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.

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 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