Contests: Why should I enter them?

The issue that garnered me top 3 regionally (maybe No. 1) was as over-the-top pagination as I've done, but solid for what it represented. The Editor didn't think I should send in an 8-page summer throw-away section because he's a fan of my 16-page prep-season sections. But this one I felt good about. A columnist here said he thought he was looking at the Boston Globe when he opened the paper that week to sports. It wasn't just the design, though, it was the content.

 

Usually, it's a case of the judges being morons. I know, because I've been a judge for state contests. I can tell you that what people here are saying about different being better has some merit, because stories on offbeat topics tend to stand out in the sea of often-similar entries. But that's only part of the battle. I tend to look for reporting above everything else, including writing skill. It's great to be able to turn a phrase, but I want to see information, lots of sources, background, etc. That will impress me far more than a well-written but shallow piece.

And, Knute, in the contests I've judged, the stories are presented on their own rather than on a tearsheet, so I can't say if my opinion would be influenced by design. I hope it wouldn't and don't think it would, but that theory hasn't been tested.

 

Entering one profoundly changed my career, and competing in them helped it along.

I go by the cliche statement about them: They're great when you win them, and nothing to worry about when you don't.

I've also been involved in the judging of them for a while, and while I'm not going to try to convince anybody here that no politics is involved, there's a lot less of it than some of you might think.

 

I'm sure we all have great stories about crap that won and gems that didn't, but last year was my first year in one, and I won a ton of stupid, random stuff. My favorite: I won first place in photo illustration even though my knowledge of Photoshop at the time was laughable. It was a simple, overused design ("Putting the pieces together" featuring like 10 photos of kids on a basketball team, each worked as a puzzle piece and set around a puzzle-piece pic of the coach.) It wasn't even that well done ... my puzzle pieces weren't very sharp or well rounded. Basically, I was just learning. And it beat a bunch of real photoshop things from real photographers and people who knew what in the hell they were doing. I thought it was funny, and at the same time realized I probably shouldn't go bragging about getting first place in the sports story category. It's a total crapshoot, but stupid or not, I think it looks solid on a resume.

 

Very true, PD.

I won a regional SPJ plaque with a second-day story on a softball team that won the section title. Since it was a second-day story (the paper didn't have a Sunday edition), I could take more liberties with it and the judges appreciated it.

Then again, I also won column writing two years in a row with columns on the same subject: Olympic gymnast Jamie Dantzscher's father, who was severely injured in a car accident while in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics.

So, like many before me have said, it's a total crapshoot. I've written some great pieces that have come up bupkus at both the regional and APSE levels. I've written some average (or so I thought) pieces that have placed. Go figure.

 

I think the importance of contests comes down to this:

• They circulate your name to the people who may be looking to hire for better gigs.
• They add something to your resume that makes it stand out from the rest in the stack.
• They give you something to look at on a rainy day when you think everything you're doing is crap and maybe perk up your spirits.

They don't mean you're better than the guy next to you. They aren't justification to put down other writers who are busting their asses as hard as you are.

As long as they're received with these perspectives, I think contests are meaningful.

 

All of those benfits come from winning, or at least placing. What's the benefit in coming up empty?
I get reminded often enough that I'm not as good as I think I am, why do I need another oportunity to be reminded?
The stuff that I've entered is not well-written, well-reported garden variety stuff. It's usually the kind of unusual thing that everyone tells me is good contest material.
All I'm saying is that when you enter material that everyone tells you is exceptional and you constantly come up empty, it can get a little demoralizing.

 

If you don't think you can handle the "rejection" of not placing then simply don't enter.

 

KP, you're right.

 

They're only utter crap if you don't win any. They do wonders for your confidence, look great on a resume, raise your profile in the region you win (because competing papers will notice) and can earn you some extra scratch. Other than that, there's no reason to enter.

 

Why not enter and just not exspect to win? View it the same as buying a lottery ticket. Are you devastated when your scratch-off doesn't bring a jackpot? Send your shit in and forget about it.

 

Depends on a lot of factors, employers being one. My publisher and ME went to the regional AP awards earlier in the year only to sit through as every one else won awards. The paper was completely shut out. The big city paper won a bunch of stuff but didn't bother sending a representative to the thing.

It also depends who gives the award. My coworker won for a series of stories two years ago and never saw anything beyond an e-mail telling him he had won. No certificate, no plaque, just his name on the awards Web site.