How To Win Short Story Contests And Earn More Dollars

Many people win writing awards and gain a large hard cash income, year after year. How do they do it? They really know what judges of writing competitions look for.
Just about all writing award schemes, if well judged, will have rigorous conditions for comparing entries. Many competitions publish their criteria, a few don’t. But if they don’t, how do you know what judges are seeking?
Here are the three most crucial points that contest judges generally look for at the start.
Bear in mind: all judges are individuals, as are literary agents and publishers’ readers. An entry that wafts one judge into a rhapsody of incoherent delight will leave another cold. That’s exactly why a respectable contest will have a rating scheme set up.
A system is necessary – not so much in detecting an outright winner (the quality of a superb entry typically speaks for itself), but in helping to make fine decisions between, for example, the winner of a third award and a secondary award. (It also lessens the chance of judges coming to blows.)
Listed here is a standard points system.
A ‘perfect’ story will often have a total score of 30 points. The top three prize winners commonly rate in the range of 25-30 points while the ten near-top winners typically fall into the 20-25 points bracket.
True, there is still room for private judgement. Each judge will award somewhat different – occasionally completely different – points in each category. That’s precisely why a story that flops in a single competition could go on to gain first prize in another. It’s also why, if you feel your tale is great, you should keep on posting – and strengthening it!
1. How well does the story mirror the theme, category or author requirements of the competition?
Not all contests are given a theme. If the organizers ask merely for short fiction of any type whatever, this category of assessment is inappropriate. But watch out for a competition that has no conditions and terms. Maybe it lacks discrimination in some other aspects too? 🙂 Normally the rules for theme, genre and/or contestant, etc, are clearly stated.
It will go without saying that you should not enter, for example, an emphatically ‘Christmas’ story using a ‘summer holiday topic, or a poem, play or crime thriller to a children’s story competition – or an entry to a competition intended to recognize Afro-Caribbean writers if you can’t, by any stretch of the mind, call yourself an Afro-Caribbean.
If it goes without saying, why say it? Simply because, as numerous contest promoters can tell you: people don’t always read the restrictions. Many entries are excluded from writing award schemes simply because they ignored the rules.
Total possible points: 10
2. Does the entry engage the reader on an emotional level all the way through?
Many stories are remarkably clever. They dance with ingenuity, humor or wordplay. Nonetheless they tend not to impress the judges. They’re cerebral exercises.
The characters in such stories are cardboard or the concepts trivial or the narrative is thin. In the end the reader no longer worries how the tale ends up. It requires enormous craft skill to make the reader care about figures and situations that are wholly fabricated.
Total possible points: 10
3. Is the entry original in its approach?
Of course, take a well known storyline or concept. There have been only a few dozen of them conceived since the dawn of mankind so you’re unlikely to invent a new one. But do something fresh with them!
The jilted sweetheart who plots a vicious payback on his/her faithless spouse goes back to the story of Medea. But (I hear you ask) surely we could execute a new slant? We could possibly have the spurned lover conceal his/her murder victim in a car port freezer – just for the new lover, aghast, to stumble upon it. Couldn’t we? Not a chance. That’s simply a reprise of Bluebeard’s closet.
Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with reprising the concept of Bluebeard’s closet, provided you hide it by using a highly original twist!
Total possible points: 10
These are simply the top three factors that judges will use. Normally, they have many more. A more sophisticated scheme of requirements might comprise 100 points or more, and look at a number of other elements.
Yet, if your writing is great – and you get just the first three factors right every time – you’re well on your way to gaining a five figure spare-time salary from writing awards, every single year. It’s a win-win profit scheme!