Competition Monthly!

Welcome to Francesca Burgess with the first Competition Monthly of 2017!

A new year and new resolutions, so why not make one of them a pledge to enter a few more competitions?

What I'm going to say this month may sound farfetched, and I'm sure most of you will be saying, What? I'd never do that! But here's the advice anyway.

Don't be tempted to explain on your competition entry form or manuscript where the story originated

or that it's based on something funny that happened to your aunty Doris. Don't attach photos of the setting you've based it on or add illustrations. The judge doesn't want to know or see any of these things and it will make no difference to whether they like it or not. Instead it will seem rather amateurish.

As I implied, this may sound like an unnecessary warning, but competition entrants have seriously been known to do this. If you have to explain your story, then maybe it needs to be rewritten.

There's a variety of competitions this month, though mainly for flash and short fiction. The Reader's Digest one is only 100 words long. Very short pieces are a skill in themselves, but since it's free, what have you got to lose?

Good luck to everyone, and don't forget to let me know of any competition success you have.



Crimson Cloak Story Writing Competition
Theme: See the picture on the website. 1,500 - 3,000 words
Prize: $150 / $100 / $50
Competition deadline: 31 January 2017
Entry: $10 Details


Bath Flash Fiction Award
Theme: Open genre (except children's). 300 words max.
Prize: £1,000 / £300 / £100
Competition deadline: 12 February 2017
Entry: £9 Details


Reader's Digest 100 Word Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, but must be exactly 100 words
Prize: £2,000 / 2 x £200
Competition deadline: 20 February 2017
Entry: Free Details


ChipLit Fest Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, up to 2,500 or 5,000 words
Prize: £500 / £100 / £50
Competition deadline: 20 February 2017
Entry: £5 (up to 2,500 words) / £8 (up to 5,000 words) Details


Nottingham Writers' Club Short Story Competition (for new writers)
Theme: Open, up to 2,000 words. Entrants must not have earned more than £300 from their writing.
Prize: £200 / £100 / £50
Competition deadline: Opens 1st February, closes 28th February 2017
Entry: £6 Details


Artificium Short Story Prize
Theme: Open, 2,000 - 8,000 words
Prize: £300 / Prize pot of £100 minimum shared between 1to 4 runners up.
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £5 Details


Artificium 'In Brief' Prize
Theme: Open, 500 - 1,500 words (includes flash fiction and poetry)
Prize: £150 / Prize pot of £100 minimum shared between 1to 4 runners up.
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £5 Details


Flash 500 Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 1,000 - 3,000 words
Prize: £500 / £200 / £100
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £7 Details


Exeter Writers Short Story Competition
Theme: Open genre (except children's), max 3,000 words
Prize: £500 / £250 / £100 plus Devon prize of £100
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £6 Details 


Wundor Short Fiction Contest 2017
Theme: Novellas & short stories, 5,000 – 45,000 words
Prize: £500. Winner and two runners up will have work published in full or extract.
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £9 Details


1,000 Word Challange
Theme: Must start with 'Stop', in direct speech.
Prize: £100 / £50 / £25
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £5 Details

Best of luck to anyone taking the plunge!

Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing, Wells Festival and Writing Magazine. Her shortlisted entry for The People's Friend serial competition will be published soon. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme.

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Blog



Thank you Francesca!

If you would like to write for the RNA Blog, then please contact Elaine at elaineeverest@aol.com


This blog was prepared by blog team member, Louisa Heaton.

Competition Monthly December 2016

Our last Competition Monthly of 2016!


Titles are important. You need something that will catch the judge's eye and interest before they even start on the story. Long, rambling titles might seem indicative of a long, rambling story, so try to avoid them. Short, snappy titles are usually best, probably no more than five words. Make sure it's relevant to the story, not just eye catching. Often popular sayings, famous quotes or song titles are a good place to start if you're not good at making up titles.

