Competitions and Offers

By now, regular readers of this blog and users of the website will have read the winning story in this year’s Writers’ & Artists’ short story competition.

Once again, I helped judge the winner and as per usual the standard was extremely high. I so enjoy reading the shortlist of stories. I lose myself for a short while in each one. It’s not like reading short stories in a book: my thoughts on these stories count for something. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.

The winning story, 'Breath' by Samuel Wright was chosen because firstly it was a really interesting read. I personally found that the story was very accessible and identifiable (I dare say the vast majority would find something, if not a lot, to relate to in it) and this alone endeared me to the author as well as making me smile (inwardly and outwardly). As well as that, it was a clever read: sad but uplifting all at once and the story was well crafted – having a distinct beginning, middle and …

Thank you for entering my quick competition, it was fantastic to see so many entries.  It's hard to choose isn't it?  Which would you have picked?  Did you find that trying to get your novel encapsulated in such a short number of words left you sweating?  In an ideal submission letter, you would include a sentence or two that did just that, so this is excellent practice.

My three runners up were:

Louise Craven

The old asylum has been unused for years but, as a group of urban explorers discover, is far from empty. Two teens are also drawn to the place, unaware of their family connections. Is the asylum a refuge or a place for lunatics? Or perhaps something else entirely… something evil.

Juliet Brough


After the discovery of a giant, mud coated egg, Mavis the chicken begins her reign of terror in an attempt to return the contents to it’s parents and claim a reward for herself. When all fails, the friendly horse hatches it in his own unique way with unexpected results.

vixs
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YOU COULD WIN a synopsis review (first prize) or one of three Writers' & Artists' Yearbooks (runners-up)!

View this as a writing exercise! The rules are, you have no more than 50 words to encapsulate your novel, and give me, acting as editor, a reason to contact you.  Comments on other people's entries are welcome (but please keep them polite and relevant).

The best entry will win a synopsis review from me, and three runners-up will each receive a copy of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2011. The competition will run for one week, starting now.

I've got my cup of coffee in hand, and my feet up - GO!

Cressida

(editorial consultant)

PS the small print:

I will choose the winner - according to which entry sounds most like a book I'd like to read.  Judge's decision is final.
Synopsis review will be returned within a week after end of competition - and consist of advice on style, content, and approach - approx 300-500 words of critique.  Synopsis to be no more than 2 …

We've just heard about a great competition for writers and illustrators, so we wanted you to be among the very first to know. It's called the Puffin Digital Prize and it launches today!

This is the brief:

"To create an imaginative picture-book concept that displays original digital talent.

Entrants are invited to submit both the words and pictures for an original picture-book story to be published in eBook format."

And this is the prize:

"The winner of the Puffin Digital Prize will win an opportunity to see their book published in eBook format and receive a cash prize of £1,000. The winner will also receive a two-week work experience placement spread across the Puffin Editorial, Design and Digital departments."

You can find out more at the Puffin Digital Prize website.

Best of

You may already be aware of the phenomenon that is NaNoWriMo, a challenge for writers everywhere to write 50,000 words during the month of November.

As the organisers admit, a lot of what gets written is more about quantity than quality - but the purpose is to break that fear of not writing well, and just get on with writing.

In this interesting article In Just 30 Days, You Too Can Write a Masterpiece from the Independent, they have looked at famous writers who wrote their masterpieces fast, and for whom speed did not mean a fall off in quality.  On the Road by Jack Kerouac was one of them, but as is mentioned, he'd been thinking about what he wrote for seven years.

Graham Greene was compelled to write something commercial for financial reasons, and was writing - more slowly - The Power and The Glory in the afternoons.

Do you have a novel bubbling away in you? Would NaNoWriMo help you? Why not give it a go!

What do you think writing to a timetable will do to your writing style?

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