What is the point of writing contests?
I'm almost at the end of my first draft, just about 8k words to go out of maybe 92k total. I would consider this version 1.5, maybe even 1.8, because all this time I have been polishing as I go, even revising some sections outright. I even swapped with beta readers for my first ten and made changes already. I limit myself to around 2k words a day so I don't produce trash (it's just how my mind works, I'm very susceptible to diminishing returns), and any extra time goes towards editing, researching more about writing, the querying process and reading.
Anyway, so I've been seeing instagram posts about various writing contests from all different agencies and companies. The prizes are usually like a mentorship or you get paired with an editor for like a year. I guess I'm a little confused. The winners of these must have a pretty freaking decent manuscript right? Like the writers have got to be talented to produce these novels that get picked out of many dozens, probably hundreds, usually by professional agents and editors. Do they really need a year to edit their work after winning a competition? How long are you guys actually editing for? I
I have developmental editing lined up because my story structure is quite complex for a first time writer, but even after all that, and after revision.. I can't imagine I would take more than a month, maybe six weeks for a final script. Two months would be pushing it. A year though? Am I thinking about this wrong?