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Win A Writing Award - And Discover Five Big Hidden Rewards

By John Yeoman

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Published: 01May2011
Word count: 1896
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If you're serious about developing your writing skills, enter your stories for a writing award! You will win valuable cash prizes and, if you persist, you will also enhance your craft skills.

First, you are competing against other writers, and some contestants are very expert. That gives you a motivation to write an excellent story.

It's very easy to read your story in front of a writing group or to share it with your friends and family. They will always find something nice to say about it. But it's another thing entirely to submit your story for an impartial appraisal by an expert contest judge who is not concerned about being nice to you.

If you win a prize, you will know that your story has true value and that your writing skills are very competent. Moreover, every time you write and submit a story you will enhance your story writing ability. It's like taking part in a creative writing college where the fees are trivial but you get real feedback on your skills.

Another valuable benefit you will enjoy by entering a good story writing contest, regardless of the cash prizes, is the thrill of the chase. Will your story win or be rejected?

Every writer wants to win but unless we fail on occasion there's no joy in our success. How boring it would be if every story we wrote won a prize! True, our bank balance would increase but we would die as creative writers.

To write solely for cash can be a soul-destroying chore, as many mediocre writers have found with some dismay.

The more entries you submit, the more professional you become in your attitude. You learn to accept rejection and to shrug it off. Every commercial writer gets used to rejection. For every ten stories we create there will be five disasters. Every author suffers this pain. The remedy is to keep writing!

Of course, when you develop a portfolio of award-winning stories and see them in print, your confidence grows. But you'll also tap into a new community of fellow writers. You'll find friends of like minds to yours. The rewards that can be gained by way of a story writing contest are not entirely pecuniary.

You will realize your true potential as a writer. And you will explore a new feeling of pleasant self-fulfilment.

Moreover, when you become known as a successful writer, your local writing groups will seek you out. They are always looking for seasoned authors to give talks. You will not get very wealthy but $100 for one hour's pleasant work is always helpful.

Not least, they will usually let you sell your books as well. That is where the real revenue lies in public speaking, at the back of the hall. Better still, if you write non-fiction books, folk will often give you their business card or address and ask you to visit them. Suddenly, you have a new client!

Of course, you don't have to sell a book in the hall for this to occur. Just being on a lecture platform, endorsed by your host, will do it. If you are a prolific winner of writing contests, it will bring you local fame and extra cash income, perhaps as a respected coach.

You will find that an informal network exists between the hosts of local societies and conference organizers. A good speaker or interesting writer will be noted and their name passed on. Suddenly, you will be getting lucrative invitations from all kinds of groups. People who listen to your talk will also pass on your name.

You may be invited to write for your local newspaper or a writing magazine or be interviewed by your radio station. That can lead to further profitable appointments.

Once all that happens, you will have discovered the true secret of award winning magic. It does not lie merely in the money you gain from the story contest. That is a welcome bonus. The thrill lies in your new self-esteem. Welcome to the society of happy writers!

Dr John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing, is chairman of the writing award centre Writers' Village. A university tutor in short story writing, he has been for many years a competition judge. Discover hundreds of wily strategies to gain major prizes in his practical manual How to Win Writing Contests for Profit. Claim it for free now at: http://www.writers-village.org/writing_award

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