Short story competition – get cracking

January 31, 2010 by Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook)
Filed under: Competitions and Offers 

Blog Jo HerbertIf you’re planning on entering our Writers’ & Artists’ short story competition then you’d better get your writing finger out.

There are only two weeks left until the closing date on 14 February (Valentine’s Day to all you romantics out there).

All you have to do (I’m saying that with a smile) is write 2,000 words or fewer on the theme of ‘unity or union’ and email it over: see Writers’ & Artists’ short story competition for full terms and conditions. You stand to win 500 smackers, a place on an Arvon residential writing course (such a good prize) and, best of all, publication of your story here, on this site, for all to see.

Getting yourself seen and read is one of the most beneficial things you can do as an aspiring author in order to help your work along. Finding an audience who likes your writing will lend credibility to your submission.

Publishers consider new authors a risky investment – they don’t know you, they don’t know your work and, most importantly, they don’t know if your work will sell.

Being able to state in your proposal that you’ve already achieved some level of success can help to persuade an agent to keep reading your submission. That is a big deal when you consider that most agents don’t get further than the covering letter.

So, if you haven’t already, get writing and email us your story. It’s not too late. In fact, last-minute pressure might well help the creative process along. Proof of this is the number of entries we usually receive in the closing week. In 2009 we received more than 50 entries on the last day!

So, get going – it’s not only a competition, it’s also an opportunity to put yourself on the writing map.

Warm wishes, Jo

PS: all Valentine’s Day cards will be gratefully received.

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Comments

32 Comments on Short story competition – get cracking

  1. tonyl on Jan 31, 2010 at 16:24pm

    2. Jo, like I said in the other blog, mine’s already sent! What a great feeling to have written and sent something! Also, just checking, is there an entry fee? I didn’t see one mentioned. I ask because I’ve noticed that most other competitions by magazines targetting aspiring writers seem to charge at least a few quid.
    Regarding Valentine’s Day cards, judging by your photos, I bet you guys don’t need us lot to send you cards!

  2. Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook) on Feb 1, 2010 at 11:00am

    3. Hello Tonyl, nope, no entry fee (the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is here to help writers make a few bob, not take it from them). As for our photos – we all put the best ones up and need V cards just like everyone else! All best, Jo

  3. lankyboyhalliday on Feb 4, 2010 at 00:23am

    4. Hello, I luckily stumbled across this website by chance. Signed up and now frantically attempting a short story based on Unity. Could anyone answer my question. As this is an adult competition, would it be frowned upon that in my short story, one of my characters uses a swear word. I feel not to include it would be to censor his character and spoil the punchline of the joke he tells. It is no way like irvine welsh but I feel you need that language to paint the real picture of the character? I would love to hear peoples thoughts on this. thanks.

  4. Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Feb 4, 2010 at 17:09pm

    5. Good question, lankyboyhalliday – have you read Warning – this post contains expletives? It considers this very area so should be of help to you.

  5. lankyboyhalliday on Feb 4, 2010 at 17:36pm

    6. Hello Claire. Thanks for the link. Exactly what i was looking for.

  6. Naivion on Feb 5, 2010 at 10:41am

    7. Hi fairly new to writing :P .. and decided to enter this compition, it’s most likly hopless but ill try anyway :P … ive just started writing now and will try nd make it as good as posible :/ its taking me away from my main novel hehe but still its a chance to help me so why not… now i highly dout i’ll win because of my chosen genre… and it seems in most compitions they like heart warming modern based storys :P mine is a fantasy so ive already lost hehe… well we’ll see what happens…

  7. darcibm on Feb 6, 2010 at 10:21am

    8. re;swearing in print. Thanks for raising this issue, lankyboyhalliday, I was wondering the same thing before submitting my short story. I decided to leave the sweary bits in, as this language establishes the inappropriateness of one character within the group, and hints at his tendency towards violence. This seems to be in keeping with the article that Claire suggested, hope it is okay by competition rules! (Just out of curiousity- has anybody else come across swearing in children’s books? I work as a teacher when I am not writing, and a I was a wee bit shocked to come across a literary nasty when reading aloud to a group of ten year olds…..I had to think of a suitable substitute rather quickly………)

