Writing Award Tips - A Better Plan To Achieve More Profit

Can you really succeed in a writing award almost every week and gain dollar awards dependably, year in year out? Yes, you can. Writing awards deliver a lot of practiced contestants a regular and handsome source of income. Believe it or not, many of these freelance writers receive much more money by entering a creative writing contest every week, or perhaps every few days, than they could ever generate by posting these stories to publishers.

What's the key to acquiring a major money win in a story writing contest? Realize what the contests are seeking!

Needless to say, you would match your tale to the requested genre, size as well as theme and be cautious in your spelling and format. Having done that, you must give particular care to the tale itself. The following are a few reliable principles for succeeding in a creative writing contest:

1. The first sentence must tell the organizers that this entry is top quality. Avoid the lazy surprise start. '˜She killed him.' The shock phrase can be effective if the plot rapidly shows that it means a lot more than it appears. But otherwise, this gimmick fails.

Consider how nuanced the first line is of Kurt Vonnegut's story Harrison Bergeron: '˜The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal.'

When the intelligent reader pauses and ponders that line, they are enchanted.

It's ridiculous but factual that literary agencies and book publishers dump a narrative in the rubbish can if the initial two sentences fail to wow them. This reflex is absurd, needless to say. Many of the world's best-selling stories start in an extremely slow manner. Yet it's crucial that a short story, at any rate, has impact in its first two sentences. It's how competition judges will evaluate the story.

2. The story plot will need to exhibit a robust structure, a powerful progression along with a pleasing sense of closure.

A good novel may be permitted some planned loose ends or maybe a lack of clarity finish, possibly to prompt a follow up. A secret or puzzle may stay intriguingly unresolved. A sophisticated literary novel might even seem to be a collection of brilliant fragments or pungent sections, with virtually no clear pattern.

All the same, the main design has to follow a perceptible logic. If the reader is just confused, the tale will fail. The thoughtful reader should gain a deep sense of satisfaction that, at a subconscious level, the tale is a structured unity.

3. Your words must be skillfully selected.

It is not necessary to use clever syntax, beautiful synonyms or smart plays on words. True, certain competitions let you know they're seeking an original use of language, but most judges find that an extreme attention to language for its own sake is a distraction. Mostly, they're looking for a robust emotional story line.

You may nevertheless be innovative with language, needless to say. But this means simply making use of words with outstanding accuracy, picking exactly the right word that elicits a particular mood or meaning. Examine any tale by Faulkner. The language is invariably very ordinary yet the impact is frequently very powerful.

An entry won't win if it employs tired expressions or sloppily selected terms, except with a purposeful intent - to express a personality or generate an effect of humour. Lazy language is the indication of a beginner.

Not surprisingly, these guidelines make sense only if the competition is competently run. But you can be certain that a respected competition that has been going for some while, and which delivers a number of major dollar awards, will be making use of experienced judges. These are the only competitions you should be going to.

Your stories don't have to be superb to gain a useful win, simply proficient. Submit enough competent stories to reliable competitions, regularly and methodically, and you will have a win-win prize plan!


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Dr John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing, is director of the writing award centre Writers' Village. A university tutor in short story writing, he is a veteran competition judge. Discover hundreds of wily tips to gain cash prizes in his 7000-word manual How to Win Writing Contests for Profit. Acquire it free now at:
http://www.writers-village.org/writing_award