Discouraged and Frustrated

[rtodd5011]

I'm glad this feed was posted. I am new to writing to get critiqued and submitting it to the weekly writing contests. It is really tough not to get caught up in seeing your material not placing in a challenge, when you feel like you have put your heart into your writing. I do get alot of support from my friends on facebook, (I keep them updated) and my critique group is a great help and very encouraging. I just want my heart and mind to keep growing, these are our greatest writing tools in my opinon. I intend to keep plowing, reading all these comments are very encouraging.

Thanks and God Bless,
Richard

[tomoral]

I really don't get discouraged if I don't win a challenge. I do the best I can and write what I enjoy and if it places I'm thrilled and if it doesn't-------I write another story. I read all the winning entries and I try to learn from the winners. If I put my convictions and feelings into what I write I've won before I ever enter the contest.

Writing should be fun, let the fantasy of your story wander where it will and before you know it you'll have clawed your way in with the masters.


That's what I meant to say right there, and jwhuckstep did put it in writing much better than I ever could. God Bless!

[Colswann1]

tomoral quote:
"Writing should be fun, let the fantasy of your story wander where it will and before you know it you'll have clawed your way in with the masters."

Don't be too hasty to shoot up into Level 4 - it took me 7 years to get there and boy it is a different ball game. You can just miss the rankings in Level four (and that's likely to be mostly) where you could have been in the first 7 in level 3 with the same article.

I've seen so many over the years get into level 4 and then lose heart and leave. My thought is, how can we hang on to them when they have reached that goal and find it too tough.

[Allison]

tomoral quote:
"Writing should be fun, let the fantasy of your story wander where it will and before you know it you'll have clawed your way in with the masters."

Don't be too hasty to shoot up into Level 4 - it took me 7 years to get there and boy it is a different ball game. You can just miss the rankings in Level four (and that's likely to be mostly) where you could have been in the first 7 in level 3 with the same article.

I've seen so many over the years get into level 4 and then lose heart and leave. My thought is, how can we hang on to them when they have reached that goal and find it too tough.

I don't know that it's that they find it "too tough." I know many who have reached level 4 who have stopped entering the challenge because they have reached their personal goals with the challenge and have moved on to bigger and better things. I don't think level 4 is less encouraging. You may not place as high in your level, but you can still place pretty high overall. I look at the overall results more than I look at level results.

[lish1936]

Yep, that's exactly what I was going to say, but I went to church after reading Colin's post. I'm sure many former Level 4s are actively engaged in other venues.

No doubt, Level 4 means a higher degree of competition, and sometimes I wonder why I'm there. But as you indicated, Colin, it occasionally pays off.

If you write because you must, then winning is irrelevant. The more you write, the better you get; and sometimes you win.

Lillian

[rtodd5011]

I do want to share that I started a blog just last year, and have been faithful to write consecutively since that time. There is no greater joy than to be able to share what God would have you say through writing. I enjoy it more than anything other hobby I have ever attempted in the past. Its so encourageing to polish it up for the contests, then have so many people say how it blessed or touched their lives.

Just my two cents

[glorybee]

Its so encourageing to polish it up for the contests...

Just a note about this--and it's truly not a big deal, but something that I'm sure you want to be aware of. This is one of the rules of the Writing Challenge:

All entries MUST be conceived and written AFTER the topic is announced. No previously written material, published or otherwise, should be submitted. This is because the Challenge is designed to act as a tool to help writers develop their ability to write to topic, deadline and word count.

So if you're using previous blog material that you've polished up, it's not really following the rules of the contest. Don't worry--many people have done the same thing, or have 'broken' some other rule when they first start entering the contest. Everyone's kind and understanding here, and no one will slap your wrist. Just thought you'd want to know.

[rtodd5011]

Sorry i worded that wrong. I have been faithful and honest to follow the rules. What I meant to say is that It is encouraging to work on a entry for a contest and get help from my buddy group to polish it up, submit it and then get the encouraging comments.

