Patsy Collins

Mwa ha ha I'm taking over the world

2012-02-01T17:17:00.000Z

Hmmm, maybe my post title doesn't seem quite appropriate for the Insecure Writer's Support Group monthly post? Truth is, I've had a few acceptances this month, including one to a new market - South African magazine YOU and I'm not actually feeling insecure. Who could feel insecure after selling work in 7 countries?

Well ... any minute now I'll get another reject (or bunch of them) and I'll be feeling much less confident than I am now. That leads me on to the word of the week.

Reject. 1. To send back as not used 2. refuse to accept 3. rebuff or snub 4. vomit or 5. Imune response to an organ. Lots of definitions - none of them good. They can seem like a snub, refusal to accept us, make us feel sick or even seem a catastrophic failure, but really they're just a message saying that particular piece hasn't been accepted by that particular market at this time.

As I've had so many, rejects no longer hurt like they once did, but I'll never like them and I'll never stop getting them until I stop sending work out.

Was your application for Olympic tickets rejected? If so get poetic revenge here.

I doubt James Patterson gets many rejects these days, but I'm sure he's had them in the past. Here's a chance to get hold of three of his books.

All at sea

2012-01-30T18:38:00.000Z

On Saturday, P&O's newest ferry, Spirit of France arrived in Dover. Here's a picture of me parking her up.*

We're always told to write what we know, so it seems a good plan to know as much stuff as possible. Any minute now I might find a competition for a story set on the bridge of a ferry and this research will be put to good use. If I make it a short crossing, I might fit it into this competition or maybe I could write about people travelling home for the holidays and submit the story here?

*Actually, despite my having a dayglow jacket complete with P&O logo and adopting my most reassuring smile, they didn't let me do that. Weird, eh?

2012-01-27T17:09:00.000Z

My blog (amongst many others) has been nominated for an award. Do vote for all your favourites - multiple voting is allowed and there are some very worthy nominees.

In case you're wondering if you should vote for me, remember that I post links for publication opportunities, and short story competitions and poetry competitions and help with your writing and book giveaways and of course, regular chances to win a kindle or something to read on one.

Contrarian

2012-01-25T20:55:00.002Z

On the wall by my desk I have a whiteboard. On the board are important notes held on with magnets, a few souvenirs and suggestions for Wednesday's Word of the Week. Gary added 'contrarian'. I couldn't find it in any of our dictionaries.

Eventually I was able to confirm his definition is correct. A contrarian is a person who argues against the views of the majority.

As I said, he's completely forgiven me for yesterday's roundabout thing and won't be seeking any seaspray and cold wind based revenge this weekend. Whilst I'm indulging in fantasy, how about winning $500 in this competition?

Playing about

2012-01-24T16:11:00.003Z

I had another photography lesson today - how to show speed by blurring the action. Poor Gary was very dizzy by the time I got the hang of it!

For a different type of play, click here. You need to complete a scene in 600 words. The prize package is impressive and includes an Experience Day with the Complete RSC, the complete works of William Shakespeare, a paper weight, and tickets to The Heresy of Love at The Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon.

A Dog's Life

2012-01-22T20:30:00.000Z

Want to get your paws on $500? (Not to be Spitz at - Chihuahua earn so much from one tail?) Then have a go at this competition. (Maker sure you saver the details so you can Retreiver them later or I'll Setter you down and Boxer your ears*)

May the luck of St Bernard be with you for this one! (Hope I don't Borzoi you with my Terrier puns?)

*Try to imagine that in an Italian accent.

Here's a picture of my dog. (Yes, he's imaginary. I'm not so barking I hadn't noticed.)

How sweet

2012-01-20T17:14:00.001Z

Oscar has awarded me the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award (he probably made that decision before reading my last post) Oscar blogs about writing, especially writing about Westerns.

I'm supposed to tell you 7 things you might not already know about me.
1. My favourite flowers are snowdrops (that's true in January - next month it'll be aconites and crocus)
2. My favourite food is ... pretty much anything without anchovies and avocado.
3. I'm getting married this year (come on, there might be a few people who didn't already know that)
4. All my writing is done on a laptop (click here to win yourself one)
5. I'm totally rubbish at absolutely all sport (if you're sporty, or can write as though you are, try this)
6. I like going on holiday (OK, that one's no surprise, but it does give an excuse to mention this)
7. Nothing I write ever seems to come out the length I expect it to.

I also have to pass this award along to deserving recipients who, if they accept, are asked to link back here, tell us 7 things and pass the blog along to others. My nominations are -

Diane Fordham Della Galton Teresa Ashby Maggie May Petra McQueen Linda Grimes

Frances Garrood Grace Galton Suzy Jones Rosemary Gemmell and JJ Cocker oh dear, that's already more than I was supposed to pick and there are still so many other blogs that deserve this award.

Exposition, baby!

2012-01-18T10:58:00.001Z

Word of the week is exposition. This noun variously means; a careful setting out of the facts, an exhibition or a section of music where the main themes are presented. Seems a useful thing for a writer, although maybe it shouldn't be as noticeable as Basil in the Austen Powers' films.

Here's a groovy poetry competition for you to enter. Yeah! This one looks smashing - maybe you could do both at once?

Fancy getting your hands on a small battery powered object that'll give you hours of pleasure? (Oooh, behave!) And here's something a bit bigger!

On a more serious note, I have a mission for you. Write a story for narrative nipple - a cause I'm sure Austin would approve of.

You want more? Well OK, but if you carry on like that, I'll have to spank you!

So far so good

2012-01-15T19:26:00.000Z

I'm having a pretty good writing year so far. The policy I implemented towards the end of last year, of actually having a go at the competitions and opportunities I blog about, is paying off. I've had a couple of acceptances, including one with Take A break, written a fair few new works and signed up for interesting events.

I also have a story published here. They're still open to submissions (as are Waterhouse Review where this story was first published)

Here's a chance to win a rather weird looking book, here's a short story competition with a £15,000 prize and here's one for poetry (there are several other writing competitions on the site, but I think they're for members only)

Want an agent?

2012-01-14T18:21:00.003Z

If you do, then 'all' you need do is win this competition. Diane Banks will the represent you for a year. A great prize and I'd love to enter, but it's only open to unpublished writers.

Darn.

I'll try and console myself with the thought it's nearly spring.

Learning curve

2012-01-12T18:32:00.000Z

I can still remember the elation I felt when my first story was published. It was in The Lady (sigh) For some reason I never got notification it was accepted and didn't know until they sent me a complimentary copy. I bounced around the house like a possessed Zebedee. Two days later I had an acceptance from The Weekly News and thought I'd made it as a writer.

Of course it's not quite that simple and six month's worth of rejects followed. Now I know that even those who really have made it are still learning and trying to improve. That's good because it means I have something in common with them.

I've been lucky enough to be selected for a one to one session with poet Andrew McMillan. There's plenty of room for improvement in my poetry, so hopefully I'll gain some useful insights. I'll also be attending this interesting looking event with a couple of writing buddies. I've put my name down for the poetry workshop. It's great value and there are spaces left so if you live close enough do think about coming along.

I do have lots still to learn, but at least I know my alphabet!

Of course, one of the best ways to learn how to do something is to have a go - so here's a poetry competition for you.

Cute animal pictures

2012-01-10T19:40:00.000Z

Nooo that wasn't just a cunning ruse to get you to visit my blog ... See, I managed to find a writing competition about animals.

Writers For Animals Competition, wants "True-life stories about animals who've touched people's hearts, and the people who help them. Plus fiction stories for adults and teenagers that have some kind of animal theme." Email writersforanimals@live.co.uk for more info and submission instructions.

They want 800 - 8,000 words and winning stories will be published in a book which will be sold to raise funds for animal rescues. Closing date is March 31st 2012. There's no prize money as this is a charity fund raiser, but it's free and you can send in as many entries as you wish.

If that's not your thing, how about writing something with a musical connection - another contest in aid of a good cause. You'll need to be quick though.

Finally, here's a chance to get one of those computery tablet things.

Writing and subbing

2012-01-08T18:14:00.000Z

Geekiness wasn't my only writing resolution. Another was 'do more and do it better'. To help keep me on track with this, I've signed up for Write 1, Sub 1. It's pretty much what it sounds like - you write a story every month or week and send it out. In my case, I'm going for weekly and I'll write each piece especially for a particular market or competition. I'm on track so far!

This comp only requires an opening line, so shouldn't take too long - maybe I can even get ahead of my schedule?