  8. stef.nalton on Feb 6, 2010 at 12:53pm

    9. Still finding my feet here, but I have already entered the competition. Good luck everyone!

  9. Sallyrose on Feb 6, 2010 at 16:32pm

    10. Hi- I’m just wondering, what will happen if we go over 2000 words- is there much leeway in this one?

  10. tonyl on Feb 8, 2010 at 00:24am

    11. Hi Sally, dunoo, maybe Jo and the other guys will hunt you down an force you to edit! We can dream!

  11. tonyl on Feb 8, 2010 at 00:26am

    12. I think writing may save my life

  12. Admin on Feb 8, 2010 at 10:29am

    13. The word limit is 2,000 words, but a margin of 10 per cent over will be accepted. Good luck!

  13. Ratna on Feb 10, 2010 at 08:52am

    14. I’ve sent mine too. could do with some valentine day cards myself! do many people from India enter this one? And when are the results expected??
    Ratna

  14. Sallyrose on Feb 10, 2010 at 11:50am

    15. Thanks! Yes Tonyl I’ll have to find a good hideout….

  15. Jnthn on Feb 10, 2010 at 18:03pm

    16. Have a story I can use, just need to cut out some words to get the count down under the limit. Like someone said about fantasy genre beforehand though, I too have noticed there are common traits for most short stories that win competitions (actually this goes for poetry comps too!)
    My problem is this: Why do the majority of characters in winning short stories & poems seem to be middle aged, with spouses and young children?
    Where are the voices of younger people? Is their experience not valid or interesting too? Even more serious than this, where are Muslim experiences, gay experiences etc – come on, anyone outside of the mainstream white middle age straight childbearing guardian reading monotony PLEASE surprise me this time Ws’&As’ Yearbook!

  16. tonyl on Feb 10, 2010 at 19:55pm

    17. Hi Jnthn. Interesting points. Maybe occurence of voices of the people you mention are heard, but they don’t use their status as the focus of their writing. Maybe because we all have very common feelings etc about things then generic fiction fits ok for most people. I certainly don’t exclusively look for stories about people with exactly the same demographic as me. Alternatively it could be a marketing question in that their are more people that fall outside these groups, so less tends to be produced by the other groups you mention. Maybe there is a certain demographic of people that tend to do more creative writing than others for cultural feelings. I don’t know the answer, but I hope its not any kind of prejuidice showing through. Was that the main concern you had, or am I reading too much into that?

  17. grumpygran on Feb 10, 2010 at 22:56pm

    18. Hi Jnthn. Not sure whether you are talking about the characters in the winning short stories or the authors of them.
    A middle-aged writer can write from the point of view of a teenager and vice versa.
    A couple of other points: writers tend to look at the earlier competition winners and write in a similar style.
    We only see the winners and short listed entries so can’t know how many of the others were written about gay or Muslim of Hindu or Chinese experiences.

  18. Admin on Feb 11, 2010 at 10:00am

    19. Ratna – we get a diverse range of writers from all over the world entering the competition. We expect to announce the winner in March.

  19. Ashleigh on Feb 11, 2010 at 16:46pm

    20. hi, only discovered this competition today from Nick Daw’s blog, so a tight deadline for me! Luckily I love a challenge- and the time scale and subject matter are apt for this. As this is my first time writing for a competition (not including my 1st place poem in primary school!) it is just the drive I needed to get typing. The post made by Admin really has hit home- In a world where writing can be a difficult medium to get noticed, this website has proved that self advertising is the key. Throw enough words and some should stick. It is a great way to see if your writing has a viable audience, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I am especially glad there is no fee, as stated above, us writers need all the money we can get! But I wouldn’t change my job for the world. Good luck to all x

  20. stef.nalton on Feb 11, 2010 at 19:57pm

    21. Jnthn; I’m not sure you need to write to previous winners’ formulae. More likely adhering to the theme with an interesting story told in a realistic, confident voice is what the judges look for. My story is told from the PoV of a nine-year old boy at odds with the adult world who becomes empowered as the result of bonding with his working class father.
    I agree with tonyl that class, gender, culture and such share affinities; after all aren’t all science fiction or animal stories based upon the human condition?

