5 Writing aggressive methods to enhance your probabilities of successful
This guest post comes from Demi LeJeune. Demi is an author of science fiction from the near and far future, mixed with a dash of thriller and lots of character. Its goal is to send readers on what-if escape adventures. Find out more on his website at demilejeune.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter (@DemiAuthor).
Fear, anticipation and self-doubt are just a few emotions that I felt during my first writing competition.
Maybe you're in the same place now. I wonder if you have a chance among the many participants. Not sure if the time and effort is worth it.
Short answer – that's it.
And that applies regardless of whether you win or lose. We'll go into that in more detail below.
I would also like to present five tips for improving your chances of winning in a writing competition. See, I won that Short Fiction Break 2020 summer writing competition with my story Dark Time. The editors at The Write Practice asked me to share strategies that I believe helped me get started.
My career as a writer is still in its infancy, so I speak from limited experience. However, I believe the resources and tips below will give you a better chance of winning the next main prize.
Would you like to take your chance to win a grand prize and put these tips to the test? Our autumn writing competition is now open!
Take part in the autumn competition
Why take part in a writing competition?
In addition to the obvious benefit of "If I win it will be great and I will get prize money", here are some other benefits that I have experienced.
These apply regardless of whether you place or not.
You will be a better writer. A short story is the perfect format to practice writing. You will experience the entire process in a short time. Rough draft, revision, criticism, polishing and publishing. For longer jobs, this trip can take months instead of days or weeks.
You will fill up your portfolio. Even if you don't win, publishing in a competition increases your credibility. When you refer readers, agents, or authors to your published work, they consider you a more legitimate writer. It's marketing for the YOU brand.
You will connect with other authors. A competition gives you an excuse to comment on the work of other authors. Since you are all in the same competition, you will likely answer. This is a new connection and a potential employee for your career as a writer.
You will experience being a writer. When you take part in a writing contest, produce a story and then submit it, you feel like a writer. It is challenging and rewarding. Short story contests are an easy way to live the writer's life.
Five strategies that worked for me
Here are some top strategies that I think helped me win the 2020 Summer Writing Contest.
1. Review short story best practices
I started reading several articles on short story best practices. This is important because you plan how to tell a great story from the start.
Keeping an eye on best practices when I came up with ideas and wrote the first draft greatly influenced the result.
Here are two incredible resources from The Write Practice. I have often referred to these articles during my writing and revision process:
How to write a short story from start to finish
10 critical mistakes authors make when writing competitions
2. Use the MICE quotient
I discussed it because it is on the verge of helpfulness or confusion. But I found it useful, maybe you will too.
It's too detailed to describe here, so I'm just referring you to the source.
Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette, moderators of the Writing Excuses podcast, gave a lecture on writing short stories. In it, they explain the MICE quotient. This is a strategy to create satisfactory stories by focusing on the type of conflict.
There is also a formula (yes, authors – MATH) that you can use to estimate your final word count. Knowing this number in advance will save you time and headaches. Especially if the story you want to tell is 5000 words and the limit is 1500.
You can find the talk on YouTube here.
3. Focus on the topic
The competition I participated in had few restrictions. A limit of only 1500 words and a topic of isolation.
In a sea of great contributions, I knew that the judges would seek an exemplary interpretation of the subject to help them make their final decisions.
I wondered how I can best get the reader to feel isolated. In my opinion, short stories are a mixture of prose and poetry. Emotional effects are one of their defining characteristics.
In my story I've tried this by overlaying many levels of isolation. My character developed from self-imposed loneliness to being alone to the potential last living person.
Wondering how to write a narrative that delivers the subject with an emotional slap in the face?
4. Spend most of the time revising
It took me two mornings to plan my story and then wrote it over two more.
I spent the next week revising.
During this revision process, the story changed greatly and shrank from over 2300 words to just under 1500.
While much of the final version lived in this first draft, heart and soul were missing. For example, the revision has helped to clarify the motivations and the character sheet of my protagonist.
Here are some specific lessons I've learned along the way.
Accept that the process will be messy. I often had no idea what to include, what to delete or what to change. I moved sections just to move them back. The revision is messy and that's fine. It helps to take a break from your design. Action blocks can be clarified just an hour away. Also try revising sections. You may not keep the changes, but at least you have something to compare the original passages with.
Listen to your gut feelings. As a new writer, I often mistrust my writing sensations. In Dark Time, my first draft had the protagonist, who was lonely and confused and spoke with his flashlight for paragraphs. It was cute and carefree. But I wanted the tone dark and tense. So even though it worked somehow, I scrapped it. If you have an instinct for your story, listen to it. You are probably right.
Carry out several polishing runs. I revised Dark Time so far that it seemed "done". Then I went on. To my surprise, a lot has changed after this point. I changed the words to be more meaningful. I have adapted others to better reflect the theme and symbolism. I have wiped out passive cases. I also eliminated most forms of verbs such as "is", "was", "were", etc. So keep polishing even after the story has worked.
5. Charge your design with criticism
Sometimes it is difficult to know if part of your story is not working. After all, you understand what you want to convey.
How do you know if you succeeded until someone NOT read it?
In my case, it turned out that I didn't always hit the mark. Sections of my story received several comments that expressed confusion. Obviously something didn't work. So if several people get stuck on part of your story, you want to revise it.
With the help of reviews, you can also find out which passages concern readers and which do not. In this way you can optimize the structure and increase the impact of your story.
For example, I found that my end didn't touch the readers emotionally. Criticism helped me find out why.
In the last scene, the protagonist fears that he will never see his family again. I hadn't mentioned them yet. Referencing his relatives earlier in history resolves the problem.
Criticism may seem scary, but it is not. The outside perspective that I got from workshopping helped me win the competition. No doubt.
Great news: if you take part in a writing competition for writing exercises, the reviews are integrated. You get six weeks of access to The Write Practice Pro, our online workshopping community where you get feedback that gives you a price. Join the competition and the community here »
Where does your story take us?
As I've grown in my career as a writer, I've found that no two authors have the exact story to tell. Your unique perspective, your voice will draw readers to you.
Short story contests are a great way to develop this voice and share it with others. This can lead to new opportunities and new readers.
So use the tips above and start with your next competition entry. Regardless of whether you get the top prize or not, you'll likely enjoy the experience and leave a better writer.
Are you ready to take part in a writing competition yourself? Our Fall Writing Contest is now open and we'd love to see you participate! It's your turn to write a story, get feedback, be published, and maybe even take home the main prize:
Take part in the autumn competition
Have you ever won a prize for your writing? What strategies did you use to write a winning piece? Let us know in the comments.
WORK OUT
For today's practice, we focus on Demi's third strategy: the focus on the topic. Here's the theme of the fall writing contest:
Limitless. What will your characters do if they are limitless?
First, take five minutes to brainstorm. What could be limitless for a story and how can you express it? Here are some questions to get you started:
- What does "limitless" mean?
- What could "limitless" mean for a person? A place? A situation? One animal? An object?
- What are some good things about "limitless"?
- What are some bad things about "limitless"?
- How does “boundless” feel?
Then take ten minutes to write a story based on the topic. You can sketch your story or write a scene.
When you're done, share your story in the comments below. This is also a great way to practice the fifth strategy and improve your story through feedback. Leave your co-writers feedback too!
And since you've made so much progress in the competition, you can enter your story to win a prize.
Guest blogger
