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Think of this as a letters page. All published contributions will be paid for at £2 per contribution..Only those who have entered an Emerald comp in 2010, 2011 or 2012 are entitled to contribute. You can send your item by post on its own or with a comp entry. Or via email (in the body of an email) to edwardjohnwalsh@hotmail.com. Put Emerald Forum in subject box as failure to do so may mean it will not be opened. No cover sheet needed. Please put your contact details on same sheet. I am particularly interested in receiving items about entering writing comps, especially your experiences. No word limit but I will cut it if it is too long.
HAVE I WON? by S. Bee
Writing comps. Mostly fun, sometimes a chore.
Theme - open theme, how many words,closing dates. Free or not? Not free? How much? You must be joking! So I flick through my back catalogue( mostly rejected magazine stoies). Would this one fit? No - it's too long. No, this one's too short. Can I chop and change it? Is it worth faffling about with? Yes, spend ages getting it right. Shoulders and neck ache, fingers drum on keyboard. Never off the PC, never away from the home office.
The cat calls in, he's hungry, wants feeding. He's not the only one. Hubby calls upstairs, "Tea's ready!" He's spent all afternoon in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. I eat, then gallop; back. Poor hubby has to wash up, dry up and put dishes away.
I'm a thing possessed. A beautiful, glorious sunset appears behind me at the window, yet I don't notice it. At last I'm finished. Yes, this is the best I can make it. Send it off and wait.
It's not the prize I'm bothered about - just the recognition that my entry is halfway decent. I want to say "I got somewhere in a writing comp." Shove it on my CV under hobbies & interests. An achievement filled with pride. Eventually, the winner and runners up are revealed. Have I won? Have I been shortlisted? No and no.
I read the winning entry and the shortlisted stpries. To me they're drivel. The judges obviously don't think so. I must be doing something wrong. Wrong tone, wrong style, not enough plot, too much plot?
This situation has got to change. So I'm going to run my very own short story comp. And this time I'll do all the picking and choosing. Because I'll be the one and only judge!
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COMP THEMES by Sally Jenkins
What's the best way to tackle a short story competition with a given theme, title or subject? Don't use the first idea that comes into your head because it will be the same idea that everyone else has. The winning story will have an unique or, at least, unusual angle on the selected topic.
So spend some time brainstorming. Make a list of everything associated with the theme. Write down phrases, characters, places, and anything else( however bizarre) triggered by the set subject. then base your story on the most obscure of these ideas.
If you can inject some humour into your take as well you could be on to a winner - competition judges are always complaining about too many dark and miserable submissions.
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WRITER'S BLOCK by Patricia Maw
For me, entering competitions has been a way of trying to overcome Writer's Block. Actually, I'm lying. I've only entered one comp(Emerald Workshops Airport Story) and I was delighted to be shortlisted. It's given me the kick up the proverbial that I desperately need and the fact that it's really cheap to enter is another plus.
I used to(many moons ago) write and, occasionally, sell short stories. Then I started a novel, got to chapter four and haven't written anything new for longer than I care to admit. I do admire other writers who can hold down a full-time job, look after a family and still find time to write and it makes me feel very guilty that I have loads of free time and seem to waste it playing stupid computer games!
So, thank you, Eddie and keep up the good work. I'm delighted I discovered your very helpful site.
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BEHIND THE T's and C's by Marion Clarke
Sometimes it can pay to discover the motivation behind a particular writing comp, e.g., if it is for marketing or promotional purposes. The first short story comp I ever entered was when I spotted the details on my local Education and Library Board website. I originally downloaded the EF for my son to enter(which he never did) but one sleepless night I decided to have a go at producing something myself.
Before I got started, I did a bit of internet research and discovered that the library board concerned was handing over the management of public libraries to a new organisation(this is in N. Ireland). As their swan song, the board would be publishing an anthology of the winners in the various short story categories. The theme of the comp was MY LIBRARY so I decided to treat it as a PR exercise and show how libraries had played a big part in my life.
I wrote a memoir-type account about all the different libraries I had been a member of including the one in school and the french uni I attended. I ended the piece by coming full circle back to my local library and told how my children now enjoy choosing a book to take home as much as I did as a child.
To be honest, it wasn't a very well written story when I looked back at it, but it was exactly what was required for that particular comp as it was what the organisation wanted to know. I was delighted whey they informed me that I'd won the overall prize and received a cheque from the local mayor for £300!
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FLASHING IS FUN by Tracy Fells
Have you tried Flashing? Flash Fiction that is. If you write short stories for comps, mags or purely for the hell of it then have a go at writing a Flash story. FF can be anything from 1,000 words down to 154 characters.
(check out www.txtlit.co.uk) but most seem to be 500 words. There are a multitude of comps on the internet(inc Emerald) offering a good return on entry fee for a small word count. On Writer's Toolkit(www.writers-toolkit.co.uk) I won £50 for 150 words=33p per word. If only I could sustain that rate of payment! Even the major literary comps, such as Bridport and Fish, now have a FF category with significant prize money to be won. Writng a Flash story is excellent training for constructing the bigger tales. It teaches you discipline, to write to a specific word count, to focus on the bones of a story. The best Flashes can linger in your head for months. Humour works well in FF. A funny story will often push itself to the top of the shortlist as Sally Jenkins wrote(Comp Themes), so witty writing is a good skill to develop making your fiction stand out from the crowd. If you're an adrenaline junkie try the weekly comp at www.write-invite.com No word limit but you only have 30 minutes to write and submit a story in a regular saturday slot.
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REUSING AN IDEA by Eddie Walsh
I recently went into my local library and saw a sign on the empty magazine rack. Magazines no longer stocked by Derbyshire Libraries to save money. I wrote up four differemt versions of this development. I sent one to a monthly writing mag for its letters page which has not used it. I sent another to a local newsletter which published it as a letter and I sent a version to www.writing.ie which published it. The fourth one I sent to the Derby Telegraph newspaper which contained just 31 words and they published it as Letter Of The Week and won a fifty quid gift voucher for use in a Derby department store. So look out for local bits of news and get them sent off before anyone else does. Even if your local rag does not pay for letters it is still good practice and a useful training ground.
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EMBARRASSING MOMENTS by Susan Jones
It pays to keep a notebook and pen handy at all times. A while ago, the car was in for a tyre change. Sitting in the waiting room, I noticed a BELLA magazine amongst the mags on the table. On flicking through the pages, I noticed a section called Blush With Bella which offered £50 for an embarrassing situation. Now as I have a long list of those, I jotted down the address and wrote my letter when I got home. It was in the opticians, I didn't wear glasses at the time, but went in for a routine eye test. Choosing the frames I liked while I waited, I stood up and announced to the receptionist: "These are wonderful, I can see clearly in these." Looking disgustedly at me, she sniffed: "Well you don't need glasses then, there's no lenses in them." Next thing I know, a cheque for £50 landed on my mat. I didn't see my letter in print, but someone told me they'd seen it. THAT'S LIFE magazine also pays £25 for embarrassing moments. Yes, you've guessed it, I've had two in there. So, even if you are a bit of a nit like me and make some bloopers along the way, - write them down and get paid.
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