  21. Lee Andrews on Feb 12, 2010 at 10:51am

    22. Can anyone tell me, is it ok for short story submission, to be single spaced or is there a requirement for it to be double spaced etc…Thanks

  22. Admin on Feb 12, 2010 at 12:04pm

    23. Lee Andrews – It’s ok to submit your competition entry as single spaced.

  23. Simon Chisholm on Feb 12, 2010 at 20:16pm

    24. Hi there, just wondered if there is a prefered format for submitting the entree for the short story competition. It’s probably a bit of a silly question but I assume MS Word 2007 would be ok. Should it be compressed or not?

    Thanks for running the competition, i’ll look forward to reading the winning piece (or maybe I already have – I’m joking, i’m new to this so have much to learn, but i’m eternaly optomistic) .

    Cheers

  24. JackieC on Feb 13, 2010 at 10:06am

    25. Jnthn; the ‘mainstream white middle age straight childbearing guardian reading monotony ‘ may be the best story that’s been entered in the competition and therefore, should rightly win. Stories should be judged on ‘content’ and not on what race / gender / religion / age etc the characters (or the writers) are.

  25. Admin on Feb 13, 2010 at 14:07pm

    26. Simon Chisholm – MS Word 2007 will be fine as a format. It does not need to be compressed.

  26. Max Takeshi on Feb 13, 2010 at 19:32pm

    27. Hello all! I’m very late to this party, having been told about the competition just recently. I’ve never entered a writing competition before, and so thus at this very present time I can be found cowering in a darkened corner as I reread my entry. Hopefully submitting it tomorrow as a Word 2007 attachment.

    Just popping up here to say I’ll be one of those people trying to cram an entry in at the last minute. Is it safe to assume that the deadline is midnight tomorrow? Silly question, and for that I apologize.

    Good luck to everyone entering.

  27. Shankut on Feb 15, 2010 at 14:54pm

    28. Hi Max Takeshi
    Well you are not alone, I did submit my master piece at 11.00 pm just an hour before the deadline. Phew! Don’t expect to win as never wrote a word for competition or otherwise and being a non English might not even carry that command, but love writting and that is why I am so happy that I was given an oportunity to take part in the competition. Thank you admin for the competition.
    I did initially encounter a problem sending my script, it was on the third attempt I managed to send the script and was bitting my nails in anticipation and then wham! I received an acknoeledgement. Now I wonder if the previous two attempts have been successful or not. What if it was? Then I would have made three entries, I wonder this would disqualify my entry. So I might be out of competition!

    Anyway, good-luck everyone, may the best script win.

  28. lankyboyhalliday on Feb 17, 2010 at 21:29pm

    29. Hello. In response to Shankut’s comment. i sent my short story on Sunday, but have not received a confirmation email. Has everyone who sent a short story to the competition received one. I will be gutted if my story has not been received.

  29. Shankut on Feb 18, 2010 at 09:30am

    30. Hi Everybody,
    Lankyboyhalliday, I assume that the confirmation is an automated reply, I hope your short story have reached the competition desk. Only admin can clear our querries.

  30. Eshka on Feb 18, 2010 at 11:48am

    31. I’ve only just discovered that I can comment here – I’ve been a member for a few weeks (signed up upon entering the competition) but have only just got around to exploring the site.

    I wanted to wish everyone the best of luck; it’s my first ever competition entry and I had no idea the nerves could be so jumpy over something like this! Unluckily for me, I noticed a few glitches in my entry after submitting it but I’m still proud of the fact that I wrote to both a set word count and a specific theme – an excellent writing exercise if nothing else. Oh yes – I’m an amateur writer, in case you hadn’t guessed already. I’ve only returned to this game after an 8 year haitus and I have a LOT to learn.

  31. Claire Fogg (Publisher, Yearbooks) on Feb 18, 2010 at 11:59am

    32. Hi Eshka and welcome to the site!

    For info, there was an automated reply that went to entrants and, lankyboyhalliday – our publicity department has responded to you direct, which will answer your query.

  32. Bryan on Feb 18, 2010 at 15:05pm

    33. Good luck to all of us who have entered :-)

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