How to use writing contests to reach your goals
I’ve been on a contest kick lately. In my post about using a calendar to keep track of upcoming contests, I mentioned that part of my overall writing plan for 2012 is to submit to more contests and send my work out to be published in literary journals and magazines.
What I’m discovering as I do this is that the mini-deadlines are giving me just what I need to reach my larger goals. For example, I’ve been wanting to compile my first poetry manuscript for the last couple of years, but I just “never got around to it.” So, when my writing partner, Carly, emailed me a contest that she thought I might want to enter, I chose that contest deadline as the deadline to finally compile my manuscript. And I did it. And through that process, I learned so much and became motivated to think about what themes I want to explore in my next book of poetry. Read more
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