I'd like to write comedy and did make a feeble attempt here - I'm sure you can do better.

A non writing aim is to get away in the van more often. Hopefully we'll make it down to Cornwall again which will be great research for this competition.

What are you reading?

2012-01-06T17:14:00.001Z

Currently I'm reading Jane Austen's Emma. My next reads will be two books I won in the Choc Lit Christmas competitions. Sue Moorcroft's Love & Freedom and Juliet Archer's Persuade Me. They both sound pretty good. (Comments I wrote on the Choc Lit blog were picked as winners by the respective authors, so these can losely be described as writing competition wins.)

If you'd like to win some books yourself, try this great give away. If you fancy having a go at a competition then try this one, or perhaps this.

Insecure

2012-01-04T17:59:00.000Z

Insecure - 1. Not confident or assured. 2. Not firmly fixed.

I don't want to be firmly fixed, but wouldn't mind a bit more confidence.

Are you an insecure writer? If so, here's a group to help. I'm getting better - not long ago a friend actually introduced me as a writer and I didn't look round to see who he was talking about.

Feeling confident enough for a competition? Helen has details of one (prize is a writing holiday in Greece.) Here's one and here's another.

I'm a twit

2012-01-02T13:20:00.000Z

As part of my resolution to get to grips with geekery, I'm going to have a proper bash at twitter. To help, I've downloaded* Nicola Morgan's ebook*, Tweet Right. If you fancy trying twitter but are a bit nervous or feel you're not getting the best out of it then I recommend this book.

So far I'm tweeting about as well as this pigeon can, but I hope to get better. If you'd like to see how I'm doing, you can find me @PatsyCollins If you're on twitter please let me know so I can ~~come and stalk you~~ have a look at your tweets.

You can tweet, or even write, on a Macbook, so here's a chance to win one. And as I mentioned Kindle's here's a chance to get hold of one of them.

*Yep I downloaded an ebook - how's that for geekiness? I don't have a kindle (despite all the competitions to win them I keep posting) but I can read them on my laptop now I've 'got an app for that'!

BREAKING NEWS! The Harsh and the Heart anthology will be available as a FREE download from midnight* tonight for one day only. One of my stories is in there. (You can also buy it as a real book)

*Pacific time

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T07:30:00.000Z

So, how was 2011 for you?
I've had a good year. Getting engaged was obviously the highlight, but I've also had success with my writing. I've had more stories published than in any previous year and I won a poetry competion. It might no be just coindence that this year I've written and submitted more than in previous years.

What plans do you have for 2012?
I'll be getting married, working harder than ever at my writing, baking lots of cakes, taking pictures, travelling, gardening and getting geeky. That should keep me busy.

There's just time for one last competition this year if you're quick. Oh all right, I'll make it two.

Best wishes for 2012!

Technology is the future!

2011-12-29T10:22:00.000Z

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to make better use of geekery - and I've started already! Gary gave me a snazzy camera for Christmas and is teaching me to use it (don't think he's fed up with taking pictures for my blog, do you?) This is my first ever attempt at a panoramic photograph.

'And this is connected to writing how?' I hear you wondering. Well, I'll be able to illustrate my blog more easily, but mostly it's a marvellous way to procrastinate - and we all know how important procrastination is to a writer.

Have you made any resolutions?

Here's a chance to win a very geeky computer.

Something to keep you going

2011-12-27T17:19:00.000Z

D'you like my cakes and pies? We haven't eaten everything yet but they won't last much longer.

Here's a competition with a £200 prize - a sad theme though and it looks as though they want non fiction.

On a lighter note, Della Galton wants stories about New Year resolutions that go wrong for this competition. The prize is a copy of her new book 'Moving On – Short Story to Novel'.

And finally, Alex has a book give-away here.

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T18:30:00.003Z

Huzzah! It's the end of my mad Advent Blogfest of Competition Winningness.

Step 24 is to celebrate. I'm hoping some of the interviews, tips and links I've posted will help give some of my blog readers a cause to celebrate soon.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Be Proud

2011-12-23T18:37:00.000Z

Step 23 (in competition winningness) is to be proud of your successes.

Please do tell me about any success resulting from competitions you see here (or even elsewhere) I'd love to be able to share in your good news.

I'm not sure The Sphere has any pride - have you seen what he's got on his head? Can't think who he can have borrowed that from!

Here's the chance to win an eReader.

Check - Cheque

2011-12-22T18:50:00.000Z

Step 22 (of competition winningness) is to keep a record of the competitions you've enterred and when they close. Check the results. Sometimes only prize winners are informed of the results and it's possible for a mistake to be made and the winner not notified. Don't forget to chase up any prizes that might be due to you if they don't arrive in a reasonable amount of time.

A computer is handy for record keeping. Here's a chance to win one. Here's another.

Were you relieved I've stopped all that sphere nonsense or would you like to see him again before Christmas?

Be Prompted

2011-12-21T18:39:00.001Z

Step 21 (in this competitions madness) is to use competition guidelines and themes to write even when you can't, or don't wish to, enter that particular competition. It's a useful exercise that might well lead to a publishable story that you wouldn't otherwise have thought of writing (at least, that's been my experience)

Prompted by Frances, I suggested to The Sphere that he have a smiley face and this is what he came up with. D'you think he's trying to say it's cold in the garage?

This isn't a competition, but they do pay for comedy writing. Some people say I'm a bit funny, so maybe I should try this?

Get lucky

2011-12-20T18:23:00.000Z

Winning a competition or having a story accepted for publication isn't just about skill and persistence (although both are very important) There's also a certain amount of luck involved. Results will depend on the personal preferences of whoever is judging, the quality and subject of other entries recieved and all sorts of other things. For example something might occur that suddenly makes your story topical or that renders it obsolete.

Step 20 (in winning competitions) is to harness the power of The Sphere - or anything else which might bring you luck.

To make up for yesterday, I've found extra links for today. Here's a website that sounds as though it's offering cholate, but is really giving away free books. I couldn't find any actual chocolate, but there are some sweeties on offer here.

More real books are being given away by Mary Ellen. If you prefer the electronic version you can try for a Kindle here and here's a book to read on it. Don't worry if your luck hasn't kicked in yet as the lovely people at Coventry Writers are making it available to anyone. If you don't have an e-reader that's no problem either as you can see it online here. If reading for yourself is too much trouble, Dan will read to you here. (Not that I'm suggesting my blog friends are all as lazy as me you understand)

Cheers!

2011-12-19T18:17:00.000Z

Well it's day 19 of my crazy Advent Blog of Competition Winningness and I was going to post a really amazing tip that'd almost guarantee you prizes, publication, fame and free chocolate for life ... but the lads have invited me for a Chinese meal and a small glass of white wine* so I've got to go and get ready.

You'll have to make do with this competition link instead.

*Which is how they refer to several large glasses of white wine. And what a surprise - I was able to find a picture of my hand clutching a large glass of white wine ...

5 a day

2011-12-18T18:27:00.000Z

Don't panic, I'm not suggesting we need to write and enter five new pieces every day. What I want you to do is move away from the computer occasionally, get some fresh air and take time for proper meals instead of coffee and cake at your desk.

Step 18 (of competition winningness) is to look after yourself.

Here's a competition in which you're asked to work the name of a fruit into a spoof title for the chance of winning a T-shirt. My attempt is 'The good, the bad and the ugli' although thanks to my lack of twitter skill I'm not absolutely sure I've entered.

ps, Have you tried typing 'let it snow' into Google?

No Waiting

2011-12-17T17:40:00.001Z

Step 17 (in my Advent Blogfest of Competition Winningness) is don't sit around waiting to see if you've won - get on and enter more competitions. The same applies to submitting work to markets. If you have lots of stuff 'out there' then each rejection or failure to get placed will still a little less because you'll know the next post or email could bring you better news.

Here's one, with a £300 prize you could try while you're waiting to hear back about the ones you've entered over the last couple of weeks. You have entered one or two, haven't you?

If you fancy something easier then here's a draw to win £300 worth of book tokens. Of course, you could try both.

AB of CW day 16

2011-12-16T18:24:00.000Z

Step 16 in winning competitions is to check the small print and find out what you can about the competition and its organisers before sending in your entry.

Some competitions, such as this one, require you to give up your copyright when entering. As the prize is so good, the winner will get great publicity and they only want 100 words, maybe you won't mind that.

