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    Winning and Losing Writing Competitions

    Originally published May 19, 2022 My favorite poet Emily Dickinson sent her poems to The Atlantic Monthly Magazine in 1862. Editor Thomas Wentworth Higginson promptly rejected them. Emily suffered deeply from the rejection.  What did Emily do when she received the news that the editor was not interested in her writing? She wrote even more poems! Emily turned something negative into something good. The communication between the editor and writer turned into a relationship based on poetry that lasted for many years. If there’s a chance the winner might only receive a virtual pat on the back, why do people enter writing competitions? They might lose. Sending your writing to a…