At a time when motivation is a daily challenge, writing competitions can give you purpose and pleasure – and you may even win something!
There are comps for short stories, poems, novels, plays, essays, memoirs and more. There are comedy comps and horror comps; adult comps and children’s comps; comps for people who live in particular regions and comps for people who face particular obstacles. Whatever your genre, age group, or life challenges, there’s a comp for you.
We may be stuck indoors, but our imagination has no limits.
Reasons to try Comping: 1, 2, 3!
- Comps remove the blank page, blank mind feeling. They often give you a theme, and they always give you a maximum word count. Really helpful if you fancy writing, but aren’t sure what to write about.
- Comps give you a boss. When motivation and discipline flags and the sofa is calling your name, an external expectation really helps. You’ve now got a subject, word-count and deadline to focus and energise you.
- Comps make for a cheap hobby. Lots of comps are free. Some are pricey – don’t bother with these. There’s no shortage of free and inexpensive ones to enter.
5 Tips for Happy Comping
- Enter more than one comp. Let the wide range of subject matter and deadlines give you a constant stream of small projects to work on. That way, entering each comp doesn’t feel like make or break.
- Give each entry your very best. Give yourself plenty of time before the deadline. Write your piece as well as you can, then put it in a drawer for a day or so, and come back to it for a second read and improve it!
- Keep at it. While your first draft’s in the drawer, why not start working on another comp? It’ll give you something else to focus on, and you’ll come back to that first piece refreshed for its second read-through.
- Push yourself to find a fresh angle. Spider charts can help to think around a title or theme. Comps are a great way to develop your writer’s ‘voice’, which simply means being yourself, freely and fully, on the page.
- Check all the guidelines for each comp you enter. If they say double-spaced, they mean it. If the theme is cats, don’t submit a story about trains (unless there are cats on your train). Meet the deadline. Write a tick-list of specific guidelines and check that you’ve fulfilled all requirements.
Brace Yourself: This is going to be Fun.
When you channel your imagination into action, it opens the door to inspiration and creativity. You will find yourself becoming much more productive with your writing, which, in itself, is a great win for your mental health!
Process Over Product.
One of the unexpected secrets of comps is that, ultimately, it’s not really about winning or losing. It’s not a case of ‘one day, it might happen’: the fact is, as long as you’re enjoying writing, it is happening.
Here are some current free-to-enter comps that you could try over the next few weeks. The variety in itself is inspiring!
With each listing, it’s important to check out specific guidelines for entry online.
Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest: Short stories up to 5,000 words Free Entry Deadline: 15th April / Prize: $1,000, 9x$100
Heckben International Essay Competition: Articles, up to 1,600 words, related to medical humanities / Free Entry / Deadline: 15th April / Prize: $3,000 + publication. $800 runner-up
53-word story contest: Different prompt each month in this regular competition Free Entry / Deadline: 21st April (and 21st of each month) Prize: publication in Prime Number magazine and a free book
Holland Park Press: Poetry comp – up to 50 lines on the theme, “Is Royalty Relevant?” Free Entry / Deadline: 27th April / Prize: £200 + publication
Wilbur Smith Author of Tomorrow: Adventure stories by writers aged 12-21 (1,500-5,000 words) or under 11 (up to 500 words) Free Entry / Deadline: 5th May / Prizes: Differ with age groups, from £1,000 to £100, plus book tokens for schools
Erbacce Prize for Poetry: Submit up to five pages of poetry Free Entry / Deadline; 8th May / Prize: Publishing contract
Thanet Writers Competition: For writers with a connection to Thanet, short stories between 500 and 5,000 words. Stories must be weird, strange or unusual in some way Free Entry / No age restrictions / Deadline: 31st May / Prizes range from £10 to £1,000
Bacopa Literary Review Contest: Short Stories, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry, Haiku and mixed-genre. All details tbc – check website Free Entry / Deadline: 31st May / Prizes: $300 in each
Divine Chocolate Poetry Comp: For poems on the theme, “Where does the chocolate journey begin?” Two kids’ and one adults’ category. Free Entry / Deadline: 30th June / Prizes: Divine chocolate, goodies, book tokens
Photo Credits: Sky Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash/ Pencil and paper Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash / Open pad and pencil Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash / Sitting Writing Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash / Thumbs up Photo Katya Austin on Unsplash
The very best of luck to you!