Other competition organisers have a reputation as vanity publishers and might well offer every entrant a wonderful opportunity to have their work published and to pay for that privilege. Not that I'm accusing the organisers of this poetry competition of doing anything wrong. It's free to enter, the winner will get £1,000 and if you don't want to buy an antholgy you don't have to.

AB of CW day 15

2011-12-15T18:40:00.000Z

Step 15 (in winning writing competitions) is to tell people you're going to enter. That puts pressure on you to actually do it - and if you don't enter, you can't win, can you? Also if you saw the competition here and tell me you're having a go, I'll be encouraged to find more competitions for you to try.

Talking of telling people stuff ... You know I've interviewed Della Galton and Jonathan Telfer? Well, now I know what I put them through because somone thought it would be a good idea to interview me. If you'd like to read that, or be interviewed yourself, take a look at Shaun's blog.

Here's a chance to win an Amazon giftcard. If you fancy actually doing some writing then here's somewhere you can submit poetry.

Della's Here!

2011-12-14T18:08:00.000Z

The lovely Della Galton has kindly agreed to answer some of our questions - thanks, Della!

You judge lots of competitions, do yousee the same mistakes on a regular basis and are there thingsentrants do which drive you to despair?

Nothing that drives me to despair as such but I often see the same stories or very similar stories - especially when there is a theme. I don't mean literally the same but stories that aren't original or have a similar feel to ones I've seen before. The same twists, the same plot lines etc.

Susan Jane Jones would like to know howto make a story stand out without being crazy.

A story will stand out if it's beautifully written and well crafted with characters that leap off the page.

If a competition calls for stories 'upto 2,000 words', is it a good idea to get close to that word count,or does any length story (that stays within the rules) have the samechance of winning?

I think it's a good idea to get close to the length - don't be too short. Anything above 1500 words is fine.

Maggie May wants to know if you'llwrite her stories for her? I'm almost certain she was joking andreally just needs a push to get started on her own entries.

I have enough of a struggle to write my own, thanks Maggie May ;-)

How important is the title of yourstory?

It's not important if you've written a brilliant short story - but if there are two brilliant short stories and one of them has a brilliant title and the other one doesn't, guess which one will win!

Enid says - I'm sure, like me, you havestories that have not been accepted (well not as many but maybe afew). What do you do with these?
Keep them for future markets. My record so far is, a story that I sold 18 years after I wrote it ;-)

Is there anything you'd like to add?

I think going to workshops or weekly classes is a great way to get feedback and improve your craft. I still attend a weekly class as well as teaching two in Bournemouth.

You've written two books to help writers, would you like to mention them?

How to Write and Sell Short Stories, published by Accent Press, is out now and costs £9.99

Moving On - Short Story to Novel also published by Accent Press is out any day and costs £9.99

You can order either of these books via my website and I will sign them for you!

or email dellagalton@yahoo.co.uk They make great Christmas presents for writer friends.

She's right about that, I got the short story one from Gary last year and was very pleased with it. I'd be just as pleased to get the novel writing one (she hints, none too subtly)

Della's just started blogging and can be found on twitter and Facebook. She also runs occasional writing workshops. I've been to a couple of these and found them fun and inspiring.

ABofCW Day 13

2011-12-13T17:05:00.003Z

Once you've thought up and written outyour brilliant idea, you'll need to get on and write the story. I'll skim over that easy step and move onto what happens once you have a draft you're happy with. It's a good idea to get feedback. It's hardenough spotting our own typos, but other things are quiteimpossible to work out for ourselves. Will your readerunderstand what's going on? Will they guess your clever twist inparagraph one?

Step 13 - get a little help from a friend.

For this help you can either team upwith a writing buddy or several, or join a group - either real world orinternet based. You could try here, here or here. If you belong to, orrun, such a group and are open to new members, please do mention it inthe comments.

A good book can feel like a freind, so here's you chance to get some paper pals.

Day 12 (AB of CW)

2011-12-12T18:52:00.000Z

Step 11 Take a day off occasionally.

Sometimes it's good to take a break from writing and do something else instead (the something else I'm doing tonight involves a few Royal Marines and plenty of mulled wine, but I'm sure you don't want all the details).

Here's a chance to win an iPad (I'm pretty sure you can write competition entries on them so I'm just about sticking to the theme) Don't want you to think I'm shirking with this whole advent blogfest thing, so here's another chance to win an iPad. And here's one more for luck.

And here's a chance to get an Amazon giftcard.

Size isn't important

2011-12-11T17:27:00.001Z

Small quirky competitions with wacky prizes won't make you rich and famous, but are still worth entering. There are likely to be fewer entries which improves your chances, often they are fairly quick and easy to enter and winning would still be a huge boost to your confidence.

Hugely publicised competitions with prize funds to match shouldn't be ignored. Yes, loads of really talented people will enter and your chances of winning are slight - but someone will win. If you've come up with an original idea, written it well and kept to the rules, why shouldn't it be you?

Step 10 (in winning competitions) is don't worry about the size, just get it in! ('it' being your competition entry, of course)

Here's a biggie, this one's not so big and this is a little un.

Don't leave it too late (& day 10)

2011-12-10T18:00:00.000Z

It's easy to forget competition deadlines and leave it too late to send in your entry. This is especially annoying when you've written the piece and think it's pretty good (I know because it's happened to me more than once)

SORRY WE'RE .CLOSED

Step 10 (in winning competitions) is send your entries in good time.

Here's a competition I've told you about before, but you may not have got around to entering. Here's another and another and another and another and another and another. I haven't entered all of those myself yet - better get on with it, hadn't I?

And here's a chance to win some children's books.

Jonathan's Here!

2011-12-09T17:25:00.001Z

As promised Jonathan Telfer, editor of Writing Magazine & Writer's News, is (virtually) here to answer our questions. He says he feels he may have gone on a bit of a rant but I know you'll forgive him for that as he's done it just to help us. (Step 9 of competition winningness is read what Jonathan has to say!)

Can you give us an idea how many the magazine runs per year and how many others feature?
Our programme includes 24 short story competitions each year (12 for subscribers and 12 open to all), 9 poetry competitions (3 for subscribers and 6 open to all). We also feature news of 20-30 competitions organised by other people in each issue of the magazine.

Many Writer's News (and other ) competitions seem to have a theme - how closely should we stick to that?
I'll start to answer that by going off at a bit of a tangent! What you want your story to do, whatever the competition, is stand out. Obviously there are various ways to do that.
When you're thinking of what to write to meet a theme, be aware of how easily the idea comes to you, and don't assume it won't come to other writers too. Taking a straightforward approach, or writing the first idea that comes to you, has two possible outcomes: your story will either blend into a flood of entries tackling similar themes in a similar way, or your handling of it will be strong, and the writing so good, that it blows the competition out of the water. The former, sadly, vastly outnumber the latter.
The next imaginative step up is to twist the theme slightly (for example the clichéd man getting dressed and nervous before a wedding turns out to be the vicar). Again, if the idea came to you easily, it will have come to others.

To illustrate these first two approaches, consider the recent subscriber-only "Unlikely couple" competition in Writing Magazine, in which we asked for stories about a 36-year-old college lecturer and 20-year-old delivery van driver. The majority of entries were a love story of some kind, which we'll call the straightforward approach. But the slight twist also yielded a very healthy showing, with a large number of entries in which the two characters were mother and the son she gave up for adoption 16 years ago. And in nearly all of those entries, the pair were thrown together by chance.
Now, I'm not suggesting that any of those entries or approaches are wrong; in isolation they could both yield strong short stories that could well be accepted for publication. But in competition, the judges are looking for the entries with something extra that separates them from the rank and file, which – forgive the repetition, but I really want to emphasise this – could be as simple as just the quality of the writing.

Another approach would be to take a "radical" approach, which ensures your entry will stand out from the pack but has to work hard to justify itself in a theme. And a conservative judge might discount it altogether.
You don't want to be so radical or tenuous that judges and readers have to solve a virtual cryptic crossword to understand how your story fits the theme, so the very best entries are those that find a fresh approach, weave that back into the 'core' theme seamlessly... and display outstanding technique.

Maggie May said "I think I'd like to know from Jonathan if we should write from the heart and then see where it fits. The women's mags are very strict about style, length etc and this can get in the way." What do you think?

