I realize that this blog seems to be geared more towards fiction writers than poets and non-fiction writers, so I decided to talk about a writing contest specifically for poets. This contest is the Poetry Awards by Writer’s Digest. If you’ve a poetic mind and an active pen, please read on!
This contest is not much different from the other Writer’s Digest competitions I’ve discussed; this time it’s just for poetry.
Here are the basics:
Poems can be of any form but must be 32 lines or less
Early bird deadline is October 2, 2017
Normal deadline is November 6, 2017
Early bird entry fee is $15 for the first entry and $10 for subsequent entries; normal deadline entry fee is $20 for the first entry and $15 for subsequent entries
Prizes are given for first through twenty-fifth place winners
First place gets $1,000 in cash, a 20-minute consultation with Poet’s Market editor Robert Brewer, a copy of the 2018 Poet’s Market, and their poem published in the July/August 2018 edition of Writer’s Digest
If you’ve any unpublished poetry you’d like to share, I highly recommend trying this contest. Good luck to all who enter!
Know of any contests in fiction, poetry, or non-fiction with upcoming deadlines? Share the love and post them in the comments below, or email me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com so I can share it in a post on this blog.
Happy Friday, everyone! This week started out pretty stressful for me but now I can kick back and relax for a little while (until boredom seeps in and I go through the “I want to do something but I’m too tired” struggle). With the summer solstice just around the corner–and my birthday!–I’ve decided to base today’s writing prompt on Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day”.
This classic piece by the ingenious Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite science fiction short stories. It’s good, old-school science fiction which we’d now see as an amusing–albeit a bit depressing–fantasy, considering what we’ve learned about our galaxy. I won’t tell you much since I don’t want to give anything away but I’ll focus on the element of the story which is important to this prompt.
“All Summer in a Day” takes place in a colony on Venus (like I said, more fantasy than science fiction nowadays considering what we know about Venus). In this story, Venus is bombarded by constant rainstorms and the sun only shows for one hour once every seven years. You can read the story in its entirety here.
Today’s prompt is based on this concept. As usual, the prompt is pretty straightforward:
Imagine that, as in “All Summer in Day”, you only got to see the sun for one hour once every seven years. What would you do? How would your disposition change? Would you be scared of the sun, even understand what it is? What would you do if someone deprived you of that hour of sun?
The reason for the sun’s cycle can be due to the planet you’re on, a curse put on you or your society or the world, some new form of incarceration, etc. Be as creative as you want. The important thing is to focus on how it would affect you as a human.
Jot down whatever comes into your head as you contemplate this scenario. Spend about five minutes on this. When you’re done, turn your notes into a short story or poem. (Try to not come too close to Bradbury’s story!) You can make it science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, whatever you feel fits your notes.
I know that this idea may seem like a stretch of the imagination but that’s the point. This exercise will make you think about yourself and your relationship with your surroundings in new ways. You may also walk away with a new appreciation for the simpler things in life (although I personally still hate the sun when it’s 100+ degrees outside).
In middle school, one of my Literature teachers assigned us the aptly-titled No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman. It’s been many years since I last read this book and yet it has stuck with me. One reason is the overall quality of the book. It has a wide range of dynamic characters, the plot is engaging, and the narrative voices (it switches perspectives most chapters) are absolutely hilarious. The other reason has more to do with a thread in the book which always appears in the title: dogs dying in “classic” literature. As a dog lover, I can emphatically agree with “no more dead dogs.”
I understand why the “dead dogs” trope is used so frequently. It tugs on the readers’ hearts, provides an opportunity for character development, comments on the cruelty of mankind, etc. Nevertheless, I’m more than a bit tired of it. Old Yeller, Sounder, and Where the Red Fern Grows are just some of the many examples out there. More recently, A Dog’s Purpose follows the journey of a dog’s soul through multiple lifetimes, so of course a dog dies! Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed Where the Red Fern Grows and I cried during Old Yeller, but that doesn’t mean I want to anticipate it every time a book or movie features a dog.
Today’s writing prompt is about breaking that mold. Simply put, I want you to write a short story, poem, personal essay, whatever about a dog or which prominently features the dog. In this piece the dog cannot die. Obviously all dogs die eventually. For this prompt, you cannot depict or allude to the dog’s death in your work.
It may not seem that difficult but this trope exists for a reason. It’s the easiest way to utilize a dog as a character, and it takes some real thought to give them a different plot line.
If you come up with something that you think has promise, please feel free to share it in the comments. I would love to read some good fiction, poetry, or even non-fiction in which the dog does not die.
