I was quite lucky when I started out, my #introduceyourself post got picked up by the right people and my reputation soared.
100 days in and I still barely understand how everything works. Luckily I have 
@calluna to steer me in the right direction, and 
@ginabot to tell me when I get a comment. - I would like to point out that I am very bad at responding, despite my writing ability I am terrible at replying and even commenting on others work.
I joined mainly for the privilege of entering writing competitions and the opportunity to write more. I was getting bored with life and needed a new creative outlet. There are so many amazing poetry and fiction writing competitions on steemit. There's something for everyone. I keep trying to convince my friends to join and participate.
In the last 100 days I have learnt that some ideas and their delivery don’t appeal to some of the steemit community audience, and other ideas take off really well. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Everyone has unique personal tastes. Especially in the writing community; everyone has different level of standards and criteria they want people to meet. These only heighten the challenge.
There is also the main factor of chance playing its part, this is why joining in competitions is a great way to gain exposure, especially to the holy grail that is 
@curie. Curie follow some of the big writing comps and when you get a vote from them it boosts a post payout tenfold and makes you feel amazing.
Some of the regular contests and challenges I have entered in the past:
24 Hour short story by 
@mctiller - this was one of the first competitions I entered. The prompts are always unusual and spark interest. The short run time means there's little scope for editing. But the results are usually worth it.
Finish the Story by 
@bananafish - this contest is a great way to learn how to take on someone else's writing style. As the weeks have progressed the quality of the introductions and the entries has increased. It's always fascinating to see the many ways people can divert the ending. This growing community is a great way to meet other writers and the regular entrants are great at giving comments.
More recently the Mizu no oto Haiku Contest by @bananafish - this poetry contest is still a new development, but with participation increasing its getting noticed. The criteria can be difficult to master but the flexibility of entering in different languages open this competition up to more people.
Electric Dreams by 
@tygertyger - where do I start with this amazing contest? Tyger provides 3 unique prompts that have to be woven into a longer fiction story. My experience has taught me to always reread the prompts.
Tell me a story by @calluna - I’m a little biased towards this one as it is run by a friend. Although I failed to get an entry into the Halloween one. The prompts are usually broad to allow for limitless possibilities. There is also the chance to vote for your favourite.
50 Word Short Story Challenge by 
@jayna - I’m really starting to love writing these stories. In my days at school they were called 50 word sagas. The unyielding word limit means you have to focus on the detail within the prompt. The skill of narrowing down word choice is transferable to longer fiction.
Haiku contest by 
@vdux - I’ve not had chance to enter many of these yet but I love that you can enter as many times as you want. This means you can really think outside the box and push the prompts.
ZapFic contest by 
@felt.buzz - this is a recent contest that used to run before I was here and has recently resurfaced. The ZapFic is a story written in 240 characters which means using a character counter. Beware of punctuation as that counts as a character too.
Some contests that I have seen but not entered:
Five minute freewrite by 
@mariannewest - I often see this on my newsfeed, the unmistakable blue banner image. I have yet to test to waters of continuous writing. There is a rather nasty website available that clears your writing if you stop before the 5 minutes are up, not a compulsory tool.
FarmPunk fiction contest by 
@blockurator - I have seen a few entries to the Farm punk contest. This neich fiction is increasing in popularity week after week. Personally i would need to spend a longer time researching to fit the genre but i’m keen to read more.
100 word short story contest by 
@thewritersblock - everyone whos anyone knows about The Writers Block. These writing buffs know what they’re talking about. They expect nothing less than publishing standard. These 100 word contests are a great way to dip a toe in and see if your resilient enough.
Are there any other writing or poetry competitions you think I should know about?
