[stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk

Tue Feb 21 14:37:39 UTC 2012

Eve, send out LOTS of ships, and watch to see what returns to you! :)

The ones that will suit you best will return fully loaded with your 
treasure!

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eve Sanchez" <3rdeyeonly at gmail.com>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 10:49 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Entering a Writing Contest is a risk

>I love all of the discussion. So what I am understanding from this is that
> the risk is to whether or not we may get our egos bruised. Well, I say
> bruise away. Thanks all. At first I thought Robert meant something more
> sinister as being a risk.  haha Eve
>
> On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Lynda Lambert
> <llambert at zoominternet.net>wrote:
>
>> 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@**nfbnet.org<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@**nfbnet.org<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<http://www.nfb-writers-division.net/>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ______________________________**_________________
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>>
>>
>> ______________________________**_________________
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