How many times have you stared at a blank document, unable to pour out the words inside you? It’s common to struggle with consistency in your practice of writing. After all, writing is a difficult task, and especially so when you do it in a vacuum. Luckily, there’s a way out: writing contests.
Writing contests can connect you with a larger writing community and show you the various ways in which those around you are writing. These contests also provide the three things you need to write regularly: inspiration, motivation and dedication.
These competitions challenge you to think in newer ways, which also makes you write in newer ways. If the contest provides a theme, there is an added benefit of getting inspired about topics you otherwise wouldn’t have approached. Most often, these contests offer publication to not just the winners but also other commendable writers. So, at the very least, you stand to gain a free publication, if not the prize itself! You can get feedback from the judges and expand your audience by engaging in this communal experience of writing.
If nothing else, writing contests give you a final push in the form of deadlines, so that you’re forced to sit down and finish that draft before it has to be sent off!
As editors who love to see your literary careers flourish, we try to bring you resources that can help you grow. Starting this month, we’ve decided to keep you focused with a monthly list of upcoming writing competitions! Whether it is poetry you write, or short stories or essays, we’ve got you covered with the following contests happening next month:
Short Story Contests
The 29th Annual SiWC Writing Contest
This contest is held by the Surrey International Writing Conference, the most comprehensive of its kind in Canada. The word limit is 2500–4000.
Prizes: First prize $1000, honorable mention $150
Entry Fee: $15
Closing date: 17th September 2021
Mslexia Women’s Fiction Competition 2021
This contest is exclusive to women and there are three categories: Novel, Short…