What is that the guidelines get in the way of? I'm afraid this looks to be attempting to reconcile two distinct approaches, unless I've missed the point. If you want your story to be published, the worst thing you can do is not to follow their guidelines (this would be true of any fiction market, and probably most non-fiction ones too). If you are aiming to write a story for the joy of writing it, ignore any and all guidelines and just do it the way you want to, but you shouldn't then expect to be able to get it placed.
By all means write from the heart and wait to see where it fits, but you might have a long wait! Or at least a complicated editing/rewriting stage. Imagine your 2,500 word short story is just perfect for an upcoming comp with a 1,000 word limit; or your word count is just right but the theme is slightly off. In both of those cases, I'd suggest starting from scratch would be a much more sensible option.
Which brings me to another thing to avoid for competition themes - shoehorning! Don't take an existing short story that works in its own right, add a brief mention of whatever you need to graze the theme in the first paragraph and assume that's sufficient. Your story is probably still a good one, but it's not meeting the theme so however outstanding it is, it doesn't stand a chance against the best of the ones that weave the theme throughout the story. For example, a theme of baking. You can't have a first paragraph about how "Samantha loved baking", then trot off into a holiday romance story about Sam finding love with a waiter in Brighton.
Have her winning over a customer with the love she pours into her buns; have her using a pizza oven to very slowly turn her murdered husband's bones to ash; even have her finding love with a sunbed rental guy on holiday by baking herself to a crisp in the sun while she tries to catch his eye. These are not necessarily particularly good ideas, but any one of them would do better in a themed comp than that first example.

Kitty is baffled by a complete lack of shortlisting prowess. Do you have any tips for helping her (and me!) make sure our work isn't rejected at the early stages?
Are there any dreadful mistakes we should avoid?
Write well, edit thoroughly, check, check and check again. Follow the rules or guidelines.
You would be amazed how many entries fall at the first hurdle. If the word count is 1,500-1,700 words, 2,500 will not "do". Nor will 1,705, or 1,400. Other reasons for instant dismissal include no entry fee, no contact details, sent in on 39 individual postcards, sent three months after the closing date. And yet they all happen, again and again (okay, maybe not the postcards one).
Bad spelling and grammar are an instant turnoff - if you haven't made the effort to get all this right before you submit, you're not rereading and rewriting enough... Clunky dialogue ("But that was before I decided to undergo that particular operation you spoke of, my darling.")... purple prose... dialogue as exposition ("You know I can't walk on that ankle since the motorbike accident in Malta in 1973.")... intrusive punctuation (too much ellipsis, awkward dashes, any brackets at all)... incomplete sentences...

Meet the theme, write as well as you can, and keep at it. The right conditions for your win will come along eventually.

Do some competitions have less entries than others and if so, would entering those improve our chances?
Generally, we find the more specific a theme, the fewer entries. Very popular ones for us are: crime, ghost, love, etc. (Possibly because a lot of writers have a story tucked away that naturally fits the theme.) Obviously, therefore, competition is not so fierce in some of the other competitions, but they might also be more of a challenge to write for. Get your writing style up to scratch and think hard about the theme and your plotting and you'll be well on the way.

Do you have a top tip for those considering entering a writing competition?
Read it back as if you're the reader; edit ruthlessly; be honest with yourself about what works; slaughter your darlings, repeatedly.

Thanks so much, Jonathan for taking the time and trouble to answer these questions and offer us your advice.

Don't forget to visit the Writying Magazine & Writers' News Website where you'll find more advice, competitions and details of how to subscribe to this excellent magazine!

Uphill Struggle (& ABofCW Day 8)

2011-12-08T10:37:00.001Z

Winning a competition or getting published can seem an uphill struggle, I know. Step 8 (in my mad competition advent guidelines) is to have a go - and keep trying.

If you like what you've written then send it in. If you don't get it done on time, or aren't happy with it then at least you have a first draft you can work on later. If you enter and don't win, or submit and aren't selected you have a story or poem you can try elsewhere.

To increase your chances you might wish to target publications and competitions which are likely to have fewer submissions - the following either don't pay, are new or don't take mainstream fiction.

Here's somewhere you can submit poems (I'm tempted to just because I love the name) Here's somewhere that wants religious stories that are as unreligious as possible. This new market is interested in stories which are socially aware.

Competition Blogfest Day 7

2011-12-07T18:07:00.001Z

Yesterday, I said to win competitions you need to think of something to write about. Now I'm telling you to forget that idea. If it's the first thing that occurred the chances are it also occurred to many other people. Being different won't guarantee success but it will stop the poor judge going mad from boredom. Step 7 (in competition winningness) Look at the theme in a different way.

Here's a competition that illustrates the point. I thought of alien abductions, but they don't want those ... I'm going to have to think of something else if I want that very snazzy looking trophy.

If you can't think of any ideas maybe you need to read more. £500 of book tokens will help with that.

Don't forget that Della will be popping in to answer our questions, so if there's something you'd like to ask her, please comment on yesterday's post.

Advent Winningness Day 6

2011-12-06T17:48:00.000Z

Step 6 (in winning writing competitions) is one of those really annoying ones as it sounds so simple. It goes like this - 'think of an idea to write about'.

I was recently shortlisted for a Brighton Cow competition which had the themes, 'Autumn Leaves' (they're having problems with the website, so no results are displayed and you'll just have to take my word for it). I set the story in a forest in autumn. Job done?*

Can you come up with any magical ideas for here? Maybe getting your hands on these would help.

Coming soon The lovely Della Galton has kindly agreed to answer some of our questions. She judges A LOT of competitions, so her advice should be very useful. What (apart from the address to send the bribes) shall we ask her?

*I'll come to that in step 7.

Competition stuff Day 5

2011-12-05T17:37:00.001Z

Step 5 (or more accurately just a suggestion) is not to think just in terms of winning a prize or losing a competition. There's more you can get out of it. For example some competitions give feedback to entrants (often for a small fee) and this can be very useful, particularly if you intend to enter more competitions run by the same organisation. You might be shortlisted or be made a runner up and this can be a big boost to your confidence and is something to be proud of.

I've just heard I was shortlisted in this competition. No prize sadly, but my story is published and if you scroll down after reading it, you'll see the judges' feedback. (Jolly nice they were too!)

This poetry competition offers a first prize of $1,500 down to $400 for third. Don't despair if you're 'just' an honourable mention though as you'll still get $75. Guess who's thinking of entering?

Advent thingy Day 4

2011-12-04T17:45:00.001Z

Step 4 In winning competitions is to check those entry dates and make a note of them. Don't think a date far away in the future means you don't have to do anything yet though. Ideally write your story, or poem, or even two or three of them and put them away for a while. Closer to the date you can pick the best one and edit it.

This competition has a fairly close closing date, but that's no problem as they're after something you prepared (and had published) previously. The prize is $500 so, after I've double checked the rules to make sure I'm eligible, I'll be having a crack at this one.

This one's a bit confusing. There are three competitions a year and you must submit on time, but no dates appear to be mentioned. Not sure it's for me, but if you fancy giving it a try there's a 'contact us' button toward the bottom of the page, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get clarification.

I did promise some chocolate, so here you go.

Competition Winningness Day 3

2011-12-03T11:13:00.001Z

Step 3 in winning competitions is to check you're eligible. Some competitions require entrants to be under or over a certain age, to live in a certain area, to be female (I've never seen one that only allowed male entrants) or to be unpublished. It might be tempting to break the rules, but if you win you'll almost certainly get caught out. For example, I could enter a d.o.b. suggesting I was only 16, but I couldn't pass myself off as that age to collect my prize.

Here's a competition you could try. Rule 1 states "The contest is open to all writers of any age and at any stage of their writing careers" so we should all be OK there. It runs monthly with a different theme each time. You can enter fiction, non fiction or poetry and there's $50 prize each month.

Coming soon ... Jonathan from Writer's News has kindly agreed to answer a few questions on competition entries for this blog. I thought it would be interesting to hear from someone who sees our efforts after we've licked the envelope or pressed send. I'm planning to ask how we can improve our chances of reaching the shortlists - is there anything else we want to know?

Advent Blogfest of Competition Winningness Day 2

2011-12-02T18:27:00.000Z

Step 2 (of competition winningness) is to search out as many different competitions as you can - the more you find, the more you can attempt. Local papers and magazines often run writing competitions. You might see them advertised in libraries, on company websites or even junk mail. Keep your eyes open - there are writing competitions all over the place. (If you do find any free to enter ones then please consider letting me know - thanks very much!)

