A Long-awaited Announcement
So I opened my email today and there it was, at last! The final placements for the 2018 Ink & Insights contest have been released!
I've been waiting months for this.
I've expounded upon and waxed poetical about the merits of this contest.
Having scored 881 points out of a total possible of 1000 this year, I've been very curious about where my excerpt would rank amongst the other entries in the contest. I received my personal score sheets back in June. Oddly the contest has ended MUCH sooner in previous years (Septemberish or so.) I wasn't sure why it took so long this year but after nearly seven months it finally came!
I clicked the email with baited breath. What I found gave me such mixed emotions that I actually felt physically ill.
In 2016, the first year I entered, I was 84th out of 133 entries, earning 461.5 of a total 775 points.
My second time around in 2017, I placed 86th out of 152 submissions. Despite seeming to be 2 behind from the first year, there were more entries in 2017, making this a higher personal rank than the previous contest. I earned 725 of a possible 1,015 points.
This year I am tremendously shocked and pleased to announce that I placed number 13 out of 127 entries!
This is HUGE for me. I work hard. I've spent hours honing, tweaking and otherwise revising my manuscript. Still, self-confidence has never been a strong point of mine. I never expected to make it into the top fifty, let alone be so close to the top ten!
And therein lies the flip side to my ecstasy. I couldn't help but think So close to the top ten! I was only three places away! So close! So close!!!
My exuberance at placing so well waged war with my disappointment at being so close to that coveted top ten...yet so far away!
However, such bittersweet victory certainly puts the wind in one's sails! I am more determined to make those final edits to my manuscript in preparation for the 2019 contest and see if I can achieve that top ten list this year!
To my fellow writers: if you have a manuscript you think is ready to be sent forth into the world or even would just like some feedback on, I strongly encourage you to join me in the 2019 Ink & Insights Contest.
The nominal entry fee is repaid a thousandfold by way of the invaluable feedback each entry is guaranteed to receive. Not to sound hokey, but whether you place, rank in the top 10 or are even last in the lineup, everyone who enters this contest truly wins. The time and dedication that the judges put into scoring and personalizing feedback for each and every entry is rewarding all by itself. Pure, unbiased insight into your writing: good, bad or downright ugly, the judges' comments are enormously constructive!
