Short Story Writing Contests
We already know that the best way to become a better writer is to write. And keep writing, even when you feel like you're doing terribly. Because before you know it, you'll look back and realize that you've improved.
That's part of the reason why, when writing your first novel, the first few chapters will usually be rewritten again and again as time goes by--because you feel like you need to change it as your writing improves.
But what if there was a way you could improve your writing alongside your novel? A way to express your creativity in other places, and get better, faster results? (man this is starting to sound like a commercial)
This is where short story writing contests come in!
There are tons of them, yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily, available to enter online for people of all ages and backgrounds. Some are free to enter, some are not. Some offer prizes, some don't. But either way there will always be rewards, because the more you write the better you'll be at writing.
Of course, you don't need to enter contests in order to improve. If you're happy with writing short stories for yourself, or even simply continuing with a novel, that's perfectly fine. I'm only recommending contests because not only are they good practice, but you can almost always get feedback on your writing from judges or fellow writers. And as I've mentioned before, outside opinions on your writing can be crucial to your growth as a young writer.
So what if you would like to enter a short story writing contest? Don't they often have limits on how many pages you write? I know it was--and still is--hard for me to write a proper beginning, middle and end to my story in only 5 pages. And 5 pages isn't always the limit. In most contests I've encountered, the limit is 2 and a half.
The important thing to keep in mind is that writing a short story's plot and characters isn't much different at all then in a novel. You just have to make everything more condensed. Since you have less time, every moment should shift the story's plot in a big way. In this case, then, starting the story with the inciting incident is absolutely necessary. Backstory will also have to be minimized or even excluded.
Here's an article giving you more details on how to write an amazing short story:
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-a-short-story/
And here are the links for a few sites you can go to find contests to enter:
Wattpad - #JustWriteIt
https://www.wattpad.com/story/96033550-justwriteit-prompts
Free-Writing-Contests.com
http://free-writing-contests.com/
Reedsy Blog
https://blog.reedsy.com/writing-contests/
I hope reading this helped you!
Just a little sidenote, next week's blog post will be cutting it a bit close. I'll be playing with my team on a tournament next weekend. So either I'll write when I get back, or I'll try and get a friend to schedule a pre-written article for me.
But anyways, thanks for reading! Have a great rest of the week, everyone!
