Hello everyone. I want to participate in my first writing contest, but I'm feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety. I feel like I'm not fully prepared for such a new challenge. So, I have a question for you: how do you prepare for such contests, and do you prepare at all?
What kind of a writing contest is it? Short story or flash fiction? I think what you're asking is how to write a good story?
A writing contest is just a chance to practice your writing skills. So the first thing to do is make sure you understand the rules. How long should it be (min/max word count)? Does it need to fit a certain genre or theme or concept? Does it have any weird/fun restrictions, like has to be set in a house, or one of the characters must die, or the whole cast have to be cats. Once you wrap your head around the rules next you need to grasp the deadline (technically a rule but I view it differently), make sure you can block off time to work on the project. If you have to prep a major presentation at work during that time frame maybe it’s not a good time. Make sure you can fine time, if you can’t that’s okay. Last, have fun with it, do not think winning or losing the contest means anything other than a few people liked or didn’t like your work, which is always the case anyway. Again it should be looked at as a chance to expand on your skills, write under pressure, and to have fun writing. I’ve won and lost writing contest in the past, can’t say they had any real impact on my life but a few have pushed me to write stories I really loved, and I honestly don’t remember if the ones I won were the same as the ones I loved the most. Have fun, good luck.
I used to participate monthly up until three contests ago when I got too busy with academics. If you are anxious and you don't feel ready yet, it might be best to participate in a future contest but write the story now. The monthly prompts are released in advance and posted here, so you can write now & post later. Just pick any month and make it your target. This will not only give you plenty of time to revise and perfect your story, but you can also observe the current contests and get comfortable with the format. This is what I did anyway. I followed and voted on the contests in August and then made my first post the following October. But don't worry too much. The contests here are just a bit of fun between members. Nobody here is going to give you unsolicited criticism or anything like that—not unless you post to the workshop. So, there's nothing to be anxious and scared about. You're more than welcome to stay and participate as much as you want. If anything, it makes the other contestants happy. The more, the merrier as they say. If you want to post now you can totally do it. It doesn't matter if you score or do badly. I've had my own fair share of spectacular failures but it was all for the better and everyone was really supportive.
I like to begin by bathing in the blood of my enemeies, then I climb to the highest mountain peak and howl at the moon. Followed by a little self-pampering, maybe a day at the spa...
Earnestly put your best foot forward while telling your ego to take a step back. Anxiety is a response to uncertainty. Exposure reduces the unknown. Your tenth contest won't set your heart beating like the first one will (for better or worse: "The sorriest things in this life will seem grandest in the next" and all that). Your writing is a vector to your own vulnerabilities. That's partly what makes it worth reading. Everyone else publishes their work without imploding—many are even more sensitive than you for that matter—so you can too, whether it's to an agent, a magazine, the writing forum contests, or straight to the readers. The thing that needs to be prepped is the work itself.