Talking of all over the place, I have another story up on Cafelit and also one in the 17th December issue of Woman's Weekly (very purple cover!) And here's a picture of me in the House of Commons yesterday evening, just before my poem was read by Peter Wishart MP (formerly of Runrig and Big Country). Yes, there do seem to be a lot of wine glasses in front of me...

In Step 1 yesterday, I said following my blog can help you win competitions. I can't (yet) prove that but Maggie May should be able to confirm it does help people enter. You can read (and vote for if you like) her competition story 'Finding Paddy Pig' here. Please do vote for your favourite. Companies run the competitions for publicity - show them it's worth doing this by visiting the site and getting involved.

H ere's a haggis hunt - it has no connection with writing, but I know you'll like it and yesterday, in 'the house', we had a huge handsome haggis.

Advent Blogfest of Competition Winningness Day 1

2011-12-01T17:03:00.000Z

I'm delighted to be kicking off this madness with the news that I've won a poetry competition! Yes me and yes, poetry. Good eh? I mentioned the competition here. I hasten to add the poem you see there wasn't the winning one; you can see that here. There were over 150 entries (I asked).

Thank you to the lovely people at Scotscare for the good work they do, for running this competition and for picking me as the winner.

The photo shows where I'm having dinner tonight as part of my prize. Good eh? (I said that already, didn't I?)

From now until 24th December I'll be explaining how I managed to win and giving links to other competitions you can enter, advice on doing well in these competitions, random draws and including as much chocolate as I can squeeze in. (Sorry if the punctuation is a bit off and this post rambles - I'm typing whilst trying to put my hair in a snazzy up do before battling through wind and rain to the train station).

Step 1 (in winning this or any competition) is to actually know about the competition. Obviously the absolute best way to do that is to follow my blog.

Not only will following me help keep you informed, it'll make me happy and if I'm happy I'll search even harder to find free to enter competitions and I'll be more likely to give you chocolate.

Here's today's competition. They want a short story by March. The winner gets $1,000 publication of their story in an 'enhacanced novel' and on its own, plus they'll consider publishing your novel. Good eh? (Forgive me - I'm excited).

Fun happy stuff

2011-11-30T18:07:00.001Z

I have a piece up on Cafelit. Hope you like it.

This is a picture of a pretty blue flower (just one of the many things that make me happy) Award yourself loads of points if you can work out why I saved the photo with the file name 'RFA'.

Circalit are running a Twitter competition with a prize of feedback from one of their staff reviewers. They say - 'Tweet a spoof book title followed by #spoofbooks @circalit and win a feedback report from us!' Looks like fun, so I'm going to try to come up with something.

Happy St Andrew's to those of a Scots persuasion.

I failed

2011-11-29T21:03:00.000Z

I didn't complete my NaNo target. I have plenty of excuses, the main one being that I didn't like my novel much so decided to switch to short stories that I knew I would enjoy writing. They don't count for NaNo.

This snazzy certificate is for me, for everyone else who failed to complete NaNo, for those who failed in any other writing project this year, or who except to have done so by the end of the year. To get yours, just confess your failure and share your excuse or perfectly good reason as the case may be.

Rewarding failure might seem silly, so let's not call it that. Instead, we're realising we don't always achieve everything we set out to do. We're accepting it and moving on with fresh aims and enthusiasm.

That fresh start could perhaps include writing an entry for this competition. Prizes include playing cards and a creative writing course.

Is it my fault?

2011-11-28T08:02:00.000Z

Recently I've heard of publications folding due to financial difficulties. Others are changing the way they operate, again due to lack of money. That's not really surprising as lots of businesses are currently struggling and producing small magazines, anthologies and ezines has never been a big money maker. What did surprise me was an explanation shared by four I read about. The problem, they feel, is at least partly due to writers submitting work, yet not subscribing to the publications.

What do you think? Should writers be (partly) responsible for finiancially supporting the markets they submit too?

Treasure!

2011-11-26T22:00:00.001Z

Well, as much treasure as you can get for £50 is what Dan is offering in this competition. You don't need to buy his anthology to take part (although I'm sure he'd like it if you did)

'Just what I wanted!'

2011-11-25T19:16:00.000Z

That's what you're supposed to say when you open this link. When I asked what kind of competitions you wanted, you asked for quirky - and I think you'll agree that this qualifies.

Warning - this writing competition is not suitable for vegetarians.

Anyway, looks like my supper is ready, so I'm off.

Grrrr

2011-11-24T18:24:00.001Z

Sorry about the picture but some days you just want to find the nearest smiley face and stick pins in it (or is that just me?) If you prefer to think of me as nice you can tell yourself I'm giving him acupuncture.

While I'm in a grumpy mood, let's talk about spam. As you're reading this, I know you have internet access and therefore you get spam emails. They're annoying enough, but sometimes you'll also get sent scams. If you do, you can report them here.

What about banks and the financial mess the country is in? If you have opinions on that you could express them poetically and submit them here (look for the little green box roughly in the middle).

Christmas starting waaaay too early also annoys me, but if it means the chance of an early pressie, then maybe I can come to terms with it.

Should I be committed?

2011-11-23T20:20:00.001Z

Here's a competition for those who can't commit to the NaNo word count. (Gosh can't think of anyone like that!) If you give it a try be aware that you have to enter via Circalit which means the story might be considered published by some editors and therefore limit your chances of placing it elsewhere should you not win.

Coming soon - the advent blogfest of competition winningness! Don't say you weren't warned. If you have any writing competition related tips, confessions, links, advice, stories, bragging or news that you'd like to share or free chocolate to give away do please let me know - patsycollins53atyahoodotcom

I dare you

2011-11-22T18:06:00.001Z

OK, you've talked me into it - I'll send in an entry to the Hampshire poet thing. I'm not expecting to win, but there is always that danger when we enter competitions. To get my own back, I'm challenging you to have a go at this. The subject is unusual and the method of entry peculiar, but you can write poetry, prose or non fiction. The prizes are pretty good.

In other news - I am now cheating with my NaNo novel. I was so fed up with the story that I wasn't writing as much as I needed to in order to complete the word count. Knowing I'd do better writing something else, such as short stories, that's what I've decided to do. My mc has just picked up a copy of Woman's Weekly fiction special and will read every story. Once I've written them and added them to what I had already, I should reach 50,000 - and have 20 short stories.

D'you think I dare?

2011-11-21T18:46:00.001Z

What do you think - dare I enter this? I do have at least two poems* in my portfolio and I'm fine with public speaking so I'm eligible.

I know not all my blog readers are from Hampshire, so here's a poetry competition anyone can try.

Anyone care to guess why I thought this picture was relevant?

* actual poems, not the mad ditties I sometimes post on here.

Busy, busy.

2011-11-20T17:53:00.001Z

It's hard to find time to do everything we want, isn't it? Even harder, I think, to find the time to do things we don't really want to do. That's maybe why I'm not keeping up my NaNo word count. Other years have been easier, but other years I've enjoyed the story I was writing. This time I'm not - so how can I expect a reader to love it? Maybe my precious writing time might be better spent on a different project.

Perhaps a very short story? Prima have a competition for stories of no more than 500 words and there's a prize of £200 - awarded on a monthly basis I believe. I could manage the word count, but they want stories to be based on real events. I'd struggle with that.

Here's a potential market for stories pf up to 2,000 words. Waterhouse Review are also accepting poems now. Hmm, poetry ... there's a thought.

Somewhere I'm sure I have a picture of a bee, but as I've not yet found time to set up a proper photographic filing system, you'll have to make do with a butterfly instead.

Cure for writer's block.

2011-11-18T23:01:00.000Z

Write Invite hold a weekly competition which looks like it would be a lot of fun and fix even the most severe form of writer's block. There is a fee of £4, but when you register you'll be credited with one free go and could win £50 (I've registered myself, but won't be able to take part yet because I'm usually on the road that time on a Saturday)

I don't usually blog about writing contests with a fee - but that doesn't mean I have anything against them. There are sites and publications where membership or registration entitles you to free entry in their competitions and I think they might be a good form of motivation. As with Write Invite, once you've paid your money, you might as well have a go.

If that doesn't get you witing, maybe a shiny new iPad would do the trick?

Free laptop competition

2011-11-17T19:03:00.001Z

That's right, yet another chance to win a laptop. I'm determined that one of my blog friends will win one, or a Kindle, or iPad or some other writerly electronic gadgetry. You will tell me if you do, won't you?

