Free entry competition newsI think I may have mentioned this short story competition from Croydon Writers before, but as there's still plenty of time to enter and £100 prize, I thought it wouldn't hurt to include it again. Thanks to Fiona for reminding me about it - and thanks for everyone who is on the look out for competitions, news and opportunities to pass on for the blog.
Ever taken a break from writing and then found it difficult to get started again? Or wanted to get on with writing, but struggled to find a couple of free hours of peace without interruptions?
Yeah, me too. The answer is to get used to writing regularly. Not necessarily every single day, but at least a couple of times a week, even if it's just for a few minutes. At first it might seem like you're not getting very far, but trust me, you WILL make progress. I wrote my first two novels (Paint Me A Picture and Escape To The Country) mostly in tea breaks at work and on trains going to meetings. Now a great deal of my writing is done in the van at photographic locations, waiting for the right light. I might have hours to write, or have to stop before the laptop has booted up. I'm not saying that's ideal, but you definitely can learn to work that way.
To get into the habit of writing in spare moments, how about trying short exercises every day? My book A Year Of Ideas; 365 sets of writing prompts and exercises, has suitable exercises for every day of the year - plus prompts and suggestions for turning them into a longer piece if work if you get the time.
If you'd like to contribute a tip to this blog, here's what to do
As always, feel free to use my photos as writing prompts. If you prefer words to images for that purpose, take a look here.
Free entry competition news
Thanks to Alyson Hilbourne for sending me the details of this flash fiction competition from Green Stories - it's good to know they're still going. They want stories under 500 words on the theme of epiphanies. The first prize is £300, with seven runner up prizes of £100!
The BCSA are running a competition for up to 2,000 words of prose. There's an optional theme of 'liberation' and other compulsory criteria. First prize is £400.
From Liz - The June issue of The Simple Things is asking for readers to submit microfiction (300 words). There's no money or prize (that I can see), but the best submissions will be published in next June's issue of The Simple Things. See the mag for more details. The Simple Things is a great mag that includes a commissioned short story in every issue. They're more literary than in the womags, but I've really enjoyed several of them.
This competition is run by the Scottish Mental Health Festival, but is open to all. They want fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction on the theme of 'comfort & disturb'. Shortlisted entrants will be invited to read at the awards ceremony (pretty sure that will be optional). The shortlisted and winning pieces of writing will also be published in an illustrated print and digital book.
Thanks to Marguerite for this short story competition. The theme is heat wave and there's just a couple of weeks left to get your entry in and possibly win an Amazon voucher.
Thanks to Alyson for this short story competition with £100 prize.
Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for the info that Scribble magazine have writing competitions which are free to enter for their subscribers, and that The Oldie magazine have a regular free poetry competition with a £25 prize.
