January 17, 2011

Do you ever enter writing contests? I never have, but back when I began writing thirty years ago, the cash prizes were $25 or less. I didn’t think it was worth the time. I was rather shocked when I saw the prize money for contests now!

[NOTE: Before submitting stories to contests, I highly recommend Jan Field's article "Ten Tips for Contest Entries." Following her advice will greatly increase your chances of winning.]

Great Places to Start

Check out the Children’s Writer contest (a kindergarten story this time). Entries must be received by February 28, 2011. PLEASE NOTE: Current subscribers to Children’s Writer enter free. All others pay an entry fee of $15, which includes an 8-month subscription. Winners will be announced in the July 2011 issue. Prizes: $500 for first place plus publication in Children’s Writer, $250 for second place, and $100 for third, fourth, and fifth places. Read the rules carefully before submitting–and submit on time! You can submit online or through postal mail.

I decided to check further and saw that the Institute’s 2011 market guides each contain a large contest section. The Magazine Markets for Children’s Writers 2011 has 46 contests listed, and The Book Markets for Children’s Writers 2011 has 48 book writing contests, awards and grants.

Additional lists of contests can be found by Googling “writing contests.”

In these tough economic times for writers, we all need to think outside the box on a more regular basis. (Myself included!) If you like the idea of contests, this might be a great thing for you to explore!

December 16, 2007

In keeping with our December discussion about writing more in 2008, let’s talk about group challenges and friendly contests. (See the list of upcoming challenges at the end of this post.) For several years I’ve heard about National Novel Writing Month (which takes place every November), but this is the first year I’ve participated. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in the month. The National Novel Writing Month website has grown to where thousands of writers worldwide participate. There you’ll find radio pep talks, places to sign up for supportive emails, an email program and profile set-up so you can get to know the other participants (in your home area and around the world), special outside events, hundreds of forums, and more. Each day you post the number of words written that day.

Did I succeed at writing 50,000 new words in November? No, I didn’t. I was gone some and didn’t get a lot done over Thanksgiving weekend. I also started my new novel a bit prematurely and had to take several days out to re-do some plotting. However, I DID manage to write over 19,000 new words on a novel that had been “sitting on the back burner” of my mind for four years. I also revised about 10,000 words of that novel after re-plotting. I hope to participate in NaNoWriMo again next year, but I will spend more time outlining ahead of time so I can hit the floor running on November 1.

If you missed NaNoWriMo last month, are you stuck on your own till next November? Not at all! They have a page called I wrote a novel–now what? There you will find other NaNoWriMo challenges and spin-off challenges for throughout the year. I’ll list a few of them below. (You can find others at the link above for writers of films, comics, and songs.) Read through them, think about your writing projects for 2008, and choose several challenges. These are really motivating, whether you are working with a contract deadline or not. They are especially helpful if you are trying to meet a personal deadline. Both the challenge and companionship are worth a million bucks!

Which challenges below will you be signing up for?

NaNovFinMo – National Novel Finishing Month (December). Goal: 30,000 words.
JaNoWriMo – January Novel Writing Month (January). Goal: 50,000 words, or whatever goal you set.
NaNoEdMo – National Novel Editing Month (March). Goal: Commit to 50 hours of novel editing. JulNoWriMo – July Novel Writing Month (July). Goal: 50,000 words for a new or unfinished manuscript.
Book in a Week – (Begins on the Monday of the first full week of each month, lasts one week). Goal: Write a novel.
NaNoMangO – The artist’s alternative to NaNoWriMo (November). Goal: Draw 30 pages of sequential art in one month.
AugNoWriMo – August Novel Writing Month (August). Goal: Write a novel in one month.
NaNoPubYe – National Novel Publishing Year (Year-Round). Goal: Get that NaNoWriMo novel ready for publication!