FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

Ok.. so I am the total opposite of the scale. I already KNOW I am not good enough, and that I NEED work on my writing, that's why I am here, Right..?

Oh, there have been plenty of times I "thought" I had a good one, and didn't place worth beans, and get this, the one I thought of as worthless ( written as a joke mainly), won 3rd place. Go figure.

The one thing I do know, and that from encouragement of others here, I have improved since I first got here. And that's what I wanted. I will never see my own work as anything but second rate, but it is getting better. Well I hope it is.... maybe they were lying to make me feel better.

lidijo1 wrote:
But this I do know... God has given the talent and I would be remiss not to use it... so I keep writing, and pray that God will use it for His glory. I will keep on writing, and accept not winning as God's way of keeping me humble.

This is exactly how I see it, too. In my writing. In my prayer life when my prayers aren't answered. I fall into the ditch a lot, but I know God doesn't want me to stay there long.

Thanks, Jan! So very much appreciate that you supplied the link! I've printed them off and will take a look-see!

Win or lose, I love being part of this group!

Gina

Yes, I really struggled with disappointment, especially when I like what I've written (and it's vulnerable/personal) or if others have expressed their approval of it. I find it a double blow that the results come twice, first the top 5 end EC's and then top 15 and top 40 overall. I get through the first disappointment by thinking "oh, well, maybe I'll make top 40," then I feel even worse when I don't.

But a couple of things on this that I'm starting to learn slowly:

1. Initially I was very focused on where I placed. Now that I've gotten to know more people on the site, I really enjoy seeing them place well too. Also I used to read the other articles just to see how they compared to mine , but now I'm reading them to ENJOY them and LEARN something from them.

2. Something that really helped me for one article that I was very disappointed not to place in, was getting a feedback rating service from Deb. What I saw there was that my article was very well liked by the judges (I even got several "excellent" ratings from one of them). If it had been an exam I would have had over 80%, yet it only ranked 65th overall. Well that helped me to see that just because I didn't place, doesn't mean my writing was poor or that they didn't appreciate it.

3. For myself I feel that some of these negative emotions reflect pride, and God is very much dealing with that in my life. This "pain" has been a wonderful tool in His hands, and I am grateful for it.

Joan