Don’t be afraid to win.

I recently won three awards

at the annual League of Utah Writers conference banquet, which was held on Saturday, August 10th, at the University Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake City.

Don’t be afraid to win

I first joined the League of Utah Writers when I was just starting out as a writer in 2004. I was already in my fifties at that point. I had plenty of story ideas at that point. I had taken writing classes through Community Education, held in the evenings at local high schools. I entered a contest with what I thought of as my book (if you follow me, you will probably know that the book is now called Through the Rug and has been published twice with two different covers and has become a series of three books.) I tanked miserably. Through the Rug

My first contest entry was dismal.

I got my book back with marks for punctuation, point of view, and changing from first person to third person.

I felt defeated at that point.

I threw my book into a drawer and vowed never to write again. That feeling didn’t last long because I was now a League of Utah Writers member—and I soon became the secretary of my local chapter. That move really helped me out of my rut. I then decided to take a year and make my short book into a children’s chapter book.

In total, my first book took me five years to write.

I had been out of school for so long. I had raised my own children and had grandchildren before starting this writing and publishing journey. It’s been a journey. To date, I have fourteen published books. I won the Writer of the Year Award in 2008; I now have four Gold Quill Awards, two Silver Quills, and one Bronze Quill from the League of Utah Writers.

My books have won three Silver, Mom’s Choice Awards, and a Teen Development Award; I have also won and placed in the Indie Excellence Awards and the USA Best Books awards.

Don’t be afraid to win! Wining is a mile marker. It’s exciting and not embarrassing.

At a friend’s get-together, after dinner, the group of about fifteen were playing Bingo. During this game, I called out Bingo! And our host brought me a prize. That was fun! But I won the next game as well. In fact, I just kept winning over and over, and it became embarrassing. After my fourth or fifth win, I stopped calling out. I really wanted someone else to win for a change.

My grown-up daughter, who was with me, looked over at the Bingo card I was trying to hide and roared, “Mom, you won!” In fact, I had two bingo’s in different directions on the same card. Don’t be afraid to win.

I tried my best to hush her. I really wanted to give someone else a chance to win. Luckily, it was too late for that win to count. I was relieved when someone else got the prize.

Winning can also be scary.

After joining the League of Utah Writers, I would enter short stories into the League contests at both the state and local chapter levels.

In the beginning phases of my writing, I had no experience with winning; I really did not want to win at all.

The reason for this?  If your poem or story were to win, you would get up and read it in front of the whole group. The state level had nearly 300 in attendance, so I really didn’t want to win. With a red face, I would sit on pins and needles within the audience and repeatedly tell myself, “Please don’t win! Please don’t win! Please, please, please don’t win! A funny thing started to happen as my writing improved. I started winning! Don’t be afraid to win.

Another thing a winner starts to deal with is the feelings of others, as in my Bingo winnings.

I have a good friend who started this writing journey along with me. She has written and published many books along the way. She would enter her newest book into the contest year after year, but she didn’t win. If I won, she would feel bad, and I was embarrassed by my own win. Don’t be afraid to win.

My winning has become a sore spot for her. She told me about a comment she made to her therapist: “I hate Jill a little.”

At this year’s annual contest, Sara won her first Silver Quill Award. She told me that she would now go to her therapist and tell her that she liked me again!