How Not to Win Short Story Competitions

Making  your story stick out

If you send in your story printed on bright yellow paper, it will get noticed by the judges, but not in a good way. Stick to white.

Sending  a faint, or carbon copy

A photocopy of your story may not be as crisp and easy to read as the original. Anything that makes it difficult for judges to read your entry, will work against you. If you send a photocopy, make sure the printer isn’t low on toner.

Using a  ‘strange’ font

It can be fun experimenting with some of the more unusual fonts, but when it comes to competition entries, stick to something simple like Times New Roman.

Sending  a story to the same competition two years in a row

Unless you keep good records, this is an easy mistake to make and a costly one. Judges are like elephants, they seldom forget a story. If it didn’t win last year, it’s unlikely to win this time.

Trying to get a judge’s sympathy

by putting your age and health problems on the entry form. It’s not that a judge doesn’t care about your age, illnesses or disabilities;  every entry has to be judged on a equal footing, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to any entrant who didn’t  mention their problems on the entry form.

And finally.

If you can, send your entry in well before the closing date as that makes the judge’s job so much easier. It also means that you won’t have to rush to meet the deadline. Aim for a date at least four weeks before the closing date, then you will have time to work on your entry and ensure that it’s as good as  you can make it.