Found Sally Zigmond’s checklist detailing attributes of a short story over at the Quality Women’s Fiction Web site. Check it out and share your reactions here. (Which elements do you find “true” for your own approach to writing a short story? Which do you find less useful? Why?)
Let me preface this by saying that I believe in writing contests. Yes, there are some bad apples out there, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the whole bunch. One of the bad apples, though, seems to be a repeat offender. I’m talking about Zoo Press.
I’m far from a disinterested observer here. I entered both Zoo Press fiction contests once upon a time. If you need a refresher on how that turned out, read this piece by Thomas Hopkins (it was published back in 2004 in Poets & Writers magazine).
Now Zoo is in the news again. This time it’s the poetry contest that’s in trouble. I found out about it from the Emerging Writers Network . Click here to find out more.
So here I am back at the blog. And I’ve found an interesting contest with a March 1 deadline. There’s no entry fee (too bad I didn’t locate this before the January update of our Guide to No-Cost Literary Contests and Competitions.)
Anyway, the 2006 Ultimate Adventure Contest seeks “your wildest hunting tale, craziest fishing adventure or the most hair-raising survival experience you’ve ever had (in 750-1,000 words) and we’ll see which writer captures the spirit of spine-tingling adventure best.” The winning piece will be published in Outdoor Life, and its author will receive $500. Runners-up will have their entries published on the magazine’s Web site.
You can submit via e-mail or postal mail. Just be sure to submit by March 1.
For more information and the official rules, click here.
OK, so I’m posting one more time before signing off for a few days. This just came in to my e-mailbox, and I wanted to spread the word.
“Poets are invited to submit a poem for The Writer‘s Online Poetry Spotlight. One poem per spotlight session will be selected for expert critique by several award-winning poets. Each session will be online for about one month. The critique will include suggestions as well as comments citing the poem’s strengths. Guest poets will address form, poetic devices, sound, sensory elements and style, and will offer purely constructive comments.”
You need not be a magazine subscriber to submit. Poets whose work is selected for critique will receive a one-year subscription to The Writer. The best Spotlight submission posted on the magazine’s Web site in 2006 will receive $100.
Submit one poem by March 1; the first poem and critiques will be posted in the “premium subscriber” forum area of the magazine’s Web site by April 1, 2006 (in time for National Poetry Month).
See the full announcement for more information and submission instructions.
Attention, North Carolina poets! Information on the 2006 NC State Poetry Contest (sponsored by the NC State Creative Writing Program and the Brenda L. Smart Fund for Creative Writing) is now available.
The Brenda L. Smart Grand Prize for Poetry will award $500 and is open to all NC residents except tenured faculty in the UNC system, poets who have previously published a book, and previous winners. “Winner must be available to read the poem and receive the prize at the NC State Poetry Festival on Wednesday, March 29th.”
This year’s guest judge is Kathryn Stripling Byer, NC Poet Laureate.
Deadline for submission is March 1, 2006. There is no entry fee.
For more information, including submission instructions, click here.
I was really saddened to see this news come across my screen a few minutes ago.