December 2018: Competition Monthly
19 December 2018
Christmas: Resting or Writing?
Christmas is fast approaching, which brings its own problems when you’re a writer, whether you’re entering competitions or writing for publishers. Most of us work at home, so naturally any routine we have may well be thrown out of the window, particularly with the arrival of our families and/or partners being off work. Maybe, like me, you’re off to someone else’s house for the festive season.
So, the problem is when to find time to write, if that’s what you want to do. I always take a notebook away with me, for when an idea strikes. I know people who use their phones, but I quite like the old pen and paper method. Sometimes, with the days being full, I’ll write when I go to bed, instead of reading. If you’re a morning person, you can always get up earlier. When I want to enter competitions with themes, I write them in my notebook so, if I don’t find time for anything else, I can scribble a mind map or two when I have a few moments.
Ultimately, just being around other people, especially my relatives, gives me all sorts of inspiration and story ideas. Or is that just my crazy family?
Whether you’re writing or taking a well earned rest over Christmas, here’s hoping you have a happy one. Good luck in all your competition endeavours in the New Year.
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Rolling competitions:
Writers’ Forum Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 1,000 to 3,000 words
Prize: £300 / £150 / £100
Closing date: Rolling
Entry: £3 subscriber / £6 non
Flash 500 Fiction Competition
Theme: Open, 500 words max
Prize: £300 / £200 / £100
Closing date: Next deadline 31 March 2019
Entry: £5 / £8 for 2
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Closing soon:
Writing Magazine Timely Topic Crime Competition
Theme: Crime, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £100 or critique
Closing date: 14 January 2019
Entry: £5
Writing Magazine Open Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £200 / £50
Closing date: 15 January 2019
Entry: £4 subscriber / £6 non
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February competitions:
Writing Magazine Dialogue Only Short Story Competition
Theme: No description, 1,500 – 1,700 words
Prize: £200 / £50
Closing date: 15 February 2019
Entry: £4 subscriber / £6 non
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March competitions:
Bridgend Writers’ Circle Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 1,500 – 1,800
Prize: £100 / £50 / £30
Closing date: 1 March 2019
Entry: £5 / £7.50 for 2
Windsor Fringe Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing
Theme: Suitable for staging in a studio theatre, one act, no more than 30 minutes long.
Prize: £500
Closing date: 5 March 2019
Entry: £10
BBC Short Story Award
Theme: Open, 8,000 words max
Prize: £15,000 / 4 x £600
Closing date: 11 March 2019
Entry: Free
Evesham Festival Short Story Competition
Theme: Open, 2,500 words max
Prize: £150
Closing date: 22 Mar 2019
Entry £5
International Rubery Book Award
Theme: For independent and self published books and ebooks, all fiction genres, all non fiction subjects
Prize: Book of the Year: £1,500 / Category winners: £150 each
Closing date: 31 March 2019
Entry: £37
Retreat West Quarterly Flash Fiction Prize
Theme: “Fire”, 500 words max
Prize: £200 / 2 x £100
Closing date: 31 March 2019
Entry: £8
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Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Winchester Writers’ Conference, Twyford Writers, Chorley & District Writer’s Circle, Retreat West, Cordelia.net, Meridian Writing, Flash a Famous Phrase, Wells Festival, and Writing Magazine. She’s had stories and a serial published in magazines worldwide. Her first book, Danger for Daisy, is due to be published by My Weekly Pocket Novels on December 27th. Apart from the RNA, she’s also a member of the Society for Women Writers and Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog along with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.
