What if I had Given Up Then?

Missy Tippens

I recently did a blog interview where I was asked about my first Seekerville post. I thought I would do something fun today. I'm sharing that first post from October 23, 2007! I think it can be encouragement for new writers or any writers having a hard time.

So, here's old Missy (or should I say YOUNG Missy?!)...



Okay, admission time. I'm nervous about this post. Let's face it, I'm in very good company among these Seeker ladies. They're funny (as in Julie's hormonal story), clever and great writers. So as I've been thinking and worrying for the past week about what to write (and checking out the other posts to see what I have to live up to!), it hit me that what I'm having is kind of like first-contest jitters.

Photo of Missy from 2007!How hard was it to send out your first contest entry?


Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to describe the terror. For one thing, at the time, I printed my entry, then went to the store or the church to make copies. Don't ask my why I never thought to print 4 or 5 copies. I made those trips to a copier for at least a year or two. And of course, that meant checking each copy to make sure everything had copied correctly (it didn't always).

So on that first trip to make copies for my first contest, I spread stacks all over the floor, checking the pages as I went. Then I bound everything with the exact kind of binder clips the contest required. Then I filled out and signed the entry form, once again reading each and every little rule to make sure I had complied--margins, font, spacing, page numbers, headings, name nowhere in sight. Then I labeled the package (mailed in the required envelope with no signature required), inserted the return envelope (no metered postage!), and finally read and re-read the address I was mailing it to. By the time I finished, my stomach hurt from the stress. Then when the postal man took it, I really thought I might throw up on him. What had I done? What if I had 26 lines on one page?! What if my name was on the synopsis?! Mary has a term for this--Senders Remorse (or something like that).



Well, I eventually got over the trauma of mailing that thing off. And my positive nature took over. Surely, everything was perfect. They would love my baby. My heart and soul had gone into the story, and I just knew it would final, an editor would love it, and I would make my first sale.
WRONG! When the time came for finalist calls (yes, at the time I posted sticky notes on my monitor that had the date of each contest announcement), did I get a call? No. I didn't. I was disappointed, but not devastated. Maybe next time. I bet I came close.

Wrong again. Eventually, the packet came in the mail. I was actually a little excited to see the feedback. But nothing prepared me for finding a sheet of paper that told the standing of all the entries (by number, of course, not name). I tied for 35th place out of 37 entries. Or gosh, there may have only been 36 entries. (See, Janet, I feel your pain with the similar results!)

I can't begin to tell you how humiliated I was. I remember my face burning. And I cried. I told myself I would NEVER, EVER enter another contest again. Of course, I wasn't going to ever write again anyway, so it wouldn't even matter. Surely, if I was bad enough to fall that low in the pack, then I didn't need to be writing anyway.



Obviously, I managed to keep going. I'm too hard-headed. And I just loved writing too much. So I tossed that envelope in a pile in the basement and moved forward. It was a good while before I entered another contest, though. I joined a critique group, then entered a couple of contests soon after revising the story. And it wasn't long before I finaled in the Laurie. What a thrill! And what a reward for staying on the course, even through the devastation. I remember that at the time I finaled in the Laurie, I was once again considering quitting (I don't remember why). I decided at the time that God had placed that final at the just the right time to encourage me. So I kept going. (But, hey, that topic is for another post.)

Anyway, tell us what mailing your first contest entry like. Did you nearly throw up on the poor postal worker like I almost did? :)
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New, older Missy again (notice I didn't say old!)...

So writers, tell me about your first contest entry! And readers, can you share a time where you put yourself out there and took a risk? Something I keep thinking about after reading this post so many years later: WHAT IF I HAD GIVEN UP THEN? I hope this can be a call for all of us to push through the discouragement and hard times and KEEP GOING.

Current photo!After more than 10 years of pursuing her dream of publication, Missy Tippens, a pastor’s wife and mom of three from near Atlanta, Georgia, made her first sale to Harlequin Love Inspired in 2007. Her books have since been nominated for the Booksellers Best, Holt Medallion, American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Maggie Award, Beacon Contest, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award, and the Romance Writers of America RITA® Award. Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com, https://twitter.com/, www.facebook.com/missy.tippens.readers.