No, it's not about Olympics.

I've had several conversations with peers, profs and professionals about the merits and flaws of writing contests.  The most basic distillation of the pros and cons can be broken down like this:

Pros
-  Name recognition
-  Award money often exceeding that from a regular publication
-  A deadline to work towards
-  Professional peer review

Cons
-  Entry fees
-  Possible scams, though rare, can occur
-  Narrowing your work to fit a guideline

It also bears mentioning that writing contests, in many ways, are the same as professional publications, in that you're competing with potentially thousands of other writers for a single berth, you're receiving (hopefully) some benefit in the form of either monetary gain or name recognition, and you're putting out only your best work (this should go without saying, but it always seems to need repeating).

Elwyn / Elwynsattic via Compfight cc

That said, writing contests are so prevalent these days, especially with the growing number of e-publications, that landing on the "Pro" side of things is actually pretty easy.  The way I look at it is this:  like with publishing, the key is in doing the work to find a model that fits your writing, rather than changing your writing to fit a model.

Just what do I mean by that?  Well, let's say you have a competition like Parsec's Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Contest.  This is a SF&F short fiction contest that requires submissions adhere to a theme specified by the organizers.  The pitfall in this situation is to try to craft a story that you don't have a genuine stake in, merely because the contest calls for a specific aspect.  It can make your writing ring very hollow if you pursue a topic you aren't wholly invested in.

You also, unfortunately, have to take into consideration the possibility that you will (shudder) lose.  If you've spent a large amount of time on a piece you really don't even like, and it's tailored to fit a very narrow, unusual theme or guideline, it's highly unlikely you're going to be able to place that story anywhere else.  Publishers also have this habit of, well, talking, and that means they know when there's a specialist anthology or contest out there.  They can spot a custom-made piece a mile away, and they might not look too kindly on being given the "slim pickings" of a piece that didn't win a competition.

Let's play devil's advocate a moment, though, and remind ourselves that writing is an individual process.  You alone know best what you like and don't like, and you alone know what best will make you grow as a writer.  If that means writing outside your comfort zone on a vampire lesbian steampunk poem, then go to it.  Just remember the possible pitfalls.

heart_of_stone22 via Compfight cc

Setting aside themes and submission requirements, the other thing to think about it Fees and Rewards.  Here's my thought on fees:  don't submit.  For every competition that charges money there are at least three others that don't, and frankly the idea of paying someone to judge my writing never sits well with me (that's what my editor friends are for - right guys?).  Yes, many professional and well-renowned competitions charge a modest entry fee that is not wholly unreasonable, but it's hard not to look at this and see it driving off writers who simply can't afford it.  I had also mentioned scams.  Although fairly rare, from time to time it does happen where competitions pop up that, in addition to charging entry fees, will also seize a writer's work for later publication - with no royalties or recognition for the writer.  Worse yet, they may even pay out no rewards, or very small ones, while keeping the collected entry fees for themselves.  If it sounds paranoid, well...tragically it's not.  The SFWA keeps a record of these kinds of scams on a section called Writer Beware.  There are other resources for tracking these problem publishers and contest scammers; just hunt around a bit on the internet and you should be able to find some community consensus.

In terms of reward, while money is plentiful and wonderful in several competitions, you should also be thinking about publicity gains (or losses).  It is unquestionable that the most important part of winning a writing competition is the increased renown and name recognition that comes with it.  Money can give you the space to write more, but name recognition will give you the ability to publish more.  With that in mind, think about the kind of writer you want to be.  If it's a situation where you just have this one really great, fantastic idea, then fire at will.  But if you're looking at a long-term goal of publishing in a specific area or for a specific audience, you might want to think about entering contests that are more in line with your genre's crowd.

The bottom line is this:  contests, like publishers, are your responsibility to research.  You have to be prepared to read up on submission requirements, contest histories, and even forum discussions and message boards.  You have to decide for yourself which information is valuable, which is bunk.  You have to find the best way to get your work out there.

So at the end of the day, is it worth the stress and headaches?  If you're at all serious about writing, you already know the answer:  absolutely, unquestionably, wholeheartedly.

Love is the key via Compfight cc