[stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk

[Donna Hill]

Robert,
Contests are part of putting your work out there for better or worse.
Writers and all artists need thick skin, and I have met very few who come by
that naturally. Some people are crushed to the point of not sharing their
work or not even pursuing it. Others think they are thick-skinned, but they
respond to rejection by essentially saying "who cares what they think" and
fail to use the experience to re evaluate their skills. Anything, whether
it's sharing your writing here, entering a contest or submitting your work
to a publisher, constitutes an exercise that contributes to the
"normalization" of criticism. Writers will get far more rejection than
acceptance, so we all need to embrace that reality and, as Atty says, "write
on."
Donna


-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Leslie Newman
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 11:41 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: [stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk

Eve and others on STYLIST

RE: What do the rest of you writers think on this?

 

The question is: "Curious Robert, why do you say entering a contest is a
risk?" eve

 

Robert's shortish answer: A writing contest is a competition, an activity
where we agree to put ourselves out there to be judged. Granted, the
exposure isn't the same if you compare a writing contest where not many
others know we are actually competing, to taking part in a massive public
sports event. But we know. And so in my mind the question more is --- how do
we help ourselves or one another to take on this risk of submitting our work
to a contest, or to a publisher?

 

(Yeah --- what are the gains from the process working up to the taking of a
risk, to the benefits that come with a successful outcome?)

 

 

robert Leslie Newman

Personall Website-

Adjustmen To Blindness And Visual impairment

http//www.thoughtprovoker.info

NFB Writers' Division, president

http://www.nfb-writers-division.net 

 

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