Entering Writing Competitions

Competitions give you the chance to write the kind of stories and poems that can be hard to place in mainstream markets. They also help you develop self-discipline in writing to set lengths and in meeting deadlines. Look particularly for competitions that offer publication. Getting into print as a winner gives you more than a prize and an ego boost - it gives you a record of publication to add to your CV.

Competitions to Enter.

Top of the list are well-established prestigious competitions like, for example, the annual Bridport awards for short stories and poetry, the Arvon biennial poetry awards, and the Crime Writers Association Macallan award for the best short crime story of the year. These competitions carry tremendous kudos in the writing world.

Look also for short story competitions in newspapers and in magazines. Several top women's magazines run regular short story competitions, and publish the winners and runners-up.

Many Small Press publications run competitions, often relying on entry fees to keep afloat financially. The better ones are well produced and have a healthy circulation.

Don't let fear of competing with well-known writers put you off entering big competitions. Entries are usually kept anonymous till the judging is finished. There are several ways of doing this, and each competition gives details in its literature and entry forms.

Did you Know?

Big poetry competitions are more like lotteries than contests. Usually, entries are divided among a panel of adjudicators. Each judge compiles a shortlist, then all the judges read all the shortlisted entries only. If a judge eliminates your entry in the first round, no one else will see it.

Each judge then selects a 'short shortlist', and the winners are chosen from these survivors - sometimes with a good deal of heat. Philip Larkin once said in public that his fellow judges of a major poetry competition had awarded the top prize to a poem that didn't make sense.