My Latest Pastime

Not that I ever even thought about it, but I had no idea just how many writing competitions exist in the world. Granted, the majority of them appear to be for poetry, but really, poetry has to have some purpose, right? 

Aside from poetry, there are writing competitions for practically every demographic. Shoot, there's even one for older writers, although obtaining an entry form is proving to be difficult. (I was told to email a particular person, when it would have been simpler to just have an online entry.) Maybe the competition's administrator is so old she doesn't believe in the internet.

Digging deeper into the specifics of some of these contests, I unfortunately (or fortunately?) had to rule a lot of them out. Some only want unpublished works, some are for flash fiction, Some are for kids or a specific ethnic group; and the juiciest contests' entry deadlines have already passed.

No, I haven't entered any contests yet, aside from the Rubery (which I think I'll let trip off my tongue, as if I'm a snobby expert. "Oh, the Rubery? Ah, yes, I tried it once. It wasn't for me.") And I'm not sure if I'll enter any of them, but it was fun just perusing the various lists of competitions and making note of the ones I'd like to try. (I'm not going to spend more than ten or twenty dollars on this new pastime; I'm not crazy.)

One important point regarding all of these competitions is that they're haughty. I'm pretty certain they're not looking for entertaining books as much as they are books that no one would buy or read. In other words, the competitions' gatekeepers are snobs about writing. Any submission guideline that includes the word "metaphysical" is not the contest for me. That's why I'm not taking this exercise seriously. I'd definitely enter a competition called "A Plain Ol' Book Contest", but I guess that wouldn't hold the same cachet as The Burburry Burrber Prize.

Why I'm even doing this, I have no idea. I fell into it by accident, found it intriguing in a way, and kept reading. It's a short-lived fad, which I'll be over in a couple of days, and hopefully I'll find something else to occupy my time.