Many of you prefer competitions that involve writing, so here's one of those. It's for scripts - looks like quite short ones are wanted. Priority is given to writers from Hampshire, but anyone can submit (even people from Dorset, JJ) There's also the chance to watch new work being performed. That's not free, but at £3 is a cheap night out. If any of my readers have their work selected, I promise to watch and review it.

I took this photo in Hampshire - can you guess where?

Just links

2011-11-16T18:41:00.000Z

Chance to win an iPad

Give/receive feedback on work

Competition for dark fiction

Call for submissions from the BBC

Chocolate

Free book

Laptop

Sex

2011-11-15T22:21:00.000Z

This is an entry for the Mookychick blogging competition, FEMINIST FLASH FICTION 2011. Enter now.

I'm not just female
girl, woman, Miss/Mrs/Ms
More than gender: Me!

Do have a go at this competition. You can enter a short story, or poem, or both, or both several times and there's a £100 prize.

If you prefer to think bigger you could try this one. The prize is C$130,000 and the catch is you need to get your publisher to enter for you. I'm into poetry competitions at the moment, but won't be appearing on their shortlist!

Need a little help?

2011-11-14T18:53:00.001Z

(writing competition details follow the first paragraph*)

We all need a little help occasionally, don't we? If you need help disposing of cake and chocolate do give me a call. Where was I? Oh yes, blogging about writing... How about those pesky query letters for submitting your novel? You can get free help with those here. I tried it myself and the email feedback came through just now. I was told what they suggest I change, why that might be a good plan and given an idea of how to go about improving the letter. Thanks Inkies!

OK, here's one of the promised links for a writing competition. The prizes include books and Amazon vouchers.

If (like me) suspense writing isn't your thing, you might like this poetry competition. The theme is family relationships, the prize is £100 and you can enter in English or Dutch. Is that quirky enough?

btw, it's be nice to everyone week.

*Did my attempt at keeping you in suspense work?

I've had a brilliant idea

2011-11-13T18:19:00.000Z

Well, I think it's brilliant but I've been doing NaNo as well as attending one of Della Galton's workshops and there's the thing I can't tell you about, so maybe my brain is scrambled. I thought that during December I could have a blog advent of competition winningness, with advice to improve your chances, lots of lovely competitions and a bit of virtual chocolate. What do you think?

In the meantime, here's a really little competition with the chance to win £20 in book tokens and here's a call for papers I've been asked to tell you about.

Just never know what you'll get when you pop in here, do you?

Gone potty

2011-11-12T10:37:00.001Z

Sorry, I'm not giving you much notice for this competition. Maybe you already have a story, poem or article about ceramics you can send in? (The organisers seem to think that's unlikely and they may have a point)

What sort of competitions do you like best? Quirky little ones like this, or great big highly publicised ones?

I think smaller competitions, with unusual themes or requirements probably have fewer entries so our chances of success are higher. Larger competitions generally have bigger prizes and more publicity for the winner.

Or perhaps prize draws are more your thing and there's something in particular you'd like to win?

I can't guarantee to find a competition to suit everyone, but I'll give it a go.

Extra easy

2011-11-10T22:14:00.001Z

I sometimes post about competitions where you're asked to write a whole novel, or short story or poem. I do hope you enter some of them (please tell me that's the case) Sometimes though, when taking part in NaNo for instance, all that writing is just too much hard work.

Luckily there are competitions that don't ask for so much effort. This one asks for a single line of poetry. The weekly prize is a meal for four (with wine) Frankly, even I could come up with a line of poetry* in less time than it takes to cook dinner.

If that still seems like too much work, then try this competition to win a Macbook Air (trust me, you want one) You will have to type out your address so they know where to send the prize, but that's pretty much all there is to it.

If you feel up to writing a whole poem, then give Frances's competition a try.

Here's a picture of some metal pig things. They're not mine or relevant to this post in any way. I just thought they were cute.

*Not necessarily prize winning, I admit, but still ...

Can't stop

2011-11-09T18:43:00.002Z

Here's a competition for feminist writing. You don't need to be female to enter, but you do need an online presence and to write up to 200 words that mention some aspect of feminism. There's a £100 prize.

I'm not chained to the kitchen sink, but perhaps I need to affix myself to the keyboard and get caught up with my NaNo wordcount.

No sun?

2011-11-08T19:11:00.002Z

Bit Novembery isn't it? Something to do with the time of year, I suspect. Have you read Thomas Hood's November? Do look it up if not as I think it perfectly sums up the month. Here's a sunflower to cheer us up. (Not that I need cheering up)

Here's a competition from Mystery Writer's of America. You don't need to be American or mysterious to enter, but your novel must include a crime of some sort. You need to apply for the entry form within the next few days if you wish to enter. The prize is publication and an advance of $10,000 so, I think, if you're eligble, it'd be a crime not to at least consider having a go.

Something for nothing

2011-11-07T19:46:00.000Z

It really is possible to get free books and food (and for me to blog about it and still keep the blog vaguely on subject). The slight snag is it's not you that will get the freebies, instead they go to someone whose need is almost certainly greater.

Click here each day to give free books.

Play this word game to give rice to the hungry.

You can also donate your empty ink catridges to Macmillan cancer support. They get up to £2 for each one they recieve and it costs you nothing to send them in. Just email macmillan@k2supplies.com and they'll send you some prepaid envelopes.

I'm back!

2011-11-06T18:08:00.001Z

Despite the rain, our trip to Devon and Cornwall was very enjoyable. Hopefully we'll go back again in warm, sunny weather.

We stayed here* one night and I tried a megrim which is a fish caught mostly (or only?) around the Cornish coast. I do like to try the local food wherever I go, so obviously had to sample a cream tea in Devon. (The talk of food is to distract you from the fact I'm not bragging about my NaNo word count)

Anyway, back to business ... Deadink are asking for submissions. So are Thresholds, but rather than wanting you to write stories, they want you to write about them, or about the people who write them.

Finally, just because I know you've come to expect these to pop up fairly frequently, here's another chance to win a Kindle.

* Yep, we were enticed out of the van!

How do you like yours?

2011-11-05T16:42:00.001Z

Helen Baggott* likes blog links to open in a new page (and bearing this in mind I've tried to do that with the link to her post - hope it wored)

What do you think? Do you like links, like this one to try winning a snazzy diary**, to take you away from this blog and over to the other site? Or would you prefer them to be like this one, to try getting hold of five books all commemorating Guy Fawkes night, to open in a new window?

Here's something to read while you think about it.

* Who is really nice and just trying to be helpful, not bossy at all!

** OK, that's cheating a bit, but I wanted two similar links for comparison purposes and anyway, a diary is a kind of book.

Just a quick one or three

2011-11-04T20:16:00.000Z

Do check out the results of Helen's autumn mini saga competition here - you can read the 5 shortlisted entries.

Sometimes I post opportunities for you to get hold of books, so to be different here's a chance to give some away.

Finally, check this site tomorrow to read one of my stories.

It's all go

2011-11-01T16:33:00.002Z

I've started NaNo and completed today's 1,667 words. I would put in a link, but the site seems to be in meltdown due to high traffic levels, so maybe it's best to stay away for a few days.

Staying away for a few days is something I'm doing myself - we're off in the van to Devon and Cornwall. Maybe it'll give me inspiration for this travel writing competition? It will certainly help with my Nano novel as I hope to visit RHS Rosemoor and use that as a location for part of the story. I'll be taking the laptop, but leaving The Sphere family safe in the garage.

Just around midnight

2011-10-31T20:11:00.000Z

Just around midnight, I had quite a scare
I saw a strange glow, felt magic in the air
Not daring to breathe, I crept down the stair
And saw not one sphere, but two waiting there!

Write for nothing?

2011-10-30T16:02:00.000Z

There are a range of opinions on submitting work to non paying 'markets'. Some people think it's very wrong - disloyal to other writers or encouraging greedy publishers to take advantage of us perhaps. Others think it's a good plan - giving the writer a confidence boost or gaining them valuable exposure. What do you think? Would/ do you do it?

Personally, I don't think we should write for no reward at all - but the reward doesn't have to be in cash. The thrill of seeing your name in print and being able to describe yourself as a published author might mean more to you than a cheque.

It's worth taking a look at this non paying market - if only for the picture on the homepage.

All over the place.

2011-10-28T19:13:00.000+01:00

I've been wandering about on the internet (as I do when I should be writing) and found a few competitions run by bloggers. Here's one, two, three, four of them. Of course, I couldn't help stumbling over yet another chance to win a Kindle (does anyone actually buy the things?)

