Month: January 2021

15
Jan
2021
FREE-ENTRY Writing Competitions Jan/Feb 2021

FREE-ENTRY Writing Competitions Jan/Feb 2021

Who doesn’t love free-entry writing competitions?

In my last post, I revealed a New Year’s resolution to enter more writing competitions. If that’s also your resolution for 2021, I want to help by sharing some comps for you to have a go at. All the contests in the list are free-entry writing competitions with deadlines this month and next. Prizes vary, but I’ve tried to only include the ones with cash prizes, or that publish in an established journal.

And just a quick note, I’m definitely not against writing comps who charge fees to enter. There’s lots of reasons why they might want/need to, usually because of the work involved in judging the huge volume of entries, and to generate prize money.

The problem is, you often end up spending a chunk of money to send your work into the void and never hear back. With free-entry writing competitions at least it costs you nothing, you can think of them as writing exercises, and you have the piece to try to sell at the end of the day.

Right, I’m off to pen some entries. Who’s with me? Drop a comment below if you’re entering any comps and, of course, let me know how you get on. Happy writing!

Free-Entry Writing Competitions

Competition

Reedsy’s Weekly Writing Prompts – Write a short story of 1000-3000 words. Theme: Snow Day. Email entry. A weekly competition, with a new theme and prompts each time.

Prize

$50 plus online publication

Deadline

Current comp: 23.59 22nd Jan

The Book Collector Short Story Competition – Write a max 1000 word piece on a ‘fantasy banquet for book lovers!’ Your characters can be alive or dead, real or fictional, from any period. Email entry.

£500 cash plus publication

22nd Jan

Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition – Write a short story for adults of no more than 2000 words. No theme. Email entry.

Writer’s course plus publication

Midnight 12th Feb

National Flash Fiction Day 2021 – Write up to three microfiction pieces of max 100 words each. No theme. Email entry. There is free entry for writers who would find the entry fee a barrier.

£150/£100/£50 cash for 1st/2nd/3rd plus publication and free copy of anthology

15th Feb

Nonsense Writing Challenge – Pen a nonsense tale of max 200 words. No theme. Email entry.

Online publication

Ongoing

If you’re enjoying my website, please subscribe to my email list, it’s FREE! You’ll receive an exclusive e-copy of my BBC radio-broadcasted short story, ‘One February Night’, absolutely free (normally £4.99 from Amazon as part of an anthology). There will be no spam, I promise you, I detest it! You’ll only receive emails personally written by me, that let you know about new fiction and blog posts on the site, and contain extras like writing news and top tips. You’ll also be first in line to receive offers on free and discounted books and stories of mine.

Posted by Rachel in Blog, 0 comments
02
Jan
2021
Happy New Year Writers!

Happy New Year Writers!

Happy 2021, fellow writers! Here’s hoping this year brings a better outlook for everyone. I want to talk about writing-based New Year’s resolutions today, and there’s an offer at the end of this post for those of you who need help sticking to them!

New Year’s resolutions anyone?

Okay, I’ll go first. Whatever happens this year, I’ve decided to concentrate on entering more competitions, specifically, I’m aiming for one a month. In addition, I’m resolving to… finish my novel! There, I’ve said it! On the internet!

Seriously, I think accountability is vital to success in writing. This doesn’t have to be accountability to other people. If you prefer, you can set yourself private deadlines for each section of your novel or project. The only problem is that self-regulated deadlines are MUCH easier to let slide than ones that involve real external human beings!

My advice, for what it’s worth, is to tell someone that you are going to write/finish your novel or project. Explain that you need them to keep you honest. Make sure they’re someone you are comfortable sending your work to (in all its first draft glory!). And pick someone you can rely on to keep reading the extracts you send. They don’t have to help you write or edit it, they just have to be a reader, a receiver of your words, someone who holds you accountable for producing your next chapter by an agreed date.

Let me be your accountability!

What are YOUR New Year’s writing resolutions? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you want to achieve in 2021. If you need an accountability friend, someone to check up on you, and remind you of your writing goals, just follow my blog and let me know in the comments below, and I’ll be delighted to be that for you. For nothing. Just to help you get writing and KEEP writing! By the way, this offer is not time-limited, so if you’re reading this in April, or October or whenever, you can still get in touch and get my help with your writing this year. Happy writing!

If you’re enjoying my website, please subscribe to my email list, it’s FREE! You’ll receive an exclusive e-copy of my BBC radio-broadcasted short story, ‘One February Night’, absolutely free (normally £4.99 from Amazon as part of an anthology). There will be no spam, I promise you, I detest it! You’ll only receive emails personally written by me, that let you know about new fiction and blog posts on the site, and contain extras like writing news and top tips. You’ll also be first in line to receive offers on free and discounted books and stories of mine.

Posted by Rachel in Blog, 0 comments