One of my goals for this year is to enter more writing contests and submit more of my writing to magazines and the like. I don’t really have anything “worthy” of agents or publishers yet, but I want to start getting my writing out there.
I would like to submit at least one piece of writing to something per month.
I sent a short story to a contest in January. I don’t really know what I’m going to do for this month.
But here’s my question: How do you prepare for a writing contest?
Do you have a story or poem in mind that you’re already written and then search for a contest that is looking for that kind of story? Or do you find a contest and write something based on the contest’s needs?
Last month I had a short story written and ready to go. I found a couple different contests that were looking for general fiction short stories. There was no theme, no specific genre. So I sent it in.
This month there are some contests I would love to enter, but can I don’t really have anything ready to submit.
How can I come up with an idea based on the guidelines, write it, edit it, and make sure it’s ready to face judges along with a ton of other pieces all by the deadline.
So what do you do? What works best for you?
I’ll let you all know my decision whenever I figure it out, but if you have any ideas or tips for me that’d be great.
