How to Win a Short Story Competition
Choose a contest that suits your writing style., Research the judges., Don't be too formulaic., Check the guidelines., Research your story., Outline your story., Develop your characters., Choose a point of view., Write a great hook., Follow the...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose a contest that suits your writing style.
When trying to find a contest, pick one that is suitable for your writing style.
Most contests are connected to magazines, so it's a good idea to read past issues to figure out which one will fit your writing style best.
Alternatively, read the stories of past winners, as this will also give you an idea of what the judges want. -
Step 2: Research the judges.
Most contests have regular judges that judge the contest every year.
Many are writers themselves.
Research what they write and if possible, the writers they admire.
Similarly, check out the guest judges.
Find out what they like and how they write. , Don’t worry if the story you plan to submit isn’t exactly the same as previous winners’ stories.
The judges will want something that is somewhat similar in style or mood, but you should also be innovative.
They don’t want the same story over and over each year. , All contests will have submission guidelines.
These will give you ideas about what styles the contest accepts, as well as the word count you should be under and formatting guidelines. , Whatever you are writing, you will need to do research on your topic.
To do this, read, read, and read some more.
Read writers you admire and ones you don’t enjoy as much.
Choose writers across many genres.
Read collections of short stories and novels.
Read information articles and literary magazines.
All of it will make you a better writer. , Take the time to sketch out what your narrative will be.
It doesn’t need to be completely filled in; it just needs to give you an idea of where your story is going.
What’s going to happen in the story? Why should your reader care about it? , Spend some time free writing about what makes your characters unique.
You should aim to make your characters as diverse as possible
- you can do this by asking yourself a number of questions, like:
What does this character look like? What do they like to do in their free time? What are their secret wishes? What motivates them? What is their impact on the story going to be? You won’t use every detail you write out, but the details will help you create a more well-rounded character in your story.
If the character becomes real to you, he or she will also become real to the reader. , Is the story going to be told in third person or first? Does the reader know more than the character? You’ll need to make decisions about point of view before you begin, though you can always go back later and change it if you need to do so. , You have to catch your audience's attention in the first paragraph, sometimes in the first sentence.
Never underestimate the importance of a great hook.
Remember, in a large contest, judges are reading hundreds and thousands of entries; even small contests can have over a hundred entries.
Therefore, if you don’t catch the judge's attention in the first paragraph, it’s possible he or she will throw it out at that point.
The judges want to be able to get through all the entries in the shortest amount of time, so they will not spend very long on each individual story. , If the story wants to go somewhere you didn’t really plan, let it go that way.
Sometimes happenstance makes for the best stories. , This piece of advice is almost cliché now, but it is still important.
In other words, don’t just tell the reader someone is having an emotion, such as “Kate was sad.” Give the reader details to show Kate is sad, for example: “Kate reached up to rub the back of her neck.
She ducked her head for a moment, and then wiped away a tear before it could roll down her face.” This type of detail makes the story richer, and it gives the reader a part to play in interpreting. , Use just enough words to get the point across.
Most judges would rather read a shorter story that is done well than a longer story that is rambling. , Don’t just use dialogue as filler.
Instead, make sure it moves the story along. , A story needs conflict of some type to be interesting.
Whether it’s inner conflict or something going on in a character’s life, the conflict is the heart of the story. , In a story, you build tension over the course of the narrative, which reaches its final height just before the end of the story.
In other words, your story must come to a head at some point. , Look for typos and grammatical errors.
Read the story out loud to yourself, listening for awkward sentences and sections.
Revise as needed.
Cut any superfluous content.
If a certain line (or even paragraph) doesn’t move the story along in some way, it doesn’t need to be there.
Be ruthless in your editing.
Check to make sure your story still fits into the guidelines.
Format it to the contest’s specifications. , A great way to do that is to join a group of writers and editors for workshopping.
Workshopping is just where everyone brings a piece of writing, and each person reads everyone else’s, offering critiques and suggestions.
Look for a workshopping group in your area; you can try asking at your local library.
You can also find groups online.
Be sure that if you are posting your story online that it is in a private group, otherwise you may run into copyright issues if you want to publish it elsewhere. , Duotrope will help you find journals that run contests.
Though they charge a small fee per month, they have a large database of journals.
Submittable is used by a large number of journals.
If there is an option to submit using this website, do it.
This makes it much easier to keep up with where you submitted your short story.
Plus, it tells you when your story is in-progress and when it’s been rejected or accepted. , Entering your work somewhere is a big step.
You can always try other contests or literary magazines.
Also, don’t be afraid to look at the story again and see if it needs to be revised, especially if the judges offer any specific critique. -
Step 3: Don't be too formulaic.
-
Step 4: Check the guidelines.
-
Step 5: Research your story.
-
Step 6: Outline your story.
-
Step 7: Develop your characters.
-
Step 8: Choose a point of view.
-
Step 9: Write a great hook.
