by Gail Lowe
I hope July treated you well. For me, it was a month of firsts. I entered my first short-story contest. Then I got my first rejection notice.
The experience was a wild combination of excitement and disappointment that taught me a few things about my writerly self.
Not all stress is bad:
I’m not competitive by nature and I avoid deadlines. I left that world behind years ago and have never looked back. But the contest provided a tight timeline which reminded me that I focus well under stress.
Set boundaries:
Having a short period of time to create my ultimate short story, I carved out the time needed and let everyone know that my writing time was non-negotiable. In short, I put myself first and no one had a problem with that.
Disappointment is a symptom:
The disappointment I felt receiving that rejection notice surprised me. This was my first contest. Did I really expect to knock it out of the park? That would have been awesome, however, no, I didn’t expect a home run.
My goal was to be a part of something exciting. So what was the real reason for feeling let down? It took me a day to figure it out. Working on something new felt great. Not making it to the next round meant I had to return to my novel project.
Variety equals creativity: I love my novel but the redrafting process has started to feel like all work and no play. Participating in the contest resulted in an unexpected boost of energy to write again. This goes against ideas like “finish what you start” and “don’t spread yourself too thin”. Narrowing my creative energy to the completion of one thing had encouraged cobwebs to grow inside my brain. Working on something new cleared them out.
No fresh stimulus In.
No new Ideas out.
– Duncan Wardle
Entering that contest gave me a new plan of attack. Never again will I underestimate the power of trying something new. Cobweb-free, I’m heading into August with plans of world domination.
