Tuesday, November 17, 2015

COMPETITION MONTHLY

That time of the month has arrived again and we welcome Francesca Burgess back to the blog to give us details of more writing competitions.

The nights are drawing in, National Novel Writing Month is in full swing for many, and it's time to get one's head down before the Christmas season robs us of precious writing time.

Included this month is a flash fiction competition. They're good if you've only got a bit of time to write something different, but don't be fooled into thinking they're easier because they're shorter: it takes skill to encapsulate a whole story into so few words. I always start off with something too long, editing over and over, cutting away those extraneous words until the story is finally under the word count. It's amazing how much it hurts, but invariably the end result is better.

Francesca


Flash 500
Short fiction up to 500 words.
Prizes: £300, £200, £100.
Competition deadline:  31 December 2015 (and at the end of every quarter).
Entry £5/£8 for 2.

Spotlight First Novel Competition
One page synopsis and the first page of an unpublished novel.
Prize: Stage One Mentoring package for novel of up to 550 pages/170,000 - full manuscript appraisal, development strategy, two consultations. C
Competition deadline:14 February 2016.
Entry £16.

Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2016 Short Story Competition
Theme of 'Aging', up to 2,000 words.
Prize: £500 plus a place on an Arvon writing course of your choice.
Competition deadline: 15 February 2016.
Entry: Free.

Nottingham Writers' Club National Short Story Competition
Theme of 'Fire', up to 2,000 words.
Prize: £200, £100, £50.
Competition deadline: entries to be submitted between 1 and 29 February 2016.
Entry: £5 (post) £6 (online).
Competition link

Flash 500 Short Story Competition: Open Theme, 1,000 to 3,000 words. Prizes: £500, £200, £100. C/D 29th Feb 2016. Entry £7/£12 for 2.
Competition link

Thank you, Francesca, and good luck to everyone entering the above competitions.
Do you know of any competitions being announced in 2016? Please let us know so we can share details.

Would you like to write for the RNA blog? Contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com



4 comments:

Gabrielle said...

What an excellent resource. Thanks a lot to Francesca and to the RNA for this.

Francesca Capaldi said...

Glad it's of use to you, Gabrielle.

Francesca Capaldi said...

Sorry, but I've made a mistake with the Dundee novel comp, which in fact isn't open yet. Hoping to have this rectified shortly.

Natalie Kleinman said...

The Dundee novel comp has now been replaced by a Flash 500 Open Theme short story competition