It's also better to avoid common titles if you can, though that can be difficult if you're not sure how common your title is! One of my first published stories was called New Beginnings. I now know several people who've had stories with that title, or the similar A New Beginning, including my blog partner, Elaine Roberts. Other common titles include Lost and Found, The Homecoming, Rebirth, and The Awakening.

Neil Clarke, the editor of a science fiction magazine called Clarkesworld, put all the words from story titles he'd had submitted to him into a word cloud to ascertain their frequency. Some of the most common words used were man, time, house, last, new, moon, black, dead, death, world, one, little, life, red, day, love, night and dream. The fact it's a sci-fi mag might account for some of those words, of course. To see the rest of the word cloud visit http://neil-clarke.com/short-story-titles-meet-wordle/ 

Basically, you want a title that is neither too simple or common, nor too obscure or convoluted. Easier said than done, I know. If you get stuck, you could always try my old favourite, mind mapping.

Good luck, everybody, and don't forget to let me know of any competition successes you have.



***Closing Very Soon***
Writing Magazine Other Worlds Short Story Competition
Theme: Fantasy and SciFi, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £200 + publication in magazine / £50 + publication on website
Competition deadline: 14 December 2016
Entry: £5, £3 for subscribers
Details


Writing Magazine Open Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £200 + publication in magazine / £50 + publication on website
Competition deadline: 16 January 2017
Entry: £5, £3 for subscribers
Details 


Bath Novella-in-a-Flash Competition
Theme: Open, 7,000 – 18,000, each individual flash no more than 1,000 words
Prize: £300 / 2 x £100 plus publication in one book for all three
Competition deadline: 31 January 2017
Entry: £16.00
Details


The Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition
Theme: Ghost, 1,000 to 7,000 words
Prize: £500 / £250 / £100, plus publication on website
Competition deadline: 31 January 2017
Entry: £8
Details


Mercier Press Fiction Prize (unpublished authors)
Theme: Young Adult Novel. Enter 10,000 – 12,000 words of a novel max 100,000.
Prize: €1,000 plus publication
Competition deadline: 1 February 2017
Entry: Free
Details


Bath Flash Fiction Prize
Theme: Open, 300 words max
Prize: £1,000 / £300 / £100 / 2 x £30
Competition deadline: 12 February 2017
Entry: £9
Details


How Much The Heart Can Hold Love Story Competition
Theme: Love, 5,000 – 10,000 words
Prize: Publication in anthology with award winning authors + £150 + consultation with Emma Herdman, senior editor at Sceptre (Agent Lucy Luck is also a judge)
Competition deadline: 14 February 2017
Entry: Free
Details


Jane Austen Short Story Competition
Theme: 2,017 words max based on a specific quote from Mansfield Park (see website)
Prize: £1,000 / £500
Competition deadline: 28 February 2017
Entry: £5
Details

Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing, Wells Festival and Writing Magazine. Her shortlisted entry for The People's Friend serial competition will be published soon. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme.

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Blog

If you would like to write for the RNA Blog, then please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com

This blog was prepared by RNA Blog team member, Louisa Heaton.

Competition Monthly with Francesca Burgess

A new month and many more competition details from Francesca!

Is it worth paying for a critique for your short story or novel when entering a competition? Some competitions offer them, but they can vary enormously in price. Some critique writers will give you more for your money than others, and often you won't know if it's worth the fee until it pops onto

your mat or up on your email. Cheaper critiques are often only a tick list, which in itself may not provide you with enough useful information.

Critiques can be invaluable in pinpointing areas to work on and can help you improve your writing. It's up to you to decide whether you're willing to take that advice. If you're going to take offence at any suggestion that what you wrote is anything but perfect, a critique may not be for you. You might wonder why anyone would pay for one only to be praised, but it happens.

If you receive a critique but disagree with some, or all, of what it says, please don't go onto social media and around all your friends to tell them what a rubbish person the critique writer is. (Yes, this once happened to me as a judge in a short story comp, and unfortunately I knew the person in real life.) Often it's better after a first read to put the critique to one side and come back to it later with a fresh perspective. If it really does fall short of what was expected, in terms of length or detail of content (or really is offensive), then take it up with the people running the competition.

