Contests--I love them--from both sides!

When Angela and I started dreaming about WOW!, we absolutely knew we had to have a contest.

We enjoy entering contests, it follows a lot of other people do, too. Our favorite part definitely isn't learning that we didn't win (not even honorable mention...really! I mean, who reads the entries anyway?!). Well, that's how some people react, of course, we were much more gracious, weren't we?

Back to having a WOW! Contest, now that we're receiving entries, I've discovered there's a whole other component I hadn't thought of. That's where privileged people get to read the efforts of talented people. It never dawned on me that my writing might have brought a smile to someone's face...even if I DIDN'T WIN! Oh, my, there's that ugly attitude again.

It's easy to think your entry must have been uninspiring, at least; perhaps judged as exhibiting no imagination etc. That's why, not being a contest winner can have more meaning attached to it than it deserves.

Stick with me on this thought, please, because our contest is an enriching experience, and I want to share how. When reading someone's creative efforts and knowing how much I enjoyed it, makes me realize that my entries have entertained, even caused someone to think. But, above all, I earned their respect, because I was willing to put myself out there. And, if my writing didn't do all or, at least, part of that, then I'm sorry someone was having that bad a day.

But, there's more, she says: It can't be helped, when you dream up a Writing Prompt, you have something specific floating around in your mind. I've found the proof that writers are not mind-readers, I may never read an entry that even comes close to what I was thinking. That is great, because I can see my idea wasn't nearly as good as I thought...but, the prompt was perfect for getting other minds going.

From now on, I hope we will all feel better about our contest entries, whether we win or not. (You can tell by the lack of CAPITALIZATION that my attitude is already getting better.)

Be assured that we appreciate the entries submitted. We will be sad, like so many others, that we can't let everyone how great their story was, even if...

Now, you know why I love contests--from both sides!

Take care,

Beryl

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