How to win a writing Contest - Part 1

There is nothing that feels better than winning a writing contest. Winning an essay contest is especially poignant because it lets you gain recognition for arguing for something you believe in. However, no matter how much you believe in what you're writing, you won't win on passion alone. Winning an essay contest requires flawless craftsmanship, careful adherence to the rules, and a novel hook to get the attention of the judges.

1. Above all else, follow the rules! If you are over the word limit by even one word, you will probably be disqualified. If the essay contest states that all essays have to begin with the word “I believe,” and yours starts with “I firmly believe,” you will probably be disqualified. It doesn't matter how good your essay is if they don't read it because you broke the rules.
2. Brainstorm. Come up with as many ideas as you can before you start writing. The more different ways you can imagine addressing the essay topic, the more flexibility you will have when you start writing it.
3. Be confident. Don't hedge by making excessive use of phrases like “I think” or “it seems to me.” Convince yourself that what you have to say is important, and write your contest essay With that knowledge.

I will write another follow-up to this post sometime next week to tell more about how to win a writing contest.

The 2009 Halloween Adventure Contest

You must be thinking I'm crazy of something, but I just discovered a great contest over at Chaosium. I'll let you know about the details to enter the contest as well as the prize:

Halloween Approaches!

Well sure, it's still many months away. But it is time to start our annual Halloween Adventure Contest so we can get the book printer before October this time around. To enter, write us an original Call of Cthulhu or Basic Roleplaying adventure which take place over Halloween.

Our contest winners will receive one PDF copy and one physical copy of the monograph, as well as a $50.00 gift certificate redeemable through our Chaosium.com Catalog.

Here's your chance to see your name in print, spread some Halloween joy, and win some groovy Chaosium stuff.

Halloween Contest Rules

Each entry must be an original CoC or BRP adventure between 5,000 - 7,000 words. Text files or word documents only. Don’t submit PDF’s, quark files, etc. Don't worry, 5,000 words is much shorter than it sounds!

Entries must be submitted by August first, 2009.

One entry per individual.

Adventures can be set in any time period you desire so long as the adventure is original and takes place during Halloween/Samhain.

Adventures must utilize Chaosium's BRP system and no other game system. Yes, our Call of Cthulhu RPG uses the BRP system.

All entries become the property of Chaosium Inc.

All entries must be in English.

Any images or maps that accompany your adventure must be copyright free. Art isn't required.

Entries must be emailed to dustin@chaosium.com.

Entries must be submitted along with your name, email address, and shipping address.

In the unlikely event that we don't receive enough winning entries to print the adventure monograph, the winners will instead receive copies of all the winning adventures as well as one copy of a different monograph.

Chaosium reserves the right to change these rules as often as we like, with no warning. You can count on the fact that we probably will. Come to think of it, maybe we have already... It's best not to dwell on these things.

Well, what are you waiting for? Check out the contest and take part to win the $50. You can check out the contest at chaosium.com. Best of luck!

How do you feel when you win a contest?

The question for today is: How do you feel when you win a contest? Now it is time for me to answer. Naturally, the feeling is awesome and I somehow get this weird satisfaction in myself. I'm not saying I take much pride of my win but it's just that I feel satisfied after all the work I put in.

Moreover, after winning the contest the feeling is doubled when you get the contest prize. How would you feel when you get a $5000 check just for winning a photography contest? I know the feeling is very good and I suppose I have ranted quite a lot about myself. So how would you feel? Please comment to answer to the question.

Types of Contests - Further Continued

You must be thinking that why I keep posting about the same topic again and again, but I promise that this will be the last one. Below is the list of contests that I found after searching a couple of websites and with dismay I say that they're the ones I haven't taken part in. Anyways, below is the list:

1. Robot Contest
2. Robot Car Contest
3. Photography Contest
4. Various Trivia Contests
5. Cooking Contest
6. Blurb Contest
7. Banner making contest
8. Reviewing Contest
9. Marketing Contest
10. Bikini Contest
11. Street Ball Contest
12. Skate Skills Contest
13. Eco works Contest

Phew, that's the list of contests I've found and now that I know I'll be looking forward to trying to take part in each one of them except number 10, lol.

Types of Contests - Continued

Previously I told you about some contests I've taken part in. I went ahead and recalled more of the contests that I've taken part in, they are as follows:

1. Website Contest
2. SEO Contest
3. Computer Trivia Contest
4. 'Assemble-a-PC' Contest
5. Maths Kangaroo Contest
6. Spelling Bee Contest
7. Spell-a-thon Contest
8. Debating Contest

These contests are to give you an idea of the types of contest you can take part in, as you can see that most of those contests are related to education, which are the ones I took part in when I was in primary and secondary school. Hence, this suggests that I've been a competitor my whole life and there is (almost) nothing that can stop me from winning more contests, bruhaha!