I've also discovered that one of my stories is in the current Woman's Weekly Fiction Special - thanks for the info, Maggie.

Yikes!

2011-10-27T17:34:00.000+01:00

Every year before hallowe'en I see pumpkins for sale and think about buying one to carve into a really scary creature. Last year Gary suggested I grow my own pumpkin - so I did. Maybe I'd better settle for carving something that's just a little bit frightening, or perhaps only mildly alarming.

Actually, I'm not sure I have the heart to cut the poor little thing. A better idea might be to win these spooky books.

Do you like ghost stories?

It's a Twister!

2011-10-26T10:56:00.001+01:00

Twist ending stories are popular - do you like them? I do, both reading and writing but they're tricky creatures to get right. If there aren't enough clues the reader will feel cheated at the end, but put in too many the reader will guess too soon and the story can fall flat. I try to write a story that doesn't rely entirely on the twist, so even if you're clever enough to work it out before the end, you hopefully won't feel you've wasted your time in reading it.

Two publications which print plenty of twist ending stories are The Weekly News and Take a Break's Fiction Feast. I have a story in the current (22nd Oct) issue of the former and the editor at the latter has just accepted another for publication. There's something chilling in the fridge to help me celebrate tonight.

As if that wasn't enough good news for one week, I've also heard that Cafelit are going to use two of my stories in their book. Take a look at the full list of contributors and you'll see that I'll be in very good company!

Bent Masses are looking for stories and epic poems that twist the seasons and will pay a bit, even for reprints. I do have something that fits that brief so might try pushing my luck a bit further.

Win a Kindle

2011-10-25T08:09:00.000+01:00

If you've been following this blog for a while you probably already know what I think* about Kindles so I won't go on and on about them not being as good as a proper book and instead I'll just give you a link to this competition so you can try and win yourself one.

*I do however agree they might well be a good present for someone.

It's nearly that time of year again ...

2011-10-23T17:37:00.000+01:00

In just over a week it'll be November, and that means it's NaNo time. November is often a cold and dreay month, so it makes sense to stay in and write (that, according to some*, is about the only part of Nano that makes sense!) Are you having a go this year?

Remember I told you about a competition where you could enter in Greek? I was shortlisted. Didn't win but I got a distinction, so my story will be published and I'll get some kind of gift. A bucket of Greek sunshine would be nice.

Talking of publication, I believe I have a story in the current issue of The Weekly News, but unfortunately I haven't yet managed to get hold of a copy. Hopefully I can put that right tomorrow.

Enough of my writing, here's a chance to win a book about myths and legends. I bet that could provide a few interesting story ideas.

*One of who is Gary. I think he's concerned it won't leave me any baking time.

Cooking up trouble

2011-10-21T15:29:00.001+01:00

It's national baking week - did you know? I made savoury bread (tomato and chilli in the centre, surrounded by onion and thyme rolls) Chelsea buns with cinnamon glaze and flapjacks (there were more of those, but they got eaten before I could set my photographer to work)

Writing's like baking bread, I think. We start with the same ingredients - words, grammar, punctuation etc. Mix 'em up, leave them to prove before knocking into shape and sending our efforts into the hot oven of the editor's desk (and she leaves them cooling on the slush pile!)

Get your writing apron on and type out a batch of cookies for the kids, try creating something rich or perhaps go in search of a bigger kitchen. If you don't want to try those writing competitions you could do some real cooking - baking week lasts until the 23rd.

And for the trouble - happy Trafalgar Day!

Understanding poetry

2011-10-20T19:50:00.001+01:00

I'm not much of a poet (as regular blog readers will have noticed). My lack of skill may be partly because I usually just don't 'get' many forms of poetry (that's the best excuse I've come up with, so you're stuck with it) That doesn't mean I don't enjoy poetry - just that I'm often baffled.

One poet I like (and whose work seems fairly comprehensible) is Pam Ayres. If you too like her work, you might like to try this competition to win a signed copy of her latest book.

If you can write poetry, then this competition is for you.As with all the competitions I blog about, it's free to enter. The prize is £150. Hmmm, cash is something I understand ... maybe I should try to get my head around rhythm and meter and all that stuff and have a bash?

If a garden was poetic, I think it might look a bit like this.

Fancy a flash?

2011-10-19T07:51:00.001+01:00

If so, this challenge might be for you. Each month, they give a new theme and asked for submissions of exactly 713 words. Winners get published and paid. I decided against posting a picture to illustrate this post.

What sort of (vaguely writing related) competitions do you like best?

Feels like summer

2011-10-16T16:28:00.000+01:00

The weather has been lovely this weekend - warmer and sunnier than most of August, from what I remember. It really is autumn though. (The flowers are colchicum, not autumn crocus, but at least they're seasonal)

Leaves are a feature of autumn - as well as being the theme for this competition. In this competition you're asked to write a Hallowe'en story (Hallowe'en is in autumn, so I'm still keeping it seasonal). And here's yet another competition, this one is for up to 100 words, using the autumnal scene on Helen's Blog as a prompt.

Remember if yer want ter win ter competition, yer gotta spring into action and enter.

What can I say?

2011-10-15T10:53:00.001+01:00

Gosh, I've had a busy few days. Some of it involved ships, drinking champagne and almost meeting Micheal Parkinson, but most of it didn't. Enough of that, on with the writing related stuff -

One of my stories has been published in Pages of Stories. You can download 'bits of pages' for free to read a taster of the stories (and also see the comments the lovely editor, Darlene Poier made about me) or susbscribe to read the whole thing. In either case, it's the Autumn 2011 edition that I'm in. Pages of Stories will be accepting submissions again in the spring and Darlene is great to write for (I'm not just saying that because my payment came through this morning)

More good news, this time from The Weekly News - a story has been accepted by Jill and will appear in the 22nd October issue. Jill tells me she's currently working through submissions, so anyone waiting for news should hear soon.

I'd better get on with entering a few of the competitions I've blogged about and look out a few more to post up tomorrow.

Save your local bookshop

2011-10-12T18:56:00.001+01:00

I think* most of us like the idea of supporting our small, local bookshops even if we find it more convenient to buy our books online. Here's how you can have it both ways.

Winning books is good too - you can try to do that here, or here for children's books. Or maybe you'd rather download an ebook for free? Here's your chance.

*Am I right, or wouldn't it worry you if the only places you could buy books was from the big chains and Amazon?

Win books

2011-10-10T23:01:00.002+01:00

Just click here to try. (Keeping it minimal today)

I'm friendly

2011-10-08T20:29:00.001+01:00

It's official - I'm a friendly blogger. Thanks to Diane for my nice smiley award (and for being a bloggie friend) It makes me feel as smiley as the little face in the centre. I like blogging and I like all the lovely people I 'meet' on my blog. You're all friendly - but saying that probably doesn't get me out of selecting a few individuals so I'm passing this award on to - JJ, Linda, Teresa, Sarah, Frances, Suzy and Kitty.

This story isn't at all friendly, but I wrote it so you've got a link anyway.

Suppose I'd better do something friendly now. I know, I'll share details of this intriguing competition. If you like, you can go on a day out to the synchrotron to get ideas for writing either flash fiction or a short story. For the best efforts there are cash prizes plus publication. The whole thing sounds so bizarre, I really think I should have a go.

Barging in

2011-10-07T13:24:00.001+01:00

My brother took us on a canal trip as his birthday treat. Dylan and his wife live on a barge. (They call it a narrow boat. I forgot to ask if there's a difference)

Here's my brother doing something technical with a lock gate while Gary supervises. I lurked on the boat taking pictures. It's a very odd feeling going up and down in the locks.

My brother let me have a go at steering. He spent a fair bit of time apologising to other canal users before extricating us from where I'd accidentally berthed in a clump of willow. Maybe he was justified in making me walk the plank after that.

It's (probably) complete coincidence that a post about my long-haired, cactus growing, boat living brother is finished of with this link to a competition for subversive images. The image can be created however you like, including literature, photography - maybe even cakes. There are cash prizes of up to £200.

It's an age thing.

2011-10-05T16:59:00.001+01:00

It was my brother's birthday yesterday, so he took Gary and I out for the day (he's nice like that) Can you guess where we went? (The picture is supposed to be a clue)

Here's a competition with a £24,000 prize fund for poets aged under 30 (that's me out on two counts, then) another competition, this time for authors over 40 (no comment) the prize is £4,000. This one is for writers over 60 and there are book tokens as prizes, with £100 for 1st. As usual, they're all free to enter.

