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by Cathy Witbeck
Contests are a great way to jump start your writing. They not only inspire you to get busy, but there’s that added bonus of competition, the little adrenalin, I could win–thing. One of my favorite contests of the year is the one put on by the League of Utah Writers. There are many reasons why I like it. It is open to members and non-members. There are many categories to enter, from poetry to full length books. The entry fees are reasonable at about $3.00 - $6.00 per submission. When you get your work back, you get the added bonus of a professional critique telling you how to improve your work. Not bad for $6.00 bucks, eh.
After you win that contest, you have a nice little certificate to show for it and something to add to your list of credentials. Yes, that’s me, the writer, the woman that won 1st place for her stellar picture book, (can’t hurt, right).
Stories for Children Magazine is another great place to enter contests, especially for kids. They are constantly updating their contest site with fun new challenges to try. Just go to storiesforchildrenmagazine.org and click on contests to see what they have for you to enter.
Other contests are easy to find if you Google “writing contests.” But don’t just jump into any and all contests that are out there. Some contests aren’t necessarily there for your benefit.
To learn more about vanity contests go to www.sfwa.org/Beware/contests.html and become educated. Don’t get paranoid though, contests are still a good thing, just not all of them.
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Visit Cathy Witbeck online at cathywitbeck-storypainter.blogspot.com
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Visit a well-trusted institution which teaches kids how to write. Not only do they teach your kids to write, your kids will have fun in the process.