Shall I stick to the rules?
By Mike Wilson, Editor of Link
The number of days is decreasing to the NAWG's competition deadline!
I hope you are busily compiling your entries for the current NAWG creative writing competitions.
I really must talk about an aspect of competition writing that can have unfortunate repercussions: The rules. Each year those who administer any competition face a barrage of observations about their rules.
“How can we enter an anthology competition when it is already published and it includes the writers’ names? Your rules state that work must be anonymous and no marks indicating the author should accompany the entry.” Anthologies are outside this particular rule. An anthology is an anthology, however the group produced it.
“You state that my short story should only be printed on one side of A4, but the type would be too small if I did that.” In this case, use two or three sheets of paper with a standard typeface. Just use one side of each sheet.
“You say the mini-tales should be on a postcard, but I can’t print postcards on my computer. What can I do?” Why not cut out your printed mini-tale and stick it on a postcard. And put your details in similar fashion on another postcard.
I had occasion to shortlist some competition entries recently. The short story competition administrator received a letter on the following lines: “I see you are wanting short stories. This is a poem.” Did the writer expect the competition rules to be changed?
And, please, count the words in your entry. If the rules say 1,000 to 1,200 words your entry will be discarded if you send in 1,250 or more. How many writers have denied themselves prizes – and prize money – because they didn’t follow the rules?
Be creative! Be experimental! But the rules are there for a reason and it is up to you, the writer, to abide by those rules or suffer the ignominy of having your work discarded before it even reaches the judge.
Please email Mike with your thoughts on competitions and their rules: mikediane@tesco.net
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