Now that you’re at the end, and either reveling in success or suffering in defeat, you’re in a good position to look back and decide if it was worth it.  There are two sides of the story that I generally hear.  The first is positive.  It helps show people who don’t write that it’s possible to write a novel.  It grants extra motivation.  It teaches good habits.  I also hear the opposite.  It just burns people out.  It tries to force people into a pace that some can’t handle and teaches them that they can’t write.  We are already authors, we do this every day.  We don’t need some stupid contest to show us something we already know.

So, what do you think?  Is it a good thing or a bad thing?  Give your reply in the comments and lets see which side gets the better arguments.