We’re in for a long weekend, folks, at least in the U.S. Yup, it’s Memorial Day Weekend. Now, I’m sure that everyone will be busy with BBQs and picnics and other fun ways of soaking in the glory of a three-day weekend. However, it’s also important for my American readers and I to remember that this holiday is meant to honor those soldiers who died in service. That’s why I’m going to present you with two writing prompts today.
The first prompt is a popular one for developing dialogue. What you do is go sit in a public place, particularly one where people are talking, and eavesdrop. Whatever snippets of dialogue–or entire conversations–you hear, write it down. I would suggest doing this for about twenty minutes to half an hour. This may seem like a long time but you’ll be more likely to get good chunks of conversations that way.
After finishing that part of the exercise, go to your usual writing space and create at least one scene or poem out of the dialogue you recorded. It can lead to longer pieces like a full story, book, or multiple poems, but you should at least write one scene or one poem utilizing all the dialogue you noted. Get creative with it. Try not to just record what you saw the people doing; in fact, try to ignore any visuals when you initially make notes on the dialogue. That way you’ll be forced to create entire characters, settings, and actions for the dialogue. You’d be surprised at what you may come up with. I once did this exercise for a writing course at a Stanford summer program; the conversation I overheard was two guys sitting at a table in the dining hall and talking about how one broke his leg, but I ended up with a scene in which two men were hunting a bear.
Whether you’re an American celebrating Memorial Day, a Muslim observing Ramadan, someone just having an ordinary weekend, or any combination of the above, this first exercise should be easy enough to do. Just plop on a bench at a BBQ, listen to your family’s everyday conversation, spy from a park bench, whatever you want.
The second exercise is intended for Americans celebrating Memorial Day but it’s generic enough that anyone can do it. I just want you to write something honoring someone who has fallen in combat. A scene, short story, poem, essay, letter, blog or Facebook post, anything that honors the people who have died fighting for your country. It can be funny, sad, bitter-sweet, uplifting, a tale of hope, a plea for world peace, etc. I just don’t want my American readers to forget the origins of Memorial Day amidst the BBQs and drinking.
However, I think that people of all nationalities can benefit from this exercise. No matter your position on war, war is currently a worldwide reality. It’s influenced many writers’ works and, as uncomfortable as it is, the subject is a rich field for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Read about it, write about it, explore it. You may find that soldiers and combat best convey your message.
Be sure to share your experiences with these exercises below.
Have any ideas for future Friday Fun-Day writing prompts? Drop a line in the comments or contact me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
Well, it’s the weekend again. I’ve been in a mood since yesterday, so today’s writing prompt is going to deal with the darkness in our minds. From Edgar Allen Poe to Stephen King, darkness clearly sells. Even fiction that is not necessarily a commercial success can be considered better-written because it is so dark; for me, “The Half-Skinned Steer” by Annie Proulx comes to mind. In this writing prompt, I want to challenge you to dip into your dark side and make something productive out of it.
The prompt itself is rather simple. Think of your most twisted nightmare OR the darkest thought you’ve ever had. Now use this nightmare or dark thought to write a scene, flash story, short story, poem, whatever you want.
I know this sounds vague and overly simple but it’s a lot harder than you’d think. I can’t speak for anyone else but I don’t like to explore the darker corners of my mind too often because I’m scared of what I’ll find there. Unfortunately for me, that’s what would make it good fiction–if I’m startled just thinking about it, imagine how it could effect readers!
Well, good luck diving into the darkness and returning with your sanity intact.
We all have a tendency to write characters that are like us. Whether we use our personalities, our political and religious views, our appearances, or our social relationships, some part of us weaves into each of our characters. That’s why I’m presenting you with a particularly hard challenge today: writing opposite characters.
What do I mean by “opposite characters”? I’m talking about characters that are completely the opposite of ourselves. Gender, sexual identity, political views, religious views, personality, attitude, appearance, the character is entirely what we would consider to be our opposites.
The prompt is to write a story or scene using an opposite character as your main character. It can be a flash story, short story, scene from a novel, whatever you like so long as the main character is completely opposite from you. Let your imagination run wild and have fun with it.
I tried a less drastic version of this exercise as an undergrad; we only wrote stories about characters who were opposite from us in personality. Looking back, that exercise did not go well for me. The character had an opposite personality from me but her actions and attitude felt very disingenuous and unnatural. It was all forced. That’s where the difficult lies: making the characters convincing as people when we start out not having anything in common.
It’s a real challenge to write a character so different from ourselves. However, the challenge can help us grow as writers. It makes us think in ways that we don’t normally think and imagine perspectives and obstacles that we’ve never considered before. As a human being it can also increase our empathy and allow us to see everyday arguments from all angles.
Did this exercise teach you anything interesting about yourself? About how you write? Did it change your perspective or how you approach your writing? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences.
