Take the Contest or Leave It?

I've recently entered a writing contest for the first time, written a short story but then didn't submit it to another contest (for various reasons), and have been thinking about the value of those excitement-making but perhaps unsubstantiated pursuits called WRITING CONTESTS.

As timely as ever, Nathan Bransford approaches this topic and has some good advice.

For me, I've decided to use writing contests as a way to motivate myself to work on specific topics, themes, or even formats. Why not? But like Bransford suggests, read the fine print.

How about you? Have you ever entered a writing contest? Any winners? Why did you do it?

Writing: Addiction, Discipline, or Balance?

Yesterday, wonder agent and master blogger Nathan Bransford asked, "When does writing become unhealthy?" http://bit.ly/16qCdI

This is such a great question which can and should be used in many other circumstances (when does social media/email/drinking coffee become unhealthy?). But sticking to the writing, do any of you have a problem with balancing your life because of too much writing? For me it's a constant battle to get enough time to write. His question may apply most to workaholics, sociopaths, and people with addictive behavior issues. I am not one of those people, though I may have had tendencies in all three categories at one time or another.

Part of me still believes that you have to choose between your creative genius attaining success (which somehow ruins your relationships) and the mediocre creative life with modest or no recognition because you strive to balance your personal life. The rational me disagrees, because there are too many factors that go into success, and ruining your relationships doesn't exactly guarantee getting a book deal, unless your book is about how you ruined your relationship so you could get a book deal, THEN you might have some real takers.

Ultimately, logic applies. If you are getting ill from lack of sleep because you are writing: you're writing too much. If your relationships are suffering because of your writing, you need to make some choices (spouses and children are responsibilities, not electives). If the dog isn't getting enough exercise because of your writing: get out of the chair and do some character brainstorming while you take the dog for a walk! If the kids are complaining that you only spend time with keyboard, then turn off the computer for an hour and help them with homework, read them a book, or play a game.

Writing is an amazing part of my life, but it does not rule my life. I'm here for the whole experience, not just the deranged artist bit. Whether I end up a successful author or not is secondary to achieving a happy and satisfying life. What about you?

WWA SCBWI Writer's Conference 2009

Wow! That was a great weekend of amazing speakers. Every year of going to the SCBWI conference gets better.Just wrap your head around the idea that it's more about networking than pitching your goods to an agent or editor. Meeting other writers is great fun and reassuring. I met real beginners and had an opportunity to encourage them to keep going, I met published authors and got to ask them questions about their career path and how they get/got things accomplished. Always an interesting answer.

It's always humbling to hear the success stories of local author panel and what they have to say about their backgrounds; how they achieved their dreams. Motivating too. This year I was particularly pleased with the selection of agents. Nathan Bransford is not only a stellar agent, but he's humble and generous, straightforward and efficient. If I could be so lucky.... Also Steven Malk from Writer's House gave a great talk on how writers should have a career strategy. It was very welcome information.

Ellen Hopkins, Patrick Jennings, and Lisa Papademetriou were three of the authors I was lucky enough to see speak. Ellen is a ballsy woman with the guts to closely examine the most difficult of subjects in teens' lives: meth addiction, incest, rape, suicide and more. Not exactly uplifting, but exactly what teens want. Honesty. Patrick Jennings gave a talk on school visits and demonstrated how he captures the attention of hundreds of elementary school kids at a time: subversive manipulation. Of course! Much the same techniques of another one of my favorite authors, Jon Scieszka (keynote speaker). Lisa Papademetriou was really a hoot. She's an unrepentent fantasy geek and spoke on world building. Very entertaining.

There are always a few fun games to play during the weekend and this time I participated in the haiku contest and got an honorable mention with a haiku about Michael Stearns (agent at Firebrand!!) after seeing his talk about plotting on Saturday:
Thirteen points of plot
for Michael Stearns to cover
good thing he talks fast

And that's all for now!

Talent Killers! Watch out for agents

Yow! Thanks to Colleen Lindsay for today's great link: http://bit.ly/3fUi5g

An intense discussion about the role that agents play and one thrice published author with a very big chip on her shoulder. I think I should become a buddhist in preparation for becoming published. Take the good with the bad and just keep going folks. And hey, Nathan Brnasford seems like a really good guy.