: Re: Are friendly writing contests a useful exercise? Yes, I know that - in theory - any exercise is a good exercise. Context: Lately I've been running a writing group were multiple creative-writing/reading

@Kristi637

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Are friendly writing contests a useful exercise?

Yes they can be - not everyone is going to find them useful, but in the majority of cases it's more writing practice which is good. My writing group does a similar exercise - we do it in-session as a "20 minute challenge" and I've always found it's very useful. Even where I'm also working a so-called "serious" project in the longer term the feedback is useful as a way of getting general "how's my writing?" info from other writers without the need for them to do a substantial amount of reading of my on-going larger works.

I find the structure good - I'm "forced" to produce something, and since I don't have any control over what the "prompt" is it forces me to exercise my creativity in ways that push my comfort zone in ways that I might not if left to my own devices.

More than once I've taken something from one of these and used it elsewhere in a larger project as well - even if it's just a line or a turn of phrase.

Qualitatively as well I find I benefit from a metaphorical "palette cleanser" - sometimes if I'm struggling or feeling like working on my own projects is starting to feel a little stale working on something completely different can be energizing.

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