Great Paying Writing Competitions To Enter This Autumn
Tried your hand at the #MWC? Keep on shooting for the moon.
Did you enter the Medium Writer’s Challenge? I did and it was like chewing an oversized toffee. Tiring, sticky but oh so sweet.
Curiously, the constraints of the competition brought a different writer out of me.
The pieces I wrote showed my soft underbelly and meandered in directions I didn’t expect. For the first time, I explored how a garden once saved my life, I finally confessed to the humiliating mistakes I made at my first job, and I explored uncertainty and how it chips away at our lives if we let it.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no illusions I’ll win. The #MWC was like getting on a bus and taking your seat only to discover you’re the first stop of a hundred. By the end of the journey, the bus was rammed. There were writers crushed into the aisle, hanging out of the windows and lying spread-eagle on the roof.
But although most of our entries will fall under the radar, I can’t help but think we’re better for the experience.
Competitions are good for us.
Deadlines push us to finish what we started; prompts or other constraints such as word counts give us parameters that stop us from getting overwhelmed. And even if we’re just long- or short-listed, it’s a great addition to our writer’s bio.
We should all enter more competitions, even if we don’t think we can win.
In this spirit, we shouldn’t just hang around waiting for the results of the #MWC: we should pull back our bowstring and aim another arrow at the moon.
Here are some of the best competitions coming up this autumn, and why I think you should give them a shot.
Bath Flash Fiction Award
Why this competition?
Flash is devilish to write because every word counts, and yet it has an advantage over longer forms of fiction: it’s fast! Well, at least it’s fast to complete the first draft. If you focus, you can get several first drafts done in a single day, then return later to cherry-pick the best for editing.
The Bath Flash Fiction award could be amazing for your portfolio even if you don’t place, as 50 long-listed entrants are offered publication in their end of year print and digital anthology.
Oh, and the prize money is really good.
How to give yourself an edge
The judge this year is the formidable Sharon Telfer, so it couldn’t hurt to read some of her work (which is stunning btw). On their website, Bath Flash Fiction shares past winners and also has this to say on the genre:
In the article The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction, Robert Shapard gives some history and possible explanations for this expanding surge of interest. One suggestion is that these days, readers love to be able to read short pieces on phones, tablets and other devices, then forward them to friends.
Attempting to define what flash fiction is, Shapard includes the following metaphor by Luisa Valenzuela:
“I usually compare the novel to a mammal, be it wild as a tiger or tame as a cow; the short story to a bird or a fish; the micro-story to an insect (iridescent in the best cases).”
The comparison works for us. Writers and readers say, despite the brevity of flash fictions, the best echo long after reading. To sight an Emperor Dragonfly is a wondrous event. If we can get close to one, even for a moment while it hovers on a leaf, it’s even better — the memory, with its myriad of connections and sensory impact will stay for years.
The details
- 300-word limit
- £9 per entry
- The first prize is £1000; second, £300; third, £100. Two commendations are £30 each
- Closes Midnight GMT 10 October 2021
- Winners will be announced by 1 November 2021 on their Winners pages
Enter the Flash Fiction Award here.
Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition
Why this competition?
Okay so the prize money isn’t astronomical, but there’s something approachable about Cranked Anvil. Maybe it’s because their set-up is designed around competitions, so you can feel confident they know what they’re doing. In fact, they even won the Reedsy Best Writing Contest Award 2021.
As short stories go, this word limit is also short, so it shouldn’t take you forever to complete the first draft. They may also publish your work if it’s long- or short-listed in future anthologies, which is always a plus.
How to give yourself an edge
Helpfully, Cranked Anvil shares their past winners here. They also share tips on what, for them, makes a short story satisfying to read:
The beginning. Make sure you grab the reader’s attention immediately. You don’t have many words, so use them wisely. Make sure you establish the tone, setting and character as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Character. … make sure your characters are believable and well-rounded. This seeps into the dialogue they speak, the actions they take (or don’t take), the motivations they have. It doesn’t matter if your protagonist is a down-and-out Santa, a middle-aged man looking back over his life, or a flip-flop, make sure their character is consistent throughout.
Plot and conflict. … Give your main character a problem to face — and make it one that the reader will care about. Use your 1500 or 500 words to work towards a satisfying ending. Even pantsers can benefit from a bit of planning, and even the shortest of stories can benefit from having the three-act structure applied to them.
The title. … a carefully chosen title that really complements the story and adds a deeper degree of resonance will undoubtedly catch our judges' eyes.
The details
- 1,500-word limit
- Entry cost £5 for one, £8 for two and £10 for three
- The first prize is £150; second, £75; 3rd, £30
- Closes midnight (UK time) on 31st October 2021 (spooky)
- Winners will be notified by email no later than 6 weeks after closing
Enter the Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition here.
A Handful More Paying Competitions To Consider
- The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award: closes 30 September 2021; top prize of $1500 dollars
- F(r)iction Short Fiction Fall Contest: closes 29 October 2021; top prize of $1000 dollars
- Fiction factory Short Story Competition: closes 31 October 2021; top prize of £300
Winning would be nice, but for me, entering competitions isn’t about that—or at least not yet. For now, I use competitions as an opportunity to push myself as a writer and to keep on producing my best possible work.
Every time, I improve. Every time, I grow more confident. Every time, I enjoy the process more. And one day, I’ll win.
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