[stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk

Lynda Lambert llambert at zoominternet.net
Mon Feb 20 19:06:31 UTC 2012 

Yes, this is how I am as well.
I think of it as "casting my bread on the waters, and waiting to see what 
comes back to me." A biblical idea.

Also, I remember reading, I think Dale Carnegie, but not sure, said that how 
can we expect our ship to come in, when we have never sent any out in the 
first place. So, every time I go to the mailbox, I will say to my husband, 
One of my ships may be out there in the mailbox. It is absolutely true. If 
we don't put it OUT in QUANTITY we will reap nothing at all.

I love sales. I have always loved high end sales and used to work for Neiman 
Marcus, in Palo Allto, California in the early 90s. Every time I stepped 
inside the threshold of the door where we employees came in, I would feel so 
excited - I was going to HELP people, and enjoy them, and help them get the 
things they needed that day. They would leave with a smile, and I was 
smiling because they were so happy, too.

I feel this way when I sell a painting, or have an award given to my work, 
or get a poem published. I know the publisher or buyer is happy with what I 
have given them and I am thrilled to have done it.

In art and writing (it is all art, to me) it is important to be GENEROUS and 
to SHARE what you have to share.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk


> Lynda,
> I think of the ratio of work sent out to positive results -- in writing 
> and
> in music -- as akin to sales. In sales, if you get 5% from a cold call
> campaign or bulk mailing, you are considered to be doing extremely well. 
> For
> me personally, I don't invest myself emotionally in any one attempt -- be 
> it
> a contest, agents or publications. What I try to do is to work on getting
> stuff out there. If I set a goal of contacting 100 literary agents, for
> instance, who have a proven track record and an interest in my genre
> (fantasy), then I first view success as working toward that goal. If 
> someone
> rejects me, that too is a success, since a significant number of 
> rejections
> are typical for any writer.
> Donna
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Lynda Lambert
> Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 7:08 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk
>
> This is all very true, Donna.
> In fine art, if you get in a show 50 percent of the time, you are doing so
> well it is almost unbelievable. And, that is after years of doing your 
> art,
> and with your degrees, etc. It is always a risk every time you enter your
> art in a show. ALWAYS. It never goes away. And, it is not a matter of
> saying, "well, it is just that judges opinion." It is much more than that.
> All judges have a broad experience at looking at art, or reading written
> entries. There is an overall sense of whether or not something "works." 
> It
> does not matter what that particular judge's personal likes or dislikes 
> are.
>
> When it comes to judging, they weigh each thing for what it is not what 
> they
>
> personally do in their own work. Two or three judges can work on selecting
> the same body of entries. And, in the end there will be a lot of agreement
> in the things they choose because they are looking at the big picture of 
> the
>
> craft itself.
>
> If you don't put it out for this kind of critique, you really won't grow 
> as
> an artist. It is very important to begin to put your work before your 
> peers
> in this way.  Just like here on this list.  It is good to get feedback for
> all of us.
>
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 2:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk
>
>
>> 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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