-
Step 10: Follow the outline
-
Step 11: but allow the process to happen too.
-
Step 12: Show don’t tell.
-
Step 13: Don’t overwrite.
-
Step 14: Use dialogue effectively.
-
Step 15: Don’t forget conflict.
-
Step 16: Write towards a climax.
-
Step 17: Proofread over and over again.
-
Step 18: Have someone else read it.
-
Step 19: Use Duotrope and Submittable.
-
Step 20: Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t win.
Detailed Guide
When trying to find a contest, pick one that is suitable for your writing style.
Most contests are connected to magazines, so it's a good idea to read past issues to figure out which one will fit your writing style best.
Alternatively, read the stories of past winners, as this will also give you an idea of what the judges want.
Most contests have regular judges that judge the contest every year.
Many are writers themselves.
Research what they write and if possible, the writers they admire.
Similarly, check out the guest judges.
Find out what they like and how they write. , Don’t worry if the story you plan to submit isn’t exactly the same as previous winners’ stories.
The judges will want something that is somewhat similar in style or mood, but you should also be innovative.
They don’t want the same story over and over each year. , All contests will have submission guidelines.
These will give you ideas about what styles the contest accepts, as well as the word count you should be under and formatting guidelines. , Whatever you are writing, you will need to do research on your topic.
To do this, read, read, and read some more.
Read writers you admire and ones you don’t enjoy as much.
Choose writers across many genres.
Read collections of short stories and novels.
Read information articles and literary magazines.
All of it will make you a better writer. , Take the time to sketch out what your narrative will be.
It doesn’t need to be completely filled in; it just needs to give you an idea of where your story is going.
What’s going to happen in the story? Why should your reader care about it? , Spend some time free writing about what makes your characters unique.
You should aim to make your characters as diverse as possible
- you can do this by asking yourself a number of questions, like:
What does this character look like? What do they like to do in their free time? What are their secret wishes? What motivates them? What is their impact on the story going to be? You won’t use every detail you write out, but the details will help you create a more well-rounded character in your story.
If the character becomes real to you, he or she will also become real to the reader. , Is the story going to be told in third person or first? Does the reader know more than the character? You’ll need to make decisions about point of view before you begin, though you can always go back later and change it if you need to do so. , You have to catch your audience's attention in the first paragraph, sometimes in the first sentence.
Never underestimate the importance of a great hook.
Remember, in a large contest, judges are reading hundreds and thousands of entries; even small contests can have over a hundred entries.
Therefore, if you don’t catch the judge's attention in the first paragraph, it’s possible he or she will throw it out at that point.
The judges want to be able to get through all the entries in the shortest amount of time, so they will not spend very long on each individual story. , If the story wants to go somewhere you didn’t really plan, let it go that way.
Sometimes happenstance makes for the best stories. , This piece of advice is almost cliché now, but it is still important.
In other words, don’t just tell the reader someone is having an emotion, such as “Kate was sad.” Give the reader details to show Kate is sad, for example: “Kate reached up to rub the back of her neck.
She ducked her head for a moment, and then wiped away a tear before it could roll down her face.” This type of detail makes the story richer, and it gives the reader a part to play in interpreting. , Use just enough words to get the point across.
Most judges would rather read a shorter story that is done well than a longer story that is rambling. , Don’t just use dialogue as filler.
Instead, make sure it moves the story along. , A story needs conflict of some type to be interesting.
Whether it’s inner conflict or something going on in a character’s life, the conflict is the heart of the story. , In a story, you build tension over the course of the narrative, which reaches its final height just before the end of the story.
In other words, your story must come to a head at some point. , Look for typos and grammatical errors.
Read the story out loud to yourself, listening for awkward sentences and sections.
Revise as needed.
Cut any superfluous content.
If a certain line (or even paragraph) doesn’t move the story along in some way, it doesn’t need to be there.
Be ruthless in your editing.
Check to make sure your story still fits into the guidelines.
Format it to the contest’s specifications. , A great way to do that is to join a group of writers and editors for workshopping.
Workshopping is just where everyone brings a piece of writing, and each person reads everyone else’s, offering critiques and suggestions.
Look for a workshopping group in your area; you can try asking at your local library.
You can also find groups online.
Be sure that if you are posting your story online that it is in a private group, otherwise you may run into copyright issues if you want to publish it elsewhere. , Duotrope will help you find journals that run contests.
Though they charge a small fee per month, they have a large database of journals.
Submittable is used by a large number of journals.
If there is an option to submit using this website, do it.
This makes it much easier to keep up with where you submitted your short story.
Plus, it tells you when your story is in-progress and when it’s been rejected or accepted. , Entering your work somewhere is a big step.
You can always try other contests or literary magazines.
Also, don’t be afraid to look at the story again and see if it needs to be revised, especially if the judges offer any specific critique.
About the Author
Joan Jimenez
Specializes in breaking down complex DIY projects topics into simple steps.
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