How to Do Better in Writing Competitions

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

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[@oldproji]

Here are my tips. 1. have a good story. 2. Edit, edit, and edit some more. 3. make sure there are no typos, no bad grammar, no sticky sentences, no adverbs etc. 4. make sure your file is formatted correctly. Use only Times New Roman to be on the safe side. And then, listen to the tips in this video.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Absolutely. Why risk an early exit for a typo or a badly formatted document? These tips are absolutely essential.

[@Mia-xs6cv]

I found this video super helpful, I've recently began to look into submitting some writing to online competitions and had no idea what I was doing at all haha. My first though would not have been to look into the judges and what they are looking for so thank you for bringing that up, I am sure it will help me a lot (also I really appreciate the list of competitions in the description too!).

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fantastic! I'm glad it could help. It's daunting at first for sure, but entering competitions is one of the most satisfying things I've done with writing. If you're looking for more competitions to join, check out this more recent video of mine for a good resource! Thanks for watching! kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2WTmGmdor1kecU

[@Layniacsofficial]

#6: Forget 1-5. Just stalk the competition and butter up to the person(s) reading your work lol

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That might work too 😂

[@Layniacsofficial]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting I’ll have to try that and keep you updated 😂

[@AllHomesteading]

OMG did I just say the word "marinade" at the same time you did here? LOL. But yep, entering a few competitions at the moment so these tips are a great reminder, thank you!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Great minds 😊 Thanks for watching!

[@mishashmi381]

Here from the discord group! I'm glad to meet fellow authortubers. Hi!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Hey! Thanks for coming and watching the video ☺️ glad to connect too.

[@goddessanonymous5853]

Great thanks

[@opollitico]

great video idea

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thanks! :)

[@bethany1900]

What is long listing

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

It's when you don't quite win a competition you make the longlist. Usually the top 10 entries, depending on the size of the prize.

[@BillMcSwain]

New Sub!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thanks and welcome!

[@antoniamcgregor3285]

Are they free ? Because I've done research online and quite a few of them are scams

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Oh really? That’s worrying 😬 I don’t think any I’ve entered have been scams but I suppose it would be hard to know.

[@antoniamcgregor3285]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting I'm new to this I've never written a short story I did in college but not for a competition lol but quite a few of them online were obviously american and they looked a bit iffy .... but the UK ones seemed legit I'm better off in my good ole homeland is it normal for competitions to charge you to enter or is that a red flag? I like free tbh

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Ah I see. I think a lot of small competitions charge a few pounds to enter and then use that money for prize winnings, I suppose there’s always the possibility that they’d just pocket that and fake the winners 😕 but I don’t have any suspicions about any I’ve entered. Another good resource for competitions (free ones too) is Submittable, it’s a kind of marketplace for competitions and prizes with loads of listings and it’s very searchable. There’s a membership fee for the prizes themselves which I think is steep enough to deter stuff that’s not legit. I suppose there’s always a risk, but there’s a lot of free ones out there and you can’t go wrong there ☺️

[@Zion45005]

@@antoniamcgregor3285 I feel you think most are scams simply because there is an entry fee. That is not often the case. Entry fees are usually charged in contests to pay the winnings and also to support which ever entity is hosting the contest. Lots of these entities that host the contests are non profits, so there contests, in a sense, are like fund raisers. You can also research the company putting on the contest as most likely if it's a scam they have done it before and someone somewhere online has likely spoken about their experience. So short answer is yes, it's quite common to see fees being charged to enter a contest