[Writetrack]

Giving honest critique in love takes skill. Sometimes we come across harsher than we mean to. Encouragement, especially for new writers who have just recently gathered the courage to submit their work publicly, is so important. On the other hand, if you're only looking for pats on the back, you'll never grow as a writer. In my opinion, once a member reaches the Advanced and Masters level, he or she should know fairly well who they are as a writer and should be able to accept -- and even welcome -- honest critique more than those in the Beginner and Intermediate levels.

That said, as Christians, we should always be encouraging. Point out the positives first, and then gently move on the the areas we feel could be improved. Most importantly, keep in mind that while pointing out grammatical, punctuation, or technique issues, simply "liking" a piece is subjective. I know more than anyone how difficult it can be. We all want to be validated. I was placing regularly in the Challenge, and on the weeks I didn't place, I was disheartened and disappointed. But that's when I had to take a step back and realize it was my pride talking. I had to realize that as nice as it was to win, NOT winning had nothing to do with who I am. Sometimes that's hard for writers to separate. That's not to say you can't feel disappointed, but only that you remember why you're writing in the first place and choose to focus on growing as a writer, rather than "winning."

If you continually fail to place in the Challenge, my advice would be to pay the couple bucks for a ratings feedback report. This way, you'll see exactly why a particular piece might not have placed as highly as you hoped. There's no guarantee you'll place in the future, of course, but at least you'll have an idea of the areas you could work on. And, like Sherri mentioned, many times the scores are ridiculously close. A fraction of a point may bump you out of the top 10.

Keep writing!

[lish1936]

On the other hand, if you're only looking for pats on the back, you'll never grow as a writer.

Linda,
I think I've read more comments about the overabundance of "pats" than negative feedback. Constructive feedback is sorely missing. One reason, for which I continue to beat the drums, has to do with those yellow boxes. They are out there for anyone/everyone who has access to the articles.

I know there is no way to remove them once the topic is completed (I think there should be). However, I, for one, am reluctant to publicly post a negative comment on another writer's article, even though I've done so in the past. Constructive feedback, in my opinion, should be solely for the writer; or at best for Faithwriter members. Correct me if I'm wrong, but once the article is archived it's available to the general public. Yes?

Lillian

[Writetrack]

Yes, it is available to the public, and I totally understand what you're saying, Lillian. The Critique Circle is definitely a better place to get honest, constructive feedback. Maybe the Challenge should be reserved simply for encouragement. I guess it really depends on the writer. Perhaps there should be a place to check off whether or not the author wants advice and suggestions, or would rather not. It would be nice to be able to edit the comments and delete those we don't want to appear, but I'm not sure how the program works.

[Allison]

*snickers* Oh, there is one comment I received on a challenge article that I'd LOVE to be able to delete. This person called my piece "appalling" or something like that, and went on about how she thought this was "Faithwriters" and she didn't understand how this was uplifting and all sorts of stuff. That was AFTER the piece had placed 5th in EC.

[RedBaron]

*snickers* Oh, there is one comment I received on a challenge article that I'd LOVE to be able to delete. This person called my piece "appalling" or something like that, and went on about how she thought this was "Faithwriters" and she didn't understand how this was uplifting and all sorts of stuff. That was AFTER the piece had placed 5th in EC.

You have me curious.

[tomoral]

Hey, I've read some of the stuff in level 4 and it will be years before I get that brave. There are articles and poems and stories at that level that are more professional than I've read in some best selling books lately.


AND... If I don't start doing better in level 3 I just might have to demote myself! (Can you do that?)

Lol... .btw..I just copied the words of jwhuck when I posted that about getting up to the master level. That is WAY out of my league.

To Allison: Now that is funny right there...I am still smiling at that one!

God Bless

[lish1936]

*snickers* Oh, there is one comment I received on a challenge article that I'd LOVE to be able to delete. This person called my piece "appalling" or something like that, and went on about how she thought this was "Faithwriters" and she didn't understand how this was uplifting and all sorts of stuff. That was AFTER the piece had placed 5th in EC.

I rest my case.

Lillian