JUST DO IT! Why I LOVE Writing Contests and Challenges – and Why Participation is a Good Idea for ALL Writers

 What a joy to be the guest blogger this month for the fabulous SCBWI blog! Did you know that my membership in SCBWI started before I even dreamed of becoming a published picture book author. Let me share a bit about how that happened…and the connection with writing contests and challenges.

It was 2010. I had just self-published an activity guide for parents and teachers of young children…the book I wished I’d had when I was teaching kindergarten many years before. In order to spread the word about the book, SHOW ME HOW! Build Your Child’s Self Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking, I had started blogging – since the book focused on how picture books can build a child’s self-esteem, my blog focused on picture books. I began connecting with people like Tara Lazar who hosted the Picture Book Idea Month Challenge (now called StoryStorm) where authors, agents, and editors shared how they came up with story ideas. And I connected with Susanna Leonard Hill who also blogged about picture books and hosted several writing contests. I met people who were not only reading and reviewing picture books…they were writing them! A little dream started growing in my heart.
And then something happened that changed the course of my life forever…

…my son took me skydiving for my 64^th birthday!

And when my feet touched the ground I knew that if I could jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I could probably do anything. And that very next year, in 2011, I jumped into the world of writing for children with my whole heart. I wrote stories for Susanna’s contests: Valentiny, Halloweensie, the Winter Holiday contest. I participated in PiBoIdMo/Storystorm and filled a journal with 30 story ideas. And when Julie Hedlund announced she was starting the 12x12 Picture Book Writing Challenge in the beginning of 2012…I was onboard immediately.

That year, I wrote 12 picture book manuscripts and joined a couple of critique groups. The next year, I started submitting. And in 2014, I took a bunch of online picture book writing classes. By 2015, with 3 years of contest and writing challenge participation under my belt, I signed with my agent, Essie White of Storm Literary (and she is still my agent!)

So, how did participating in those writing contests and challenges help me move forward on the path to publication? 

For every contest and challenge, I had to be writing, revising, submitting…the three activities serious writers need to do. Writing contests and challenges help us hone our craft, and, as the tagline for #50PreciousWords says: Magic Happens When You Make Every Word Count

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#50PreciousWords? What’s that, you ask? At the beginning of 2016, as the ink dried on my first book deal, I decided to host a writing contest of my own. I’d read about how Dr. Seuss was challenged by his editor, Bennet Cerf, to write a story for children using only 50 unique words…and he did! GREEN EGGS AND HAM has 750 words, but only 50 unique words. However, I wanted a bigger challenge…I wanted to see if I could write a story using ONLY 50 words or less. I was so pleased with the result that I opened the challenge to kid lit friends. I posted it on my blog on March 2^nd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. One hundred and twenty-eight brave souls participated that first year in 2016 – and the winner, Julie Abery, went on to sign with my agent and Julie’s story, LITTLE TIGER, became the first book in a wonderful board book series with Amicus Ink. The next year, we had over 200 submissions – and the contest has grown – this year we had 586 entries and 65 incredible prizes including agent and editor critiques and submission opportunities. Last month, I did a Book Birthday post for PLIGHT OF THE PELICAN (Holiday House), a picture book written by Jessica Stremer and illustrated by Gordy Wright – inspired by Pelicans on Parade, Jessica’s 2022 entry that earned an Honorable Mention. Many books have been born because of that contest…and not just board books and picture books. In 2021, Federico Erebia submitted a sweet story about his brother. The story wasn’t in the prize winner’s circle…but he worked on it and fleshed it out – and in 2023, Levine Querido published PEDRO & DANIEL, Federico’s 50,000-word YA novel, to great acclaim and accolades.

The title of this blog post says it all…JUST DO IT! Truly, this year’s contest will result in dozens of eventual book deals. Participants tell me that they LOVE how writing a story using only 50 words helps them distill the story to what it’s really about. And one of the best parts is that it encourages community building…the coming together of folks who usually work in isolation. But that’s my topic for next week’s post…so I hope you’ll be back to find out why community is so important on our path to publication.

Writer for children—reader forever…that’s Vivian Kirkfield in five words. Her bucket list contains many more words – but she’s checked off skydiving, walking under the ocean, and going around the world in less than 80 days. When she isn’t looking for ways to fall from the sky or sink under the water, this former educator inspires budding writers during classroom visits and shares insights with aspiring authors at conferences and on her blog where she hosts #50PreciousWords and #50PreciousWordsforKids. Her nonfiction narratives bring history alive for young readers and have received awards and accolades including the Silver Eureka, Social Studies Notable Trade Book, Best STEM Book K-12, Bank Street College of Education Best Book, and Junior Library Guild Selection.

You can connect with her and find out more about her books, contests, and challenges on her website: www.viviankirkfield.com