Good luck, everybody.


***Closing Soon***
2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Theme: Open. 2,000-5,000 words. Entrants must be citizens of a Commonwealth country
Prize: Regional winners £2,500. Overall winner £5,000.
Competition deadline: 1 November 2016
Entry: Free Details


Writing Magazine 500 Word Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Any theme, 500 words max.
Prize: £200 / £50. Publication in Writing Magazine.
Competition deadline: 14 November 2016
Entry: £5 (£3 for subscribers) Details


Ink Tears Short Story Contest 
Theme: Open. 1,000-3,500 words. Can be previously published
Prize: £1,000 / £100 / 4 x £25
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016
Entry: £7.50 Details


The Betty Trask Prize
Theme: Romantic or traditional novel, published or unpublished. Writer must be under 35 on 31 December 2016.
Prize: Total prize money of £20,000, to be used for foreign travel.
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016
Entry: Free Details


Write Stars The Final Word Competition
Theme: Write the final 100 words of a story
Prize: £100 plus critique for of up to 1,000 words of your work
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016
Entry: £3.50 Details


The Writers Bureau Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Open. Max 500 words
Prize: £300 / £200 / £100 plus WB course for all winners.
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016
Entry: £5 (3 for £10) Details



Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: 'Success'. Max 500 words
Prize: £50 / £25
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016 (Different themes each month)
Entry: £5 Details


UK International Novel Writing Competition
Theme: Open. Unpublished or self published novels. Judged by the public.
Prize: £5,000 / £2,500 / £1,000
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016
Entry: £12 (additional entries £6) Details


1000 Word Challenge
Theme: 'Very'. Max 1,000 words
Prize: £100 / £50 / £25
Competition deadline: 30 November 2016 (There's a new comp every 3 months)
Entry: £5 (£10 with feedback) Details 


Retreat West First Chapter Competition 
Theme: All genres except children's, first chapter (up to 3,500 words) of a novel.
Prize: Review of first 3 chapters, cover letter and synopsis by literary agent Sam Copeland of Rogers, Coleridge & White
Competition deadline: 10 December 2016
Entry: £15 Details 


Thanks, Francesca! And good luck to everyone who enters.

Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing, Wells Festival and Writing Magazine. Her shortlisted entry for The People's Friend serial competition will be published soon. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme.

Twitter

Write Minds Blog

If you would like to write for the RNA blog, then please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com

This blog was prepared by blog team member, Louisa Heaton.

Competition Monthly with Francesca Burgess

Another month and many more new competition details from Francesca - as well as some good news!

Some more good comp news for me this since my last post went up. Firstly, I was longlisted in Frome Short Story Competition (though got no further). Soon after I had a phone call to tell me I've been shortlisted in the Wells Festival of Literature Story for Children Competition, with a Young Adult novel called How to Handle Plan B. The results of that will be announced at the festival on October 16th. I'll be heading along, and I believe a fellow short-lister and RNA member, Celia J Anderson, will also be attending. Wish us luck!

If you're placed, shortlisted, highly commended or even longlisted in a competition, be sure to take a screen capture of the relevant page on the internet and keep it safe (as well as entering the details onto your competition spreadsheet). It will be one of your 'clippings', remind you of your success and can always be used as an illustration in a blog post or web page (as you can see!).
Good luck, everybody.

