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Writing Words - writing it is the only way of getting it written
My biggest challenge with writing at the moment is six months (and a bit) old and has recently taken to decorating the kitchen floor with soggy rice cakes. I thought maternity leave would be fab and I'd have lots of time for writing. Now don't get me wrong, maternity leave is fab but there's not much time for writing. Not much at all. And, to be honest, I'm a bit rubbish at using the little time I have at the moment. I write when I have to (and I have to a lot this month), but I dread to think about what will happen come July. Three long, deadline-free months, and before I know it it's October and I've not written a thing. Not an ideal scenario. I must not let that happen.
That's where the Urban Writers' Retreat Writing Bootcamp comes in. It's designed to get people writing (again), and it's just what I need to make the transition from having to write for uni to writing for the sake of it. Who knows, I might find the time to post here once a week again.
(I was going to post about the bootcamp anyway, and now I might even win a place for writing about it. Bonus!)
I've read about Fortitude here and there in the last few weeks but up until now I was sceptical. Until I found out today that they actually charge a membership fee for writers who want to join them. The fee is $23.88 for a year, so it isn't really much but it will scare off the scammers. Especially when you consider that (they say) they pay a minimum of $10 for each submission that is published on their front page.
Thing is, they aren't just looking for news-style articles or how-to articles. They look for any form of writing: opinion pieces, essays, poems and short stories are just as welcome. Now that is really interesting - finally a content website for fiction writers.
I'm not sure if it's worth posting fiction on Fortitude or not, but I'm willing to give it a try. I'm embarking on a fiction experiment with Fortitude. Results will be published here, of course.
If you are curious and want to conduct your own experiment, click on my Fortitude referral link to sign up.
I wrote a blog post on short story competitions in January, all of which are over by now. Here is a list with upcoming competitions for the remainder of 2010:
Competitions with Deadlines
Guildford Book Festival 2010 Short Story Competition: deadline 31st of July; open theme but story should "inspire and uplift readers to make the most of their days and their lives"; max. 7,000 words; entry fee £5, only one story submission per author; prize: your story will be turned into an iPhone app and will be made available through the iTunes store
HISSAC Short Story Competition: deadline 31st of July; open theme; max. 2,500 words; entry fee £5 for one story or £12 for three submissions; prize: £400 for the winner and £50 each for the second and third place
WOW! Summer 2010 Flash Fiction Contest: deadline 31st of August; open theme; between 250 and 750 words; entry fee $10; prize: $250 for the winner, $150 for the runner-up, $100 for third place plus a lot of other stuff for the 10 best submissions plus 15 honourable mentions (check the website for the full list)
Words With Jam First Annual Short Story Competition: deadline 31st of August; max. 2,500 words; entry fee £6 for one story or £10 for two; prize: £300 for the winner, £100 for the runner-up and £50 for third place plus publication in the December issue of Words With Jam
Leaf Books Micro-Fiction Competition: deadline 30th of September; open theme; max. 300 words; entry fee £3 for one submission or £10 for four; prize: £150 plus publication in Leaf Writers' Magazine and an anthology, further entries may be published in the anthology but there is no cash prize
Leaf books run a number of other writing competitions as well, among them Write About Writing (deadline 15th of July) and a Postcard and Short Travel Writing Competition (deadline 31st of August).
Flashback Fiction Competition: deadline 31st of October; theme: bring the past to life; max. 500 words; prize: £100 for the winner and £50 for the runner-up
Short Story Radio Romance Award 2011: deadline 15th or November; engaging and entertaining romance story; max. 4,000 words; entry fee £7; prize: £50 plus recording and broadcast of story on Short Story Radio website and podcast
Words Magazine Short Story Competition: deadline 31st of December; open theme; max. 2,000 words; no entry fee; prize: £100
Monthly competitions
Cazart Writing Competitions 2010: closing date is the 26th of the month; open theme; max. 400 words for flash fiction and 400 - 3,000 words for short story submissions; entry fee £3, you can enter as many as you like; prize: dependant on the number of entries that month - the more submissions, the higher the prize money - plus publication on their website for two months
Global Short Story Competition: open theme; max. 2,000 words; entry fee £5 per submission (up to four per month); prize: £100 for the winner and £25 for the runner-up
Whidbey Student Choice Contest: open theme; max 1,000 words; prize: $50
This is my personal selection of upcoming short story competitions. If you know of any others that you think I should mention or if you run one, please leave a link to the competition in the comments. If I like it, I'll include it.
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