WHAT MAKES A COMPETITOR A WINNER

I've been around the writing profession for about a quarter of a century, having started my writing career in the early 1980's.

I've competed in a number of competitions and several times have reached the top ten.

Now, in Gather, I host a couple of writing competitions.  I've seen relative newcomers come into the groups and their work takes on a life of its own.

For this reason, I'd like to voice my opinion of what it takes, as a competitor, to win a competition, no matter how short or long it is.

1) Most writers write from the brain.  By now you're asking what do I mean?  

     You're given a prompt and your brain kicks into gear .  Next thing you know you're at the keyboard and writing what comes to your mind.  In some cases it's nothing more than random thoughts, but in a lot of cases, writers try to be successful on what their brain feeds them alone. Take it from someone who knows, you'll not be highly successful by writing from the brain alone.

2 ) Those who are more successful are the ones who write from both the brain and the heart.

     Your brain, as I said, will give you the fundamentals to start the story, but when you let your heart kick in, now you've added the element of feelings, emotions, tugging at the heart strings so to speak,  so now that simple story is taking on a life of its own.  More writers will succeed by using these two elements, rather than just the brain by itself.

3) The third element for a successful writer, is the element of soul. 

     It's also the hardest to explain, but its also the easiest to spot when you read someone's writings.  I tried to look back at  my entries into (SERIALIZED FICTION AND OTHER LIES) to find out what it was that makes my entries get the comments it does continually.  You can see where my brain gives the credence to the underlying story, and where my heart kicks in to add the emotion and feelings.  What you can't spot, but it's there, is the soul I've added to make the difference.  I've taken a little bit of my gut and added it into the story, my soul, and am able to bring my writing to life.

You can sit back and think that maybe I've got more experience than you, and maybe I do, but that doesn't make me a better writer.

I own two competittive writing groups (PLAY ON WORDS) and (POETRY PLAY ON WORDS) and I've seen  some of these writers go from writing from their brains and heart, to really making a difference and writing with all three.  Those who consistently write using all three are the ones who constantly rate in the top three competitors, each and every week.  Even though these writers are my members, I've never said it before but I would not want to compete with some of them in my own writing groups, because I'd probably lose.  I submit entries every week, just like some of my members, even though my submissions are for pure fun.  I do it to try to activate all three elements and keep my brain active.

Below you'll notice some of the groups, including my own two, that are competitive in nature.  Spice up your writing life, even if you don't win, you won't be a loser for trying.  Everyone who tries is a winner, because they get better at the craft they enjoy, and that's writing. If you haven't joined any of these groups, I know I speak for the other owners when I say, drop by and share some of your writing.  The competitors, in my groups, anyway, are some of the friendliest writers in Gather

WRITE ON                                   writenowandshare.gather.com       owner - Anita R

SERIAL FICTION & OTHER LIES    serialying.gather.com                     owner - Anita H

POETRY PLAY ON WORDS            poetrypow.gather.com                    owner - Ernie J

PLAY ON  WORDS                        playonwords.gather.com                 owner - Ernie j

TWO WORD CHALLENGE         twowordchallenge.gather.com         owner - Monica Kennedy

SHORT STORY FIRST LINE CHALLENGE  firstlinego.gather.com        owner - Mary Beth M 

 I hope you enjoyed this article, and here's to seeing yourwriting endeavors improve.

Ernie Johnson