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It's amazing how frequently I hear that from sweepers when encouraging them to enter a skill competition that involves writing. Everyone can write, some a little better than others, but we all have some creativity within us. You just need to figure out how to put it on paper. I'm not an expert, but I have come across some things along the way that help when entering a skill contest that involves a written entry. I would like to say that I credit a lot of my early success to having been lucky enough to attend early sweepstakes conventions where Alan Terl was speaking on this very subject. I learned more from that man than I can possibly tell you. Alan is no longer with us, but you may be interested in a book he wrote for sweepers many years ago called "Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!" There is a lot of information in it that is still very relevant today. Some of the suggestions below were learned from Alan, some I learned through trial and error and a few actually came from P.T.A. training classes I attended many years ago. What they taught me about brain storming and being creative in your local P.T.A., I am still using to enter and win both recipe and writing competitions. I hope they are as useful to you as they have been for me. READ THE RULES CAREFULLY! - This is especially important in skilled competitions. You need to know exactly what the sponsor is looking for. Brain Storming - Find a nice quiet place where you can work uninterrupted. Turn off the television, radio, telephone and anything else that might disturb you. As the mother of five children believe me when I say I know how hard this can be! Start by making a list of what comes to mind when you think of the subject you are writing about. DO NOT think of anything other than the subject at hand. Get wild and crazy! No one will see this list but you. Just jot down single words or short phrases, don't try to make sentences. When you have a list of items, look it over and take one word or phrase at a time and start a new list of brainstorming ideas based on each item in the first list. By the time you have gone through each item on the original list, you should have several long lists of ideas. Now you need to take those words and phrases to see which ones will fit together best to make a good entry. Eliminate anything that does not fit when considering the items below, Research, Judging Criteria and Mood. Many of them will end up in the trash can, but a few will stand out as the ones you need to elaborate on. I will warn you that you may also end up digging through that trash can to find some of the original ideas, so keep it clean! Research - When a sponsor wants me to talk about how I use their product, the first thing I do is research it thoroughly. Look them up on the internet and learn what they make, how they make it, who do they target with their marketing? Everything you learn will help you to come up with an essay that will appeal to them. Quality versus Quantity - This one is straight from Alan Terl and he has never led me wrong. Even if a sponsor allows multiple entries, it is better to spend a lot of time on one than a little bit of time on several. Tools - The first time I heard Alan speak he insisted that we get a Thesaurus and a Rhyming Dictionary. I had never heard of a rhyming dictionary, but I went straight to a book store and bought one. I've used it so much over the years that it is now falling apart. I confiscated my oldest daughter's thesaurus from her English class and I was set. I never write without having both books nearby. Of course, we now have access to both items via the internet and word processing programs. Judging Criteria - The most important part of the rules. It tells you what the judges are looking for. Mood - You have to determine whether the sponsor is looking for serious entries, humorous or maybe even sob stories. It could be any of these and if you submit a serious entry when they are looking for humor or humor when they are looking for a sob story, you just missed the boat no matter how good your entry is. Of course, there have been many over the years that were very hard to determine, so when I'm just not sure I go with humor. Everyone loves to read something that makes them smile. So let's get started! Assuming that you have already brainstormed the subject matter and have a nice long list of thoughts pertaining to it, you are ready to put it all together. You should have several good ideas and just need to see what fits where and then fill in between. This is where your tools come in. The thesaurus helps you to find the right words to get your meaning across and enhance your essay or prose. One rule you should always follow is NEVER use the same descriptive word twice in an essay. For example, the word "wonderful" is a good one, but becomes very boring if it is used two, three or even four times in the same essay and I have seen many people do this. Your thesaurus will give you other words to use that will improve on your work without becoming monotonous. Instead of wonderful, my thesaurus suggests magnificent, breath taking, superb, amazing, astonishing, fantastic, brilliant & great. You definitely want this tool by your side whenever you are writing. If you want to create a poem, the rhyming dictionary is a must. It is an incredible tool for finding words that rhyme and fit with your theme. Just remember that it still needs to make sense and you will frequently have to rewrite phrases to find ending words that rhyme and accomplish this goal. Another big factor in writing a poem is meter. If your poem does not have a smooth rhythm to it, it throws everything off. You have to count the number of syllables in each sentence to have a good rhythm or meter. This is another item learned from the master, Alan Terl. He taught us to count the number of syllables and make sure that the rhyming sentences were within one to two syllables of each other. If you have one sentence with 8 syllables in it and the rhyming sentence has 13, then you've lost the rhythm. Rhythm and meter are every bit as important as rhyme when writing poetry. My very first win was from a poem I had written and when I received the phone call they informed me that it was my smooth rhythm that convinced them I should win. I've never forgotten that lesson. If a contest asks you to be creative, do not limit yourself to essays and poetry. There are many other ways to get the judges attention. You can use a movie script, fairy tale or newspaper article format for your entry or perhaps you have other ideas you would like to use. If you have suggestions that would help others please feel free to post them here. We are all learning and sharing information among friends is the best instructor of all. My last piece of advice is to set what you have written aside for a day or two before you submit it. Don't look at it or think about it if possible. Then when you do review it, you will be amazed at how many new thoughts and ideas come to mind to improve on it or just tweak it a bit. The few times I have ignored my own advice and sent an entry right away, I deeply regretted it. I always come up with different variances on wording that would have made it better if I had just been patient. I am going to end this with my first contest entry, the one I mentioned above. It was written for a local contest in our daily newspaper in conjunction with Disney's Wonderful World on Ice. They were coming to town with the Snow White performance that ended with Snow White marrying Prince Charming. They wanted a real wedding on ice for one of their performance's and asked people to write in and tell them why they should have a Wedding On Ice! This was our fairy tale beginning into a never-ending story of sweepstakes, contests and dreams come true. Something that only happens to sweepstakers!
When we were first wed in '72, No one was there when we said "I do". We started our life together...alone, But over the years our family has grown. What started with two has blossomed to seven, This could be the proverbial "Marriage from Heaven". Yet somethings amiss in this scene from above, It's the chance for our friends to witness our love. It would be such a thrill for our family to see, Mickey and Minnie with Daddy and me. And nothing could match our daughter's delight, When she learns that the bridesmaid will be Snow White. But the best part of all is the second chance, To say our vows and renew the romance. So we'll bring the preacher and plenty of rice, If you'll let us have a Wedding On Ice!
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