Writing Competitions: A Leap of Faith for Creative Types
Written by Daniel MacGregor
Thumbnail Photo by fotografierende on Unsplash
Do you like money? Do you like spending dozens of hours locked in your room or anchored down in a coffee shop crafting a story no one else will ever read? Do you like winning? Well, let me tell you about the world of writing competitions.
Writing competitions are like pill bugs, you don’t know they exist until you flip over a rock looking for them. Much like the life on the underside of a rock, there is a surprising amount of diversity in the kinds of competitions one can find. Differences can range in price of entry, the maximum length of a submission, type of writing, genre, fiction or nonfiction, and of course, the submission deadline. For those with some extra reading time, this article will give you an introductory taste into how we could be spending our writing time.
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SMU Department of English Language and Literature Writing Contests
The first stop on our tour brings us to our own backyard. The Saint Mary’s English Language and Literature Department is hosting their annual Margó Takacs Marshall Prize Short Story Prize and Joyce Marshall Hsia Memorial Poetry Prize 2021 competitions. The deadline to enter these competitions is March 26th, 2021.
These two competitions are fairly unique in the writing competition world. They are free to enter for all current Saint Mary’s Students, although they are limited to one submission per applicant. The Margo Takacs Marshall Prize is open to short stories of all genres. The only entry limitation is there is a maximum length of 15 pages. Other than these requirements, you’re free to follow your heart and write freely. If you need even more of a reason to give it a try, first place wins a prize of $200, second place wins $150, and third place wins $100.
The Joyce Marshall Hsia Memorial Prize is open to all forms of poetry (such as written or spoken-word). Similar to the Margo Takacs Marshall Prize, you can let your creativity run wild with this competition, as you are not be restrained by the traditional poetry rules. Again, the best part is the prizes for the winning submissions (first place - $175, second place - $125, and third place - $75).The specific rules for both competitions can be found here.
English department professor Luke Hathaway has shed more light on the specifics of the competition. He explained that all enrolled students (full or part-time) can submit an entry. When asked about engagement with the competition, he replied that, especially last year, there was a strong lineup of entries. When asked why students should compete, he stated that it was a good start for anyone interested in writing, since entries are not publicly shared and winning entrants usually receive feedback from the judges. Feedback is a rarity in writing competitions and is great for professional development.
The rest of this article will feature mainly North American competitions. The digital world has made it easy to compete in many international competitions. These are just some of the few examples for aspiring writers, and there are a ton more out there if you are willing to search.
Have you ever wondered what a battle royale for writers would look like? Through its unique format, NYC Midnight has brought this question to life. In total there are five challenges, including a short story challenge, screenwriting challenge, flash fiction challenge, microfiction challenge, and short screenplay challenge. In actuality, this is one of few competitions that offer a place for screenwriting specifically.
For the most part, the rules and procedures are the same throughout. Each challenge is divided into up to five rounds. At the beginning of each round, you are given a random genre, subject, and character to base the story or screenplay around. You then face off against a group of 20-30 other writers. Top writers are selected to go on to the next round, where the process repeats until the final round (some challenges are three rounds, others four). Most of these challenges require a submission fee of $48 dollars (USD) for early bird entry, $58 (USD) otherwise. Moreover, entering these competitions means you will be going up against thousands of competitors.
Of course, not all competitions are battle royales. There are also competitions like the Irene Adler Scholarship prize. This competition is open to women working towards journalism, creative writing, or literature degrees. To enter you have to write a 500-word essay on one of three topics. Topics change every year, but one example is “What is the most important thing you learned about yourself in 2020?” The winner will receive a $1000 (USD) scholarship. Also, it’s free to enter! The deadline to enter is April 30th, 2021.
Annual Student Science Writing Competition
A rarity to say the least in a world dominated by fiction writing competitions, this competition is hosted by The Nova Scotia Institute of Science, and is targeted specifically towards non-fiction science writing. This means no magic space wizards, this is the real science deal. Submissions have to be 3,500-4,000 words and it has to be focused on an original topic or original research. Unfortunately, the 2021 submission deadline has already passed, but this is a competition to watch out for come 2022.
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The competitions listed above are only the surface of the world of writing competitions. If you are interested in exploring the wide range of options out there, Canadian authors.org is literally a writer’s paradise. This website has sorted by submission deadline and month dozens of writing competitions of every stripe. You never know, you might find something interesting.
If you had the desire to write, or just want to try to make a quick dollar, there are plenty of writing competitions of many different stripes that can support whatever writing inclinations you have. Please use caution whenever signing up for online writing competitions. Do your research and make sure the competition is legitimate and not a fraud. Usually, this can be accomplished by checking the organization hosting the competition, which can usually be done by checking its social media and “About” section, anything that tells you it has a history of hosting competitions. This is not common but there is always a risk, here are the signs of a bad competition.
In closing, while the chance to earn some extra money is nice, the pressure of signing up and having a reason to write for some can be the key to writing great stories. Personally, all of my best stories are the direct product of competitions. It is a way to bring to life the worlds deep within your own mind. It is a chance to give life to a fiction that may impact someone in the non-fictional world, who then goes on to write their own fiction and the cycle continues. And with that, have fun writing!