one writer's provenance » contests-submissions

It’s Story Time: What Can You Say in Six Words?

Anne Bender — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:46:51 +0000

[Reading Time: 1 - 2 minutes]

♦ Four weeks. Broken eggs. Downy feathers.

♦ Cut ten inches. Long now short.

♦ I wanted it so badly. Why?

And I thought writing a novel was hard! I’m going to keep working on my brevity, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a career as a six-word story writer. Not yet, anyway.

Think you have what it takes?

Narrative Magazine is looking for your super short six-word stories, among other things.

Guidelines:

A Six-Word Story should provide a movement of conflict, action, and resolution that gives the sense of a complete story transpiring in a moment’s reading.

Payment: $50 for each six-word story accepted for publication. You may send up to five stories in a single submission.

Submission Fee: $15 fee for each submission. Additionally, you receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

Formatting Your Manuscript: 12-point type, with at least one-inch margins, and double-spaced. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address should be typed at the top of the first page.

You may also include a brief biographical note with your submission.

April 1st – Mark Your Calendar

Anne Bender — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:56:05 +0000

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A couple of things worth noting…

Book Release

If you haven’t checked out the World’s Strongest Librarian, then you are missing out on something uniquely special. And on April 1 [no joke] Josh Hanagarne’s first novel, The Knot, will be released. You don’t want to miss it!

Writing Challenge

Did you participate in NaNoWriMo last November? Did it leave you wanting more? Ever wonder what it would be like to write a script for a television show, movie, or even a play for the local theater group? Ever have one of those dreams where you’re part of a sandwich and.. uh, sorry, off topic.

The same wonderfully talented and insanely challenged challenging people who brought us NaNoWriMo have now given us Script Frenzy.

30 Days, 100 Pages, Are you in?

Be my writing buddy.

Reminders:

Writer’s Weekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest – April 24
$5 to enter, lots of prizes and fun to be had!

My Best Fiction Contest courtesy of Bookrix – March 15 – May 10
Free to enter, $1,800 in cash prizes for authors, $20 Amazon gift cards for readers

‘My Best Fiction’ Free Writing Contest

Anne Bender — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:47:27 +0000

[Reading Time: < 1 minute]

Sign Ups for WritersWeekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest Spring 2010 Edition

Anne Bender — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:31:47 +0000

[Reading Time: 2 - 2 minutes]

The contest is limited to 500 entrants and there is a small entrance fee of $5. When you purchase this, you’ll download a PDF file of the guidelines. There is also a link to them in the email receipt.

Start time is April 24th , 2010 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) central time.

Don’t miss out on the ultimate source for creative stress…and tons of fun! More than 85 prizes!

For more information and to enter this contest go to writersweekly.com.

1st Place: $300 – One Winner

2nd Place: $250 – One Winner

3rd Place: $200 – One Winner

Honorable Mention – Twenty Winners

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DOOR PRIZES (randomly drawn from all participants)

15 – One-year subscriptions to The Write Markets Report
5 – Freelance Income Kits ($49.95 value)
5 – copies How to Publish A Profitable E-mag
5 – copies of Query Letters That Worked
Features real query letters that landed these contracts: Woman’s Day – $2,800; Redbook – $3,500; Ladies Home Journal – $3,000; DiscoveryHealth.com – $2,000; Lifetime Magazine – $3,000; Life Extension magazine – $6,480; Natural Remedies $11,300; and many more!
30 – Grab Bag! Winners of grab bag get one ebook of their choice from our list HERE.

Need a Nudge to Overcome Writer’s Block?

Anne Bender — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:58:00 +0000

[Reading Time: 2 - 4 minutes]

We’ve all been there. We scratch our head and stare at a blank screen [piece of paper]. Trying desperately to create. Okay, we just want to get some words down and feel like we are the writers we claim to be.

You know it’s true. Don’t deny it.

Yet, nothing comes. And you start questioning your ability, your choices, your existence as a human being. Okay, that last one might just be me. Either way, you are stumped.

Maybe you have joined a writing group. Online. In person. Still nothing helps.

Maybe you don’t need group therapy, er, a writing group. Not yet at least. I mean, what good is a writing group if you are not writing anything? See, now you’re following me.

Why not try some prompts instead?

I like these. You can hone your skills, get a topic or an idea, and write. Yeah, that’s the goal, isn’t it?

Here are a few of my favorite places to seek help [in no particular order]:

Language is a Virus ~ I have to admit I just stumbled [literally, I used StumbleUpon] this today and am very excited about it. So much so I just had to write this post so I could share with everyone I know. Just in case you did not know of its existence [like me, until just now].
A Thousand Words ~ They say a picture is worth a thousand words. You can write 100 or 1 million. But pictures are a great way to gain inspiration. Thanks Jenn!
Genre Shorties @ Gather ~ Be inspired, but keep it brief. These little gems are entertaining 100 words at a time!
Titled Sentence’s Challenge @ Gather ~ Another great reason to be a member of Gather, lots of writers. Hey, it’s almost like joining a group, sort of. With the titled sentence challenge just write a story using the sentence [in your title, as a sentence in your story, or as a general theme].

Still need help breaking writer’s block? Leave me a comment or email me and I will do my best to help you overcome and get back to the joys of writing in no time!

Photo courtesy of Adam Lyon.

Contests & Submissions

Anne Bender — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:25:00 +0000