Many new writers enter contests in the hopes of having their work noticed by a publisher or editor. They may enter a contest to be published in an anthology or online. The judges of legitimate writing contests are often best selling authors, publishers, editors, and agents. These professionals see all kinds of writing cross their desks. Here are the things that get a writing contest entry noticed.
Follow the Writing Contest Submission Guidelines
Something as simple as this should be a no brainer, but in reality, a great deal of fiction writing contest entries never make it past this stage. It’s imperative that a hopeful entrant read, reread, and reread again the submission guidelines. Every writing competition is different and the guidelines may be very specific. Things to check before submitting are:
- The date. Is the writing competition still accepting entries?
- The font. Do the judges state they want the entries in Times New Roman 12 pt? If so, an entry typed in Verdana 14 pt will be disqualified.
- Is it a blind entry? If so, no contact information should appear in the headers of the manuscript.
- Is a cover letter required? What information should be included?
- Is there a fee? Include the fee with the submission.
- How do they accept submissions? Some contests only accept electronic submissions. It may be through email, in the body of the message. It may be through a submission form. It may be through postal mail.
Fiction Writing Contests Require Solid, Original Plots
Copying ideas for plots that are already out there won’t usually lead to a winning entry. Focus on crafting a solid plot that is creative and hasn’t been done over and over. Since the judges may read hundreds of manuscripts, a tired, overused plot will almost immediately be tossed out of the competition. A winning entry will surprise the judges with its creativity or with its new take on an old topic.
Polish the Manuscript for the Writer’s Competition
Even though writing contests have deadlines, it’s never a good idea to rush a manuscript just to make the deadline. That may work for college term papers, but judges are looking for well thought out, polished stories in a contest. If the deadline is too soon for the writer to do a proper revision, edit, and polish, then it’s probably best to look for a contest with a later closing date.
Many agents and editors write on their blogs about the lack of proper proofreading before sending them manuscripts. One can be assured that an entry with typos and grammatical errors will not make it into the second round of judging. Sometimes it helps to have a writing friend or critique partner proofread a story to catch anything the writer missed.
Once all of these things have been done, the manuscript is formatted and submitted according to the contest submission guidelines, the plot is original and strong, and the story is revised, edited, and polished to a high shine, the writer stands a much higher chance of winning. In fact, the Long Ridge Writers Group states in their writing program, Breaking Into Print, that doing these three things can boost a writer to the top 10% of submissions. The benfits of fiction writing contests are well worth the effort.
Suzanne Pitner - Suzanne Pitner is a teacher and published writer. A member of RWA and YARWA, she writes fiction as Suzanne Lilly.
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