---
title: "Share Your Knowledge! Essay Contest"
description: "I am running a contest for the best informational blog posts with awards totaling $1,500. The contest will run from September 1 — November 1, 2022."
url: https://tasshin.com/blog/share-your-knowledge-essay-contest/
date: 2022-08-31
modified: 2025-01-23
author: "Tasshin"
image: https://tasshin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/word-image-2235-1.jpeg
categories: ["Blog 📓"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Share Your Knowledge! Essay Contest

**I am running a contest for the best **[**informational blog posts**](https://tasshin.com/blog/the-art-of-writing-the-informational-blog-post/)** with awards totaling $1,800. The contest will run from September 1 — November 1, 2022.** **Update: the winners have been (https://tasshin.com/blog/share-your-knowledge-essay-contest-winners/)!**

Over the last few years, the writing on my blog has increasingly converged around a genre that I am calling the “(https://tasshin.com/blog/the-art-of-writing-the-informational-blog-post/).” 

These are personalized introductions to topics of interest, framing the topic in an approachable, interesting, inspiring way. It’s like a Wikipedia article, but more personable, friendly, and opinionated.

Ideally, the informational blog post should inspire the reader to be interested in the material, provide context about the topic, give actionable next steps, etc. 

An excellent informational blog post takes thought, care, and diligence to write. It also requires deep familiarity with a topic. 

There are more topics of interest in this world than I could possibly research and write about in my lifetime.

**That’s why I’m launching a contest for new informational blog posts, with cash prizes: the Share Your Knowledge! Essay Contest.**

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/AyyACb5QH5P9y9MEUIcEQ5yzBpgo131vpcEw6_-h8ox8sOowKjUN5sFfmmGkDxxAE6hT_G4_ZcxWJPxbwWDtVnbprKu-PxCDbRiJ6aFNouQc-WyC7QC3JeyszZ2SMpAlUJ4bjcakbGnENQsULwTJNcc)

I am doing this out of love for the genre, and a desire to see the genre spread more widely. 

I want to read pieces in this genre about topics that I would be interested in learning more about, but might not otherwise have time to research.

I want to encourage people to write a blog post who might not otherwise write and publish their writing, or who might not otherwise consider writing a piece within this genre. I want to encourage those writers to share their writing, to experience the many wonderful but hard-to-predict benefits of having more writing in their portfolio. 

Finally, I want to notice and enjoy the second-order effects of having more excellent writing about topics of interest in the world!

### Requirements

Submissions should be:

- a new original piece, not previously published publicly

- published on a blog or web hosting platform (your website, Substack, Medium, etc.), with a publicly accessible URL

- between 1,000 and 10,000 words

Submit your essays for consideration to (mailto:tasshinfogleman+syk@gmail.com). Include your name, the title of your essay, the URL where it can be found, your social media and contact information.

**Applications are due by midnight on November 1st, 2022.** The winners will be announced in November!

### What makes for an excellent submission?

An excellent post will:

- pick an interesting, useful topic which is underrepresented, that you have a unique perspective on or experience with

- begin with a story, perhaps from your personal life, making the topic interesting, relevant, and inspiring to learn more about

- give a thorough introductory treatment of the topic—putting it into context, explaining relevant concepts, including exercises to try, etc.

- have a strong, compelling personal voice, showcasing your personality and opinions, personal story and background, etc.

- include well curated resources and links for learning more about the chosen topic

- be an enjoyable, compelling piece to read

We also encourage (but do not require):

- reading (https://tasshin.com/blog/the-art-of-writing-the-informational-blog-post/)

- using art, photography, and typography to make the post visually pleasing and inspiring

- licensing your writing with a Creative Commons license (e.g. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0))

### What are some good examples of essays?

Here are a few of my own essays that fit this genre:

- (https://tasshin.com/blog/learn-you-a-fundraising-for-great-good/)

- (https://tasshin.com/blog/the-strategic-theory-of-john-boyd/)

- (https://tasshin.com/blog/discovering-bliss-states/)

- (https://tasshin.com/blog/rob-burbea-ordinary-guy-werewolf-eternal-wanderer/)

Here are some essays that we especially like that fit this genre from other authors:

- (https://agntjane.substack.com/p/massaging-yourself-and-your-loved) by Jane Miller

- (https://publish.obsidian.md/sadalsvvd/Astrology/Sadalsuud) by Sadalsuud

- (https://www.michaelashcroft.org/blog/my-ultimate-guide-to-public-speaking) by Michael Ashcroft 

- (https://fortelabs.co/blog/how-i-made-a-documentary-film-with-digital-notes/) by Tiago Forte

### What are some possible topics someone could write about?

You can write about any topic you like, so long as the piece you write fits the genre, but here are some ideas for possible topics we’d love to read about:

- Perceptual Control Theory

- Coherence Therapy

- Developmental Psychology

- Theory of Mind

- DJing

- Music Production

- Digital Art

- Color Theory

- Forming Non-Profits

Someone else may very well have written about the topic you’re writing about before—but *you’ve* never written about it before, and you have a unique perspective on it, that would be worth sharing with the world in writing.

### Prizes

- **First Place:** $1,000

- **Second Place: **$500

- **Third Place: **$300

Prizes will be determined at my discretion, but I will likely consult others for their opinion.

### Thanks

Many thanks to (https://twitter.com/_brentbaum) for funding this project, and for his encouragement and support in making this contest possible. Additional thanks to (https://twitter.com/benpence) for supplying the funds for a third prize.

Thanks as well to (https://twitter.com/yishan), whose (https://medium.com/@yishan/solarpunk-art-contest-2021-da9474c9722e)—and our (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr0E5xcz9qY) about it—inspired this contest. 

### What can I do to help?

If you are a writer, we would love to have you write an essay and submit it to this contest!

Please share this contest with any writers you know who might be interested in submitting a piece.

If you would like to see more essays in this genre, we welcome additional contributions to the prize pool. Additional funds will create additional prizes and increase the overall prize amount.

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