I'm anxious not to leave anyone out, so here's somewhere for poets, including those over 30, to send their work. And here's yet another competition for non poets.

That covers everyone except non writers. So, here's a competition to win wine and another one for those who like cake. If you're not interested in writing, wine or cakes you're probably on the wrong blog (but still welcome)

What a tart

2011-10-03T17:47:00.000+01:00

No, not me. I'm engaged which is jolly nearly respectable. I'm talking about the Bakewell Tart I made (which is all Hilary's fault). It must have been OK as Gary says I should make a cake every week.

Baking isn't any easier than writing, but it's easier to know if you've got it right or not. If the cake gets eaten and nobody gets sick, then you were successful. If the cake gets left and no one accepts invitations to eat at your house ever again then you weren't.

With writing, it's harder to tell. A perfectly good story can come back in an envelope with your own handwriting on. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Talking of things which are easy, here's a simple competition to try to win books. And here's something that isn't easy or as wholesome as home made cakes, but does give those who have a bad self the chance of seeing their work in print. And here's another chance to win books - scary looking ones. Personally, I'm sticking to the book draws and feeding my bad self cake to keep her quiet.

I failed!

2011-10-02T15:19:00.000+01:00

My chosen form of procrastination today was to go out with the camera and capture a picture of something cute. I failed so badly, I even resorted to getting some writing done!

I did manage of few seasonal snaps of the garden though.

Another thing I've failed to do so far is sell a novel. Sometimes I doubt if my efforts ever make it past the slush pile and onto an editor's desk. That's partly why I intend having a go at this competition.

Anyone like to confess a failing of their own to make me feel better?

It was good news!

2011-10-01T17:28:00.000+01:00

My (im)patient wait was rewarded with the news that one of my stories has been accepted for Pages of Stories. Naturally, I'll let you know once it's published. This will be the first piece accepted in Canada, so I'm a step closer to taking over the world - mwa ha ha ha.

That wasn't my only good news today. I received the October 7th issue of Ireland's Own containing one of my stories. The story is 'Celebrate Life', I think I'll take my own advice!

If you fancy giving yourself something to celebrate then you could have a go at winning this competition. Yes, I know it's the weekend and it's hot, but they only want really short stories - 30 words or less.

Aaargh the suspense!

2011-09-30T16:05:00.002+01:00

An editor, after replying to a submission I'd sent, just mentioned she'd made the selections for the next issue and would be in touch soon. Yes, but to say what ???? If it's good news, I'll brag about it on here - if it isn't, I'll just distract you with a picture of something cute.

In the meantime, here are some tantalising details about a forthcoming competition.

Hungry for publication?

2011-09-28T20:48:00.000+01:00

If you have a novel that's ready for publication, and are currently unpublished, you might like to try this competition.

Perhaps you prefer writing shorter stories? If so, this might be more your thing. Stories need to be 100 words and the prize is £1,000. Gotta be worth a go.

Here's a picture of a wedding cake (from my brother and sister-in-law's wedding a couple of years ago) It has very little to do with this post but apparently, as a romance writer, it's OK for me to go on about weddings and other romantic stuff. Anyway, cake is always good.

What a week!

2011-09-27T21:44:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know it's only Tuesday but I've been really busy and am very tired.

There have been a couple of bits of good news. Good news is always, well, good - but especially when you feel so rushed you don't feel you're actually achieving anything. The first is that the lovely people at Woman's Weekly are increasing the number of fiction specials they produce. Hussah! And weren't we all saying we knew there was a demand for short stories?

The second is that I'm getting a bottle of wine. I know you're thinking that's not exactly breaking news and OK, I have had wine before - but this'll be the first time I've been sent some as a reward for my writing. I wrote an account of how the lovely Gary proposed while we were on holiday and Swan Hellenic have decided I deserve wine for my efforts. (Yes, I think they're lovely too!)

To win this competition, I don't think you need write anything lovely, but it will need to be graphic. The prize is £1,000.

Win more books.

2011-09-25T09:47:00.000+01:00

In this competition you have the chance to win 10 best selling novels. I wonder if they count the ones they give away in the sales figures?

If you'd rather be writing books than reading them, you might be interested in this company who're looking for writers of children's books. I don't know much about them (and even less about writing for children) but I do know some of my blog readers do write children's stories. Anyone want to 'confess' to doing that?

Or maybe you write the kind of stories that should be kept well away from innocent young minds?

E.P.L.S.

2011-09-24T11:14:00.000+01:00

It's the weekend and I actually two days off - well, nearly. As I'm taking it easy, I thought I'd let you do the same and just post up a couple of easy links. You could win a set of R.J. Elleroy's book s, a limited edition copy of 'House of Silk' or a new computer.

If you still have any energy left, you could read this postcard - or even write and submit your own.

Just in case you're still wondering about that tower, it's at Sissinghurst Castle - and worth a visit.

Tweet yourself to £20

2011-09-22T18:54:00.001+01:00

You need to be a twit to enter this competition. (Twit is the correct term for someone who tweets on twitter?)

There's a £20 book voucher prize which is pretty good for 123 characters. The winner and runners up will have their story published in an anthology.

If you're a chap rather than a chick (see what I did there?) then you might like to sign up for this newsletter and give yourself the chance to win an iPad. Personally I'm not convinced iPad's are much good for writing on, but if you've only got to bash out a couple of sentences, I expect they'd be OK.

Had a lovely time?

2011-09-21T19:04:00.000+01:00

If you've enjoyed a day out with the family, then you could write about it for this competition.

Actually, it doesn't matter if you didn't have much fun, or if you weren't travelling as part of a traditional family - as long as you weren't on your own and were in Britain, you can have a go. The prizes are good - £200, plus some goodies for first place, down to a mystery prize for the 'reader's choice award'.

You can enter more than once, but there's a fee for further entries. You can also pay for a professional critique. Some of that money goes to charity.

This is making me want to go off in the van again. Maybe I will. There are so many places in Britain that are worth visiting.

Do you recognise this tower and/or know who used to write in it?

Criticism

2011-09-20T11:09:00.002+01:00

Criticism doesn't sound like something a writer should want, but it is. It really, really is.

Very few writers can spot all their own mistakes whether they're simple typos or major plot holes - and if we don't spot them we can't fix them. I strongly believe all writers benefit from some form of crticism. This can be supplied by a group or class, a writing buddy, professional editor etc. This is something I'm trying to convince my local writing group of in a workshop I'm running tonight.

Here's a competition to win a free critique of your novel. It will be provided by Cornerstones and is worth £500. I'm definitely having a go at this one - I just need to decide which story to take the opening paragraph from.

Another thing about criticism - it's really hard to spell.

What a saga!

2011-09-18T18:19:00.001+01:00

Does your life sometimes feel like it should be the plot for a novel? Mine does - a wonderful fantasy romance! (and sometimes other genres apply) Whatever you life is like, as long as it's interesting and you don't mind sharing the details, you can try this competition. (Thanks to Suzy for telling me about it, even though I don't think I'll be entering)

It's been days since I lasted posted a Kindle competition, so here's another one of them.

The First Day

2011-09-17T18:07:00.000+01:00

A story of mine is up on Fiction 365 - not their first story (they've been ging for quite a while now) nor my first with them (this was published in May). 'The First Day' is special to me though as it's the story which inspired my first novel 'Paint Me a Picture'. I had a couple of copies printed to help with the editing and Gary designed me a cover for them. The image represents a painting done by Mavis, the mc and is off the Round Tower in Portsmouth. 'The First Day'reveals the significance of the tower.

It's not likely that agents and publishers are following this blog in the hope of discovering new books, but just in case one stumbles by accidentally I'll just mention that this is still unpublished ...

If you've written something much shorter than a novel, or even the short story mentioned above, that you'd like to see published somewhere, then you could try submitting it here.

Just getting started

2011-09-15T18:51:00.002+01:00

The Daily Mail are again running their start of novel competition. Womagwriter has the details here. There's a prize of £400 plus an Arvon course, so I'm definitely having a go.

Parking - fine?

2011-09-14T10:24:00.000+01:00

Do you remember me mentioning a competition which could be written in Greek or English and had to mention 2011? Well, the shortlist has just been announced.

I can't hold my breath for a month, so I'd better find something to distract me. This should do it - be warned it's slightly addictive. I got up to level 27 (but didn't stay there long!)