Member-only story
Why I’m Okay With Losing the Writing Challenge
It’s a contest, not a life-changer.
I submitted two stories to Medium’s $500,000 Writing Challenge and didn’t even get an honorable mention. Of course I would have liked to be a winner but I didn’t expect it, any more than I would in any contest where thousands of writers are vying for the top prizes. I’m okay with losing to the others. That’s the way contests go.
What I find remarkable about the end results of this contest is the reaction from so many Medium writers who had convinced themselves they actually had a chance. They’re pissed. It’s not fair! Those winners weren’t that good! (FWIW, the top winner’s story was very good. I could see why she won — and I could see why I didn’t.)
When it was over and the results were in, I was only slightly surprised at how little I cared about winning that particular contest — even though I had entered it with the thought of winning, of course, and the two pieces I submitted were, I thought, spit-polished and dressed up for a win.
My non-reaction make me realize that my split with Medium is finally complete. Oh, I don’t mean we’ll never see each other again. I just mean the one-sided romance is over, and now we can be acquaintances without any emotional baggage. That contest, now that it’s over, means nothing to me. I didn’t…
