“I Didn’t Lose The Gold — I Won The Silver…”
A Message to Medium Writers Challenge Participants
…said Olympic figure-skating champion Michelle Kwan. Or in this case the Bronze for me, in the Medium Writer’s Challenge.
I started writing a collection of short stories early this year. Characters and plot ideas have been stewing and brewing in my therapist’s mind for nearly a decade now, literally bursting the seams of my fingertips with a yearning to be revealed.
I entered the first of my collection — A Perfect Boon — into the contest, thinking “What the Hell?” as I clicked submit, and then, like most others, promptly forgot about it. Until one day last month as I threw my sneakers on, heading out the door to pick up my kids from school, I spied an email in my inbox from Medium. It said I was being considered for a prize in the Writers Challenge, and contained an Affidavit for me to sign. To my surprise, tears sprung to my eyes.
Despite being a lifelong and deeply creative person (sometimes annoyingly so to those closest to me), I wasn’t really sure whether or not people would enjoy my stories. Or my writing. I’ve written poetry (since childhood), blog posts (for my business), and a 100-page dissertation (a gruelling, yet wholly satisfying, year-long undertaking for my Doctorate in Psychology). A Perfect Boon is the first actual piece of long-form creative writing I have ever done. And the Medium Writers Challenge is the first writing contest I have ever entered.
The way I learned I had (probably) been awarded an Honourable Mention was another email from Medium, this time with the subject line “Your Audience is Growing.” I later confirmed it by reading the full announcement. It’s funny; but that’s the world we live in today. Your online ‘fan base’ often grows before you even know what you did to deserve it. Same goes for the reverse.
Of course it was disappointing not to have placed in one of the top 4 spots. Once the proverbial “carrot” was dangled in front of me via that first notice, the attachment to “outcome” was solidified. That’s the thing about how we work as Humans: The price of getting close to big experiences is the emotional rise and fall over the possibilities. Still, those oscillating feelings are worth it every time because the alternative … is to do nothing. To not try at all. And I have always believed life is infinitely better when we Just Do rather than Do Well.
Close to 10,000 people bravely submitted an entry to this contest. To place in the top 1% is actually feeling fairly sublime at the end of the day. Along with some additional fuel on the fire of my fingertips, as they continue the tedious work of bringing my first collection of short stories closer to fruition.
I have read the top 4 winning posts in the Challenge, and as I also read through many of the Honourable Mention posts, I am reminded again how the written word has, and always will be, a profoundly subjective experience. It is one of the purest forms of Art. And as we all know here, Art is not for the faint of Heart (told you I was a poet).
I am reminded of the countless writers who placed third, second, first, honourable mention, or nothing at all in writing contests, who went on to become prolific and well-known authors. The world is full of readers of every shade, shape, and shadow. Write for them!
Most of all, write for yourself. Because writing is truly one of the most self-revealing and self-therapeutic endeavours we can undertake. Should we dare. Good writing takes courage. Great writing takes guts. Like a Chef, reaching deep into the ravine of their own personal ‘je ne sais quoi’, deigning to pair coarsely cut salt with sweet, oozy caramel, or tart feta cheese with bright, sugary-pink watermelon. It takes fearlessness. Boldness. And all the other synonyms your Thesaurus can spit out (you know you use it).
So congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry to this Challenge! I salute you, and hope you will keep writing. I know I will.
Thank you for reading! And thank you to Medium for this award of A Perfect Boon!
