TO ENTER, OR NOT?
That is the question many Australian writers must be asking themselves about entering short story competitions at the moment. A recent magazine listed writing competitions for the July to December period. There were 300 listed, mostly for overseas competitions, and with less than a handful of Australian ones included. After eliminating those for poetry, those with restricted age limits, for unpublished writers only, or limited to those from specific countries and/or locations, 13 interesting ones were left to consider. Of those, only 6 had free entry… and, not surprisingly those with free entry generally offered much lower prize money. With the Australian dollar’s current exchange rate, and entry fees ranging from £GB3 to $US45, a writer would need to be committed to, and confident about, any story they were about to invest in.
0 Comments
TO ENTER OR NOT TO ENTER
One of the many challenges writers encounter is the lure of writing competitions ... and the question of whether to enter or not. The theme for a particular competition can be so tempting as to create a flood of inspirational juices, while others fail to generate a flicker of interest. Should you stop your current work-in-progress to write an entry for a tempting competition? How much is the the fee, or is it free? Although you don't expect to win anyway, what about the prize money? Is your entry fee nothing more than a donation? By the time you consider everything and are convinced to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, you discover the competition closed yesterday. STUCK FOR IDEAS?
Who hasn’t been there? Here is an interesting approach worth considering if you sometimes need a nudge to write. The Globe Soup 7 Day Writing Challenges is an England-based writing competition. Register and you are assigned by weekly email a random genre and a secret challenge theme. It’s up to you whether you take part each time. Word limit is 2000 words, entry is free, and prize money is £500. The way it is run is interesting. Each challenge runs for exactly seven days. Before each new challenge begins, those who are registered are randomly divided into 12 groups. Each group is set a different genre. At the start of each challenge, everyone receives an email with their randomly assigned genre and the secret challenge theme. All participants receive the same theme. If you accept the challenge, a short story inspired by the theme must be written in your assigned genre. One finalist from each group is chosen, with one overall winner chosen from those twelve. Each challenge has a new theme.
|
Let's Talk Writing
AuthorShare something about yourself, your writing, or something that has come to your attention recently. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2023
Categories |