WHY ENTER COMPETITIONS?

Writing - I don't do it for the money. Not ever. I have a full-time job and I do that for the money and earn enough to live on and to live quite well, thank you very much. No, writing is something else. Something that makes me feel more than a nobody, a voice at least. And it excites me, as much as reading does, and takes me out of myself - a little it does.

And competitions, also not for the money. Goodness, no. Not to be known either or to feel good - cos, Jesus, you get more knock-backs than you get podium spots, and the knock backs weigh a little heavier than the airy wins. So why, then, if not for those reasons? 

I do it to test the writing - not that a win guarantees a piece is done and good enough. But not getting onto a shortlist or even the longlist can really be a good thing (once I get past the hurt of rejection) and can make me look at a piece with a different eye, a sharper and more critical eye. And I see flaws where I did not see them before. This forces me to work harder on the piece and to love it more and sometimes - just sometimes - a much much better story is the result, and I can send it out there again to retest it.

Of course, you could do all of this within the confines of a cosy writing group or with someone you trust enough to share your work with and whose opinion you value. I have done that before and it bore some good fruit. For a while it did. Now I use competitions.