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I had, a mighty push, somewhat akin to birthing a baby. I am going to unseat you, Mr. X-Factor, I thought. I dredged up every ounce of creativity I could find, and wrote up the two articles. Posted them and checked my rankings.

Sigh. Sadly nothing had changed. Mr. X-Factor still reigned supreme. I acquiesced; he had won. I closed the screen and went on to do some Helium rating. I had an appointment so I figured I'd rate till the contest closed. After all, it was rumored on the community boards that rating other articles helped to raise one's own rankings in the contest. So, I rated.

I checked my watch and realized the contest had ended. I was running late, but I still had time for a quick click on the contest ratings screen. And, oh my goodness, guess what? I had outranked Mr. X-Factor by only ONE position, but I was ahead. I performed my own private happy dance.

Alas, if that were the end of the story, but it isn't. I didn't know that final Helium contest rankings, true contest rankings, take time to appear.

Later on, I checked the contest rankings again, and there Mr. X-Factor was, ABOVE me once again. By one measly position! Arrgh! But, I thought brightly, I did make 5 bucks for my efforts. And writing for Helium is not really about the money anyway. And the contest was fun! Especially with inspiration.

To other aspiring Helium writers, hoping to climb the ranks in a Helium writing contest, I wish you your own personal Mr. X-Factor, who will mentor you unawares, to the money positions in a Helium contest.

(Oh, and by the by, I entered into the following week's contest and repeated my pursuit of Mr. X-Factor. But this time, I did it; I beat Mr. X, fair and square.)

Learn more about this author, Sheree Zielke.
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