I’ve sent five copies of my debut poetry book last week (Polish Edition) for the competition and it made me wonder – what does winning the competition really mean? Because let’s be honest. Nobody takes a part in a contest without a slight hope of winning.

When I think about all contests that I used to be a part of, I realize that many of them were literary. The first sign that my poetry may be meaningful was when I was 13. It made me take a part in poetical workshops and I went for a trip to another city to look for the inspiration because that’s what winning meant back then – they pushed you to become even better in what you’re doing. It was the time when I also wrote many songs that are a part of my first novel (Laura’s Diary – My Awesome Life). I guess that all those first experiences made me believe that it could be my path but I was too young to realize it. I just loved writing and it was coming so naturally to me. It was just a hobby that was the most pleasing to me (writing poetry, songs and my first novel in the form of blog) and the idea of participating in next contests was as much natural as just writing.

The second sign that my poetry must have something in it was the high school experiences. Well, it all just changed my life. Another won contest, 3rd place and the statue won in the literary festival. When I graduated, I thought about publishing my debut poetry book (Love, Pain and Other Addictions). I guess without these successes I would never even thought of it.

Now, after five years of literary studies, here I am. A published author writing this blog post. Coming back to the place I started – taking a part in a poetical competition. Of course, not always just being a part of it means automatically winning. And that’s what we must learn. Our work was appreciated many times before but it won’t happen each time. It’s impossible to be loved by everyone.

So, this is what it means to me. I believe it made me think about such a career seriously. This way natural ability and hobby became my job. This way I started to believe in me and it helped me to choose the path for living.

Why did I sent my books for the contest then? Because I believe that it’s one of ways of being noticed. I just want to be heard. If it works out, it’s cool, if not… Well, I’ll just keep trying. I won’t help anyone when they don’t know about my book. Because you never know. Maybe one of my poetry pieces is a message or sign they were waiting for? And of course, it’s impossible to be writing for living when nobody’s buying your work! I just want to be lucky enough to say that I can do what I love the most and be able to pay my bills by the way.

Do you have similar experiences? What does winning competitions mean to you? Let me know!

Tomorrow post will be also a little bit philosophical. I’m planning to write about historical books… It sounds enigmatically but it’s good. You will find out what exactly it means tomorrow!

Greetings

AA