers show in their work and work at doing the same.
The list above shows what you need to be a winner in a contest or to win publication. You can't wave a magic wand and be showered with all of them. It takes work and time. Grade yourself on the 6 qualities above. Where are you the A student and where do you need to improve?
Great list! You are so concise.
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