Contests or Submissions?

Someone posed the question whether I thought entering writing contests was as valuable as submitting my writing to magazines. I have to confess that I'd never really given it much thought. But it did pique my interest so I'm going to pop some thoughts down.

I have entered a few writing contests and competitions. I have viewed them as simple ways to share my writing. They are non threatening, easy to enter and I've not yet been too disappointed to not be a winner. However I can see that the audience is very limited. Apart from the judges there is no audience. So if my goal is to share my writing I need to consider if this is the best way to do it.

I have never submitted any of my writing to a magazine or publication. I guess the reason is that this seems to be something a real, proper writer would do and there is still a tiny part of me that doesn't see myself as a 'real' writer, whatever one of those is. But if I want to share my writing with a larger audience then I have to reach out to a large audience. And that is likely to mean magazines.

I've made one of my goals for the year to get my WIP ready to submit to agents. I know there is a long way to go yet - I'm only on my second draft and I already know there is plenty to fix before it is anywhere near ready to share with a professional. But it is an aim and so far I'm happy with progress. I should have the draft finished before I go on retreat later this month and that should be an opportunity to read the manuscript and find areas that need fixing.

So, do I have a conclusion? Not yet. The idea of submitting my work to the scrutiny of a professional is scary but it's one I need to embrace if I am to progress as a writer. But I will make an effort to submit something to a magazine this year. I have already been offered some advice about where I might do this so watch this space. Anything could happen ...