1. Confidence Boost. Winning's great. But even a mention would make me scream, shout and dance around my living room with the thought that 'I just might be good at this writing thing' dancing around in my head.
2. To laugh, cry and/or smile--at other people's stories.
3. Hone my craft. 100 words or less forces me to get rid of all the unnecessary -ly words and other bad writing habits, leaving a bare bones good story. Or at least it makes me practice, practice, practice.
4. Meet other writers. I met justwritecat when we both entered the same writing contest and liked each other's entries. Now, we follow each other's blogs. Go check out her fabulous blog at http://justwritecat.wordpress.com.
5. Sometimes I really, really want the book and/or prize and hope my entry will be good enough to win it......I still haven't gotten my hands on Personal Demons.
6. A break from my own WIP.
7. Expand the short story idea into a longer short story or maybe even a novel.
8. To complain to my friends and family about how 'the judges just didn't get me'. For which they respond, 'I liked your story better'. Friends--they're great.
9. The chance that an agent might see my entry, love it and sign me immediately based on my undeniably God-given talent. *crosses fingers*
10. I just love writing.
Did yours make the list? You don't have to tell me ten things. One is good! Why do you enter 100 words or fewer contests?
I received a nice mention on writer Susan Adrian's blog: http://susanadrian.blogspot.com/2010/09/duff-contest-winner.html today for best OUCH moment in the DUFF contest. I didn't win but for all the reasons I listed above it still felt great.
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