I've entered quite a few competitions over the years and excluding my school ones I never seem to get anywhere. Most I find also charge to enter :/ should I just give up entering? Are they a waste of time? Or should I percivere?
I've entered quite a few competitions over the years and excluding my school ones I never seem to get anywhere. Most I find also charge to enter :/ should I just give up entering? Are they a waste of time? Or should I percivere?
you seem to ask often whether or not 'things' are a waste of time... you really have to know yourself whether or not it is...
I never win! lol but I just keep trying. I never pay to enter anything though.
What I personally get from entering a writing competition is the stimulus of writing to a fixed theme and length and deadline. I also keep copies of my entries and revise and recycle them.
I don't object to entry fees - how else would the organisers afford the prizes? But I do look at the terms and conditions carefully. Some comps have an age limit, others are restricted to writers living in a particular area, others to writers who have never published a book. The ones I would avoid are those that appear to claim ownership of your story/poem/article even if you aren't a winner. It means you can't send your non-winning entry elsewhere.
Sometimes all that is on offer is the chance to see your work on some website - OK if that's what you want, but it does mean a story can't then be counted as "unpublished" for any future comps.
Last but not least there is always the chance of winning! And being able to put "Booker prize winner" must look good on your CV! :-)