It’s there in black and white, the longlist and your name’s not on it. The disappointment sinks you. That voice starts nagging at your ear. ‘You’re fooling yourself about this writing malarkey; you must be, else you’d be up there too.’
Somehow you manage to scrape your fried-egg-ego off the floor and force yourself to start typing something new.
Why do we do it, eh? Why do we waste 8 quid, 10 quid, sometimes 25 quid when, with more and more people entering writing competitions, we stand such a miniscule chance of being one of the chosen few.
I’ve been on both sides of the fence – what writer hasn’t? – but getting placed in this year’s Writers’ and Artists’ Short Story Competition was just the way to do it, I reckon. Enter the story then completely forget about the date that the results are revealed. I found out that my story Antelope had made the final 19 when another writer Tweeted me to tell me.
That’s so rarely the way it happens, right? I mean, how can you score through a date that’s so firmly etched into your brain?
So when the big day arrives and you discover your name’s not on the longlist, resist the urge to whack yourself over the head with a saucepan for not being quite good enough. Maybe you are, but if your work doesn’t strike a chord with the early readers in competitions, you’re out. Maybe you almost got through – who knows? – or maybe you just don’t have the same writing tastes as the judges.
Case in point – last year I was lucky enough to be in the Bristol Short Story Prize shortlist. Here’s a confession – I entered the same story, albeit a much shorter version, into the Yeovil Prize, and it wasn’t even placed. Even though, I like that story so much better than the one which Yeovil commended me for back in 2013.
It’s all about your audience. So this year, right back at you, Yeovil; I’m hitting you with something new.
In fact, I’ve got that many short stories up my sleeve now, I’ve got one for every UK competition that’s going. Only I’m not going to enter everything – there’s only so much disappointment a girl can take.
So why bother entering anything at all – because being placed occasionally really does help to silence your own self-doubt, for a while at least. And it’s a small voice of encouragement that you might just be doing something right.
WritingMad 
It’s all about your audience, indeed. That is why I am working very hard to pin down the audience that would read my book. It’d help me both with the way I write, and the reasons why.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, you are completely correct. You always have to keep trying despite initial rejection.
I recently received the most heartbreaking rejection yet, and I am working through getting over it. I wrote a poem about the feeling you get when you are unexpectedly turned down from a position you worked so hard to get. Hopefully when you are feeling down about being rejected you can relate.
https://poeticverityandglobalopinions.wordpress.com/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi – Have just found your site and I am hopping around some older posts at random. This one struck a chord with me as I am a fresh-faced competition enterer (not sure that is actually a word); my main problem at the moment is trying to focus on just a few – ones I think I am better-suited to write for. After an afternoon spent Googling writing competitions, I ended up with a list of nearly a hundred! Trying to pick the correct ones to try seems like the hardest part (I’m kidding myself here, writing has to be the hardest part, at least until I reach the rejection stage!).
Well done on the 2015 Bristol competition, by the way. It sounds as though you really should try for that hat trick.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know what you mean! I stop myself from entering too many competitions as I don’t want to bankrupt myself! I reckon I might focus more on literary magazines next year. Thanks for the congrats – it was a huge surprise. The anthology is well worth a read, especially the winning story which is a stunning piece of work. I’m going to delve into your website – it looks great!
LikeLike
Thank you very much for the kind feedback re: the website. I hope you enjoyed the site.
I have just finished the anthology today – I was inspired to buy a copy after reading your blog and it turned up incredibly quickly. There are some great stories in there. I very much enjoyed Black Lines. A sad story for Mama but a ray or two of hope for Milton.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for buying the anthology and reading my story. Isn’t the winner a gem?! Good luck with your writing – hope you’re feeling inspired.
LikeLike