***Closing Soon***
The Creative Competitor Writing Competition
Theme: Use the photo provided. Max 500 words
Prize: £500 / £300 / £200 / £100
Competition deadline: 30 September 2016
Entry: £3.50 Details 

***Closing Soon***
The Caterpillar Story for Children Prize 2016 
Theme: Any theme suitable for 7-11 year olds.
Prize: €500 / €300 / €200
Competition deadline: 30 September 2016
Entry: €12 Details

The Creative Competitor Spine Chilling Competition
Theme: Horror stories. Max 1,000 words
Prize: £500 / £300 / £200 / £100
Competition deadline: 31 October 2016
Entry: £3.50 Details

Southport Writers' Circle Annual Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, max 2,000 words
Prize: £150 / £80 / £30
Competition deadline: 31 October 2016
Entry: £3 / £10 for 4 Details

The McKetterick Prize
Theme: Novel either published in 2016 or not at all. Author to have no other novel published and be over 40.
Prize: £4,000 / £1,000 runner up
Competition deadline: 31 October 2016
Entry: Free Details 

NAWG Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 500-2,000 words
Prize: £250 / £100 / £50
Competition deadline: 31 October 2016
Entry: £5 Details

The Caledonia Novel Award
Theme: All genres, adult and YA, at least 50,000 words long.
Prize: £1,000
Competition deadline: 1 November 2016
Entry: £20 Details

The Bath Children's Novel Award
Theme: Novel for children or YA. Author must by unpublished or independently published.
Prize: £2,000. Additional £500 shortlist award
Competition deadline: 20 November 2016
Entry: £22 Details 

Times / Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition
Theme: Children's novel for 7-18 year old
Prize: £10,000 advance (subject to contract), representation from top children's literary agent.
Competition deadline: 18 December 2016
Entry: £15 Details

About Francesca:

Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing and Writing Magazine. Her shortlisted entry 

for The People's Friend serial competition is due to be published soon. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme.

Twitter
Write Minds Blog




Thank you, Francesca! Good luck to anyone entering competitions this month.

If you would like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

This post was prepared by blog team member, Louisa Heaton.

Competition Monthly with Francesca Burgess

Welcome back to Francesca Burgess with another in her very helpful series about writing competitions. Have you entered any lately?

How can you make a good impression with your competition entry? Although not all competitions

stipulate a writing font and size, it's a good idea to stick with something easily legible, like Arial or Times New Roman size 12. Anything that makes it hard to read isn't going to warm the judge to your story. Apart from which, it doesn't look very professional. If you're entering by post, don't use old yellowed paper you've found at the back of the cupboard, or coloured sheets. Neat, white paper is the order of the day.

One of the competitions this month is for a story written only in dialogue. It sounds like quite a challenge to convey all the necessary information in that manner. However, if you happen to have the August copy of Writing Magazine, take a look at page 62 for a good example of this kind of story.

Good luck, everybody.

Writing Magazine 1,000 Word Short Story Competition

Theme: Open. 1,000 words

Prize: £200 plus publication in Writing Magazine. Runner up £50 plus online publication

Competition deadline: 15 August 2016

Entry: £5 / £3 for subscribers

Details

The Creative Competitor Historical Fiction Writing Competition 2016

Theme: Use the picture of the horse and carriage provided for inspiration. 1,200 words max.

Prize: £500 / £300 / £200 / £100

Competition deadline: 30 August 2016

Entry: £3.50

Details

Park Publications Article Competition 2016

Theme: 'My Writing Day', 1,000 – 1,500 words

Prize: £50 / £25 / £15

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: £3

Details

1,000 Word Challenge

Theme: Open with the line provided.

Prize: £100 / £50 / £25

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: £5

Details

SaveAs Writers' Group Competition

Theme: Rebellion. 3,000 words

Prize: £100 / £50 / £25

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: £4

Details

The Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Competition

Theme: Open. 300 – 3,000 words

Prize: $2,000 + publication / $500 / $300

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: $16

Details

Books Ireland Short Story Competition 2016

Theme: Open. 2,600 words max.