One of my favorite things to do as a writer is to create new stories from old tales. I particularly love to retell fairy tales. My submission for the Writer’s Digest’s Annual Writing Competition is based on the German fairy tale “The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich”. The poem I posted on this blog earlier this week draws inspiration from Peter Pan. I have many more that have not been completed/have yet to see the light of day, and I will be discussing the relationship between old tales (especially fairy tales) and writing a lot on this blog. Needless to say, I have a passion for retelling fairy tales.
Today’s writing prompt is based on this concept, is rather simple, and is very fun. Choose your favorite fairy tale, old or modern, and write a scene, short story, or poem based on it. You can tell it from an unexplored perspective, update it for today’s world, use it as a metaphor or to explore a particular theme, whatever you want. You’d be surprised just how inspired you’ll be by retelling fairy tales and how much the stories can change in your hands.
If you need some inspiration, I highly recommend Gail Carson Levine’s Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly. That book on writing turned me onto rewriting fairy tales in the first place. Also, in case you don’t know who she is, Gail Carson Levine is the author of Ella Enchanted and, my personal favorite, The Two Princesses of Bamarre. You can learn a lot about writing and world building from her, so anyone who’s interested in writing fantasy should check her out.
Have a fun and productive writing weekend, everyone. I’ll try to post more next week but with my portfolio and essay looming, feeling sick, and other life commitments, that may be easier said than done.
Better late than never! Here’s a Friday Fun-Day writing prompt to help get your weekend rolling. It’s a variation on an oldie but a good: taking a line from the nearest book.
Here’s how this version goes:
Grab the closest book you can find. Open to a random page in the middle of the book. Take the first line of the first full paragraph on that page and the first line of the last full paragraph. These will be your opening and closing lines, in that order. Now, write a story in 700 words or less using these lines to start and end your story.
The nearest book can be anything: an encyclopedia, a biography, 1984, whatever. There are no restrictions except that the page must be random, you must use those particular lines for your first and last lines, and it must be 700 words or less. Otherwise, have fun with it.
Feel free to share the lines you got, an excerpt from the story, etc. in the comments. And if you want to suggest a writing prompt, please mention it in the comments or email me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
Happy Friday, everyone! Pardon the infrequency of my posts lately. Between contests, financial pursuits, my portfolio, and my end-of-year essay, I’ve been rather busy and having a hard time focusing. However, that won’t stop me from providing you with some new contest information from The Writer for Fun-Day Friday.
If you don’t have a subscription to The Writer, I highly recommend it. I’ve learned a lot about writing, publishing, and the writing market since I started reading it. Today, though, I want to point out a free feature from The Writer‘s website: their summer guide to writing contests.
The guide is a PDF with an alphabetical list of writing contests with deadlines this summer. Listings include a brief description of the contest, the contest’s website, contact information, deadlines, etc. The contests come from around the world, albeit most–if not all–are from English-speaking countries.
The Writer will send you the PDF for free, just click on the link I provided above for more information. While you’re there, sign up for their newsletter and look at some of their articles and writing prompts. It never hurts for a writer to read more!
Have a happy and productive writing weekend.
Do you have any contests to recommend? Drop a line in the comments or email me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
TGI Friday, fellow readers and writers. Today I want to bring your attention to a contest which I discovered quite a few years ago (sophomore or junior year of high school, I believe). It’s called the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. It’s for new writers and illustrators of the fantasy and science fiction genres.
Before I get into the specifics of the contest itself, I wish to address its founder. Yes, it was started by that L. Ron Hubbard, renowned science fiction writer and founder of Scientology. As far as my research has turned up, that is where the connection between this contest and the controversial religion ends. Please do not let any negative conceptions you have of Scientology keep you from this contest. I have rather…mixed feelings about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard myself but I still think the contest is a great opportunity for budding writers and illustrators who favor these genres.
Now, on to the contest. There are more details than I wish to cover here, so please follow this link for complete information on entering, prizes, etc. But here are some highlights:
Science fiction, fantasy, and dark fantasy stories of up to 17,000 words in length may be submitted.
Contestants retain all publication rights.
NO ENTRY FEE
The contest is quarterly with three winners each quarter.
The first place winners for each quarter have a chance to win the grand prize at the end of the contest year.
There’s also a branch of the contest for artists called the Illustrators of the Future Contest.
Cash prizes and publication in the annual Writers and Illustrators of the Future anthology
There’s a formal reception for the winners.
Contestants CANNOT have professionally published a novel or short novel, more than one novelette, or more than three short stories in any medium. More information on what is considered “professional publication” is available on the site.
I entered the contest once (and lost) but have not returned to it due to other paths calling my name. However, if you’ve a hand for writing in these genres, I highly recommend submitting to Writers of the Future.
