Mslexia's how-to poetry guide

To coincide with the MSLEXIA poetry competition (closing date July 14) the writing magazine have published an excellent guide to writing poems.

The last instalment is all about preparing your work for submission.

Summing up the advice in one sentence it goes something like...if you think it is ready to send off, don't...until you've answered the following questions:

Hold out the poem and scan it - does it look right on the page?

Does the poem fit the magazine or competition you’re targeting?

If it is free verse, what were your reasons for choosing to break the line there? (Clue: you really should have a reason...)

Does the poem feel abrupt? 

Is it too wordy?

Lots more advice (and answers) on the website - click the title of this post to go there

POSH BINGO - what writing competitions should be called

I'm indebted to Kate in my Friday morning class for that insight (and she tells me she got it from someone else). I think it is important to remember that luck has a lot to do with winning competitions or publishing contracts.
Our responsibility as writers is to do the best work we possibly can and then go away, walk the dog, have a drink, cook the dinner and revise it some more; it's our job to be different and original and exciting and when we are marching along the same route as other writers to do it in such a way as though it seems like the very first footfall.
But when we do submitt it is chance that dicates whether it drops onto the right editor's desk at the right time or it appeals to a particular judge's very subjective view of the world....
A lot of writing careers have been launched by competitions  - not by the winning of them or even the taking part, but because they provide a focus and a deadline.
The worst thing you can say to a writer is that you can write about anything you like, for as long as you like and it doesn't matter when you finish...(Well, perhaps not the worst. 'Your writing is bland drivel' is probably higher up the list.)
PS Sorry that the last post appears to be shouting at you. I have no idea why it is in caps when it is sober and well-mannered lower case on my screen. I wrestled with it for awhile but I decided that it was such an interesting competition that it was better to post in A VERY LOUD VOICE than keep the news to myself.

More things you shouldn't do when entering writing competitions

Via Twitter I've had a lots of good advice from writers who also judge writing competitions. Here it is: digest and avoid! 

NICK DAWS – editor, freelance writer and tutor

Stories that clearly haven't been proofread and/or don't abide by the contest rules. A waste of everybody's time!

SALLY QUILFORD – writer and columnist for Writer’s Forum Magazine

My own pet niggle is people, thankfully rare, who 'explain' their story to you just in case you don't 'get' it. Me being really thick and all that!

SUE MOORCROFT – novelist and creative writing tutor

Return envelopes that are too small or already stuck down! you have dozens of stories to return, inadequate envelopes seem a bigger and bigger thing!

Also read (and learn from) Tania's comment on the other post about writing competitions

Three things NOT to do when entering a short story competition

After judging a couple of competitions here are a few of my pet niggles.

(1)     Don’t use & in place of and --- it sends the message that you can't be bothered to write it out and that's probably not the impression you want to give. It makes me think you probably won't be bothered to do lots of others things like develop characters I can believe in or think up a half way decent story

(2)    Don’t use fancy type like Baskerville Old Face or Lucinder Blackletter or even Rockwell. I know they sound wonderful and they look impressive on your pull down list of fonts but just because you've got 'em doesn't mean you have to use 'em. Save it for blackmail notes and jumble sale posters.

(3)    Don’t use 10 pt type for anything. Remember someone is reading your story. Remember someone is reading lots of stories before your entry comes to the top of the pile. You don't want a judge to sigh before they've read the first paragraph. This is not the time to save an extra sheet of paper.

By the way, there are nine days left to enter the Fish One Page flash fiction competition.
Word limit 300 words  
Prize 1000 euros. 
Deadline March 20. Entries accepted from around the world. 
 Reputable and prestigious, the only thing wrong with it is that if you search for fish + competition you may have to wade through a lot of bait and tackle before arriving at the right site. Instead click on the title of this post and go straight there. Good luck.

Writing competitions...maximising your chances

A fair dollop of luck is involved in winning a writing competition but - in the words of Dizzy Gillespie - it's funny how the harder you work the luckier you get...

• Make sure you're in with a chance by actually entering rather than simply dreaming about entering.

• Make sure it's polished. It's a waste of time and effort to send anything that is less than your best work.  Join a writers group, go to an adult education class or cultivate the friendship of other writers and share your work. 

• Do NOT ask someone you love for an opinion. They say it's wonderful and you'll think to yourself: what do they know. They say they weren't so sure about the second page and you'll think to yourself: what do they know.

• Make sure you follow all the rules to the letter - don't kid yourself that it doesn't matter. The organisers of popular competitions will be actively looking for a reason to exclude entries in order to come up with a reasonable long list. The judges won't even get to read your brilliant story if you have submitted it single spaced on white paper when the rules clearly say double spaced on pink.

• Make sure you give yourself plenty of time. Fool yourself and put the deadline in your diary a week earlier than it is in reality. Make it two weeks early if you are entering by snail mail.
• Make sure you're strong enough to take rejection. Poet and novelist Tobias Hill says he followed the example of the hyrda of Greek legend when he entered writing competitions at the beginning of his writing career. Every time he didn't get to the short list he sent off two more competition entries. 

And finally...spend as little time as possible waiting to hear.  Work on something else (I must admit I find that very hard) and follow this sensible advice from the Australian Writers Resource (http://www.austwriters.com/AWRfiles/competitions.htm) 

 Stories and poetry that has been placed first (or any placing) in another competition will often not qualify. Does that mean you can send one entry simultaneously to more than one competition?... a commonly accepted view that you can BUT if your entry is placed in one competition then the onus is on you to inform the other competition organisers if that entry no longer meets their entry requirements.

CONGRATULATIONS to a winning author

I was delighted to learn that Andrew Campell-Kearnsey's story ‘Shrinking Violet’ has just won  £25 in the Spinetinglers competition.
Andrew was a member of my TOWARDS PUBLICATION autumn class held at the Friends Centre in Brighton.
Andrew is also a founder member of a relatively new organisation set up to support and promote writers. Called Brighton Community of Writers (Brighton COW for short), it runs a series of competitions. I've given details below but you can find out more by clicking on the title of this post.

BRIGHTON COW  will run four short story competitions in 2011. The deadlines will be the end of February, May, August and November. 
Theme and Word limit: Any subject. 3,000 words
Prizes: top three winning writers will receive £100, £50 and £25. There will also be the opportunity for the stories to be published on the BRIGHTON COW website as well as being recorded for broadcast on Brighton’s Coastway Hospital Radio, which provides music and entertainment to a network of Brighton hospitals.
Entry fee: £4

Orange/Harper's bazaar Short Story Competition 2010

300 writers entered this year's competition. They had to submit a short story on 'The Face'. I am thrilled that Jane Murison who attends my Saturday morning class at City Lit was one of the three finalists. Carole Welch, Chair of Judges, said:

...all three writers had great potential. We look forward to hearing more from them...

Jane won £500, a creative writing class led by author and teacher, Greg Mosse, and dinner at the Orange Prize awards ceremony last night in London. Way to go, Jane!

Now in its ninth year, the Orange/Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Competition aims to support unpublished writers at the beginning of their careers.

Previous winners have gone on to achieve literary success including Clare Allan, who won the first ever Orange/Harpers Bazaar Short Story Competition in 2001.  Her debut novel, Poppy Shakespeare, was dramatised for Channel 4. Way to go, Jane, way to go!