Prize: €400 + writing course at the Irish Writing Centre + publication / €200 / €100

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: €10

Details

Writing Magazine Love Story Competition

Theme: 1,500 - 1,700 words

Prize: £200 plus publication in Writing Magazine. Runner up £50 plus online publication

Competition deadline: 14 September 2016

Entry: £5 / £3 for subscribers

Details

Bartleby Snopes Eighth Annual Dialogue Only Competition

Theme: Dialogue only. Under 2,000 words

Prize: $300 / $100 / $50 / $30 / $20

Competition deadline: 15 September 2016

Entry: $10

Details

Mslexia Children's Novel Competition

Theme: First 3,000 words of a children's or YA novel at least 15,000 words long

Prize: £5,000

Competition deadline: 19 September 2016

Entry: £25

Details

Caledonia Novel Award

Theme: Adult or YA. For unpublished or self published authors

Prize: £1,000

Competition deadline: 1 November 2016

Entry: £20

Details

About Francesca:

Francesca Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing and Writing Magazine. Her shortlisted entry for The People's Friend serial competition is due to be published soon. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme.

Twitter

Write Minds Blog

 Thank you, Francesca! Good luck to anyone entering competitions this month.

If you would like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Competition Monthly: June

Francesca Burgess brings us news of the latest writing competitions along with helpful tips on how to enter and succeed. Please post in the comment section below if you have been successful with a competition or know of one that would interest our readers.

There are a variety of competitions this month including the prestigious Costa Award. The prize

money is impressive and will attract a lot of people and a high standard. On the other hand, it's free, so what have you got to lose?

Whichever competitions you're entering, it's worth having a look at the winning entries from previous years, if they're available. Or investigating what kind of books have won novel prizes. They'll give you a feel for what kind of entry is favoured, whether it's literary, general, light, funny, quirky, dark and whether they prefer happy endings or are okay with ambiguous or non-happy endings. It's also worth having a look at what genres the judges write in (if they're writers, of course).

The Telegraph Travel Just Back competition is a little different, since it's nonfiction. Most of us holiday at some point, and I know there are those of you who also go on trips to do research for your novels. Why not use some of that knowledge to try and earn a bit of extra cash? Some of the past winners can be read online.

Power to your pen (or keyboard!), and good luck everyone.

**Closing soon**

The Luke Bitmead Bursery

Theme: Adult fiction only, over 60,000 words and completed, entrants not to be traditionally published with a novel.

Prize: Publication contract with Legend Press plus £2,500

Competition deadline: 15 July 2016

Entry: £10

Details

The Costa Short Story Award

Theme:  Open, 1,000 words max.

Prize: £3,500 / £1,500 / £500

Competition deadline: 5 August 2016

Entry: Free

Details (scroll down to 'You can read the Terms and Conditions here')

Elbow Room Short Fiction Competition

Theme: Open, 3,000 words max. (Also poetry.)

Prize: £200 / £50 / £50. Anthology publication

Competition deadline: 14 August 2016

Entry: £4, £10 for three

Details

Exeter Flash Fiction Competition

Theme: Open, up to 250 words max.

Prize: £100 / £50

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: £4

Details

Aesthetica Creative Writing Award

Theme: Open, 2,000 words max. (Also poetry)

Prize: £500. Publication in an anthology. Consultation with Redhammer Management.

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: £15

Details

Save As Writers Short Story Competition

Theme: "Rebellion", 3,000 words max. (Also poetry)

Prize: £100 / £50 / £25 plus publication in an anthology.

Competition deadline: 31 August 2016

Entry: £4

Details

Red Hen Press Fiction Award (novel/novella)

Theme: Open. Minimum of 150 pages

Prize: $1,000 plus publication by Red Hen Press

Competition deadline: 1 September 2016

Entry: $20

Details

Telegraph Travel Just Back Competition

Theme: A feature article on your travel experience, 500 words max.

Prize: £200 plus publication in Daily Telegraph Travel section and online. (Also £1,000 for article of the year.)

Competition deadline: Weekly – to be sent by midnight on the Wednesday to be considered for the feature ten days later.

Entry: Free

Details

Francesca Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing, People's Friend and Writing Magazine. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti. She is a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme.

Twitter: @FCapaldiBurgess

Blog:     Write Minds Blog

Thank you, Francesca!

If you would like to write for the blogging team please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com