Writing Is Not a Contest.....
I’m going to come right out and say it. Writing is not a contest. It’s a creative act that can move the creator and others to share in art. A fine writer once told me that he moved from writing poetry to writing fiction… “because we poets seem to be fighting over crumbs.” And because submission and evaluation become a part of it, as does comparison, there has developed a whole host of “rules” for the game of publication and review of the work. Friendship and support go out the window when commerce or status enters.
In the modern period there were publishing houses that kept a stable of writers. A loose collective of writers can be a strong and beautiful thing. Look at how New Directions Publishing evolved, or Black Sparrow Press, or City Lights Books. Because they believed in the writing and the writers, they produced strong and innovative work. It proved to be a movement, and it was good for all.
As a publisher I often meet folks at bookfairs who confess, “I’m not a writer, but…” And I ask them, “Well, are you writing?” When they say “Why, yes, I am.” I shake their hand and say, “Well, then you are a “writer.” But I also get submissions from folks who boast, “I am a published author,” as if I should recognize their badge of approval.
I know there are contests galore for writing, but it too often produces contestants not artists. Such may help a press pay the bills by charging high entrance fees, but it seldom yields fine writing, and it puts us up against each other. It is not what good writing is about. We have to shake off this too worldly attitude to what we hold sacred, the act of creating to share.
Comments
Post a Comment