I entered my first writing competition in primary school.

The teacher told the class what to write about, the prompt, and those judged the best, the winners, were displayed on the classroom notice board, the prize.

Prizes developed and degrees of difficulty increased as I progressed through high school. Prompts varied from fiction to debate and the end of year school magazine replaced the notice board.

My efforts never graced the classroom notice board or the school magazine. However returning to the craft of writing after a thirty-five year absence, I still find the lure of the chase irresistible.

The internet has brought the competition and competitor closer together. Google 'short story' or 'poetry' competition and any number of possibilities appear out of the ether, including -

• The Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest,  Massachusetts, U.S.A (www.shortstorycontest.Ocatch.com/)

• The Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest, Chicago, U.S.A (www.dreamquestone.com/)

• E.J. Brady Short Story Competition, Mallacoota Arts Council, Mallacoota, Australia

• The Age Short Story Competition, Melbourne, Australia (www.theage.com.au/)

• Jacqui Bennett Writer's Bureau Short Story Competition, South Gloucestershire, England (www.jbwb.co.uk/)

• BBC National Short Story Award, London, England (www.theshortstory.org.uk/nssp/)

Some offer financial reward and many charge for the privilege to enter. Feedback is more likely with the member-run competitions offered by online writing clubs such as Writing.Com. Most restrict word count and some allow the contestant a free rein with genre and storyline. At times, a picture or word prompt is set.

I spend many frustrating hours chiseling a unique and engaging story out of a blank block. Each entry is submitted with the belief it is a winner. Competition is fierce and success limited.

So why is the lure so enticing?

Practice - that is obvious. Competitions give my writing a purpose and belief as I hone my skills for the longer pieces I am working on. They force me out of my comfort zone and at times into unfamiliar genres, make me think and rise to a challenge.

Is it coincidence the characters and settings that feature in those longer pieces keep falling into the stories I write for competitions? And vise versa, with each short piece expanding and adding depth to characters, settings and plots..

For example, five years ago I met a man called Simon. He emerged in a short story as a vague fellow searching for the meaning of life. Since then he has starred in several short pieces written for competitions that have given birth to the plot of a novel length satire. He reveals more of himself with each entry. I now know Simon burns water when cooking, lives in a quaint  two-story mansion in a leafy bay-side suburb with his wife and twin-fourteen year old daughters. He is under surveillance by ASIO and his best friend wears his wife's underwear.

I am also working on a pre-teen mystery adventure with a twelve-year old boy called Spence as the key character. I had the plot, red herrings, characters and settings. However, I only had a vague idea of how Spence would solve the mystery. While writing a short piece for a competition that stipulated the story is a mystery, include a hidden map and result in finding a rare painting, Spence's mystery solved itself.

Another advantage to entering competitions is reading the winning entries. Many of the competitions I have struck provide access to the winners that might not normally be available without paying a fee or buying a publication. By reading what has worked for others I can see what has not worked for me.

By comparing my entry with the winners, I have seen that my dialogue can run too long. My characters become distracted and at times, my writing style develops a 'sing-song' rhythm. I see how successful writers economically blend effective setting description with action.

Occasionally I receive valuable feedback. I recently entered a piece I thought witty, polished and well rounded. One of the judges for that competition pointed out discrepancies in my time-line that did not knit the story together. Another found the story humorous, however did not think the ending clearly showed how the key character solved the problem. Aspects I could not see for myself.

Therefore, although I have never won a competition every entry is a winner in itself.
                                                                       
Copyright Steve Martin 2009