Entering writing awards: Advice from winners
Entering writing competitions: Advice from past winners of WriteMentor’s Novel & Picture Book Awards
Flexing your writing muscles, developing confidence, gaining exposure, drumming up motivation, and, of course, potentially winning, are some of the many benefits of entering writing competitions.
If you’re a writer who thinks their story has award-winning potential, check out some advice from previous winners of our WriteMentor Novel & Picture Book Awards about how to enter writing competitions and some useful general tips for writers.
Our 2024 WriteMentor Novel & Picture Book Awards are open for entries until the end of January – sponsored by Bonnier Books UK and judged by editors and literary agents, with a cash prize across four categories – enter now.
Keep reading, keep writing, keep trying
“Keep reading, keep writing, keep trying! I entered a much earlier version of this ultimately, it made me more determined to try and work out how to make my work more appealing. I’m learning to lean in to rejections and accept them for what they are – redirection towards something better. It’s always uncomfortable and disappointing to not be longlisted or shortlisted, or to get comments that are less than complimentary. I’m still working on reminding myself to read through comments quickly, then put my computer away and do something else before going back two or three days later to re-read comments. I often find that my initial reaction has changed by then and I can see what changes I might want to make and in what way,” advises Cate Haynes, who won the WriteMentor Novel Award 2023.
“Keep reading, keep listening, keep learning, keep sending your work to competitions and agents. Probably my biggest and best piece of advice though – get some writer-mates! Writer-friends are the best kind of friends,” adds Cate, sharing her writing advice.
Get involved with the competition organiser’s community
Saira Shah’s writing journey started with entering the 2022 WriteMentor Picture Book Award. Since winning in 2023, she is now represented by Peters Fraser + Dunlop. Here are her five tips she found helpful for entering competitions:
- Find all the competitions you want to enter for the year. Budget what you want to spend, and check which ones have prizes/exposure/feedback available that you’re interested in. Write them in your diary (I use my phone calendar).
- All competitions have different entry requirements. I know, I know, it’s boring reading them, but try your best to do so. You don’t want to pay for a competition and then get booted out for tipping the word count over by ONE WORD! (I don’t actually think they’re that ruthless, but don’t test them!)
- Watch the videos and reading material they upload to support you. I watched EVERY WriteMentor video on YouTube. It gives you a good feel for what they’re looking for, valuable advice for writing and just generally are enjoyable to watch.
- Get involved with the competition’s Twitter community. Make announcements, retweet, talk to and support others. It’s nice to go on the competition journey (ups and downs) with others who ‘get it’.
- Don’t leave your entry to the last minute. I nearly didn’t get my entry in. I had seconds left, a crying baby in my arms, and an overwhelming rush of panic. Yes, I did get an extra buzz when I submitted it JUST IN TIME (I’m easily thrilled these days). But, I do not recommend it
Read everything you can about the competition
“Keep reading, keep listening, keep learning, keep sending your work to competitions and agents. Probably my biggest and best piece of advice though – get some writer-mates! Writer-friends are the best kind of friends,” adds Cate, sharing her writing advice.
Read everything you can about the competition
“It’s useful to read everything you can about the competition. Some writing competitions come with top tips for how to pitch your work, or what to do in a good synopsis. Actually – the synopsis is something I’ve always struggled with – I feel like it took ages to write the full manuscript, and then you have to do it all over again, but without the use of all the words! (The answer to the synopsis question in the WriteMentor FAQs was really helpful.) I suppose my main advice would be – just enter! Research the writing competition, write out the key dates on a piece of paper, stick it to the wall, then enter. Of course, that’s easier said than done and it can be expensive to enter multiple writing competitions – but increasingly I’ve noticed that some writing competitions offer support for writers who need it so if that’s a barrier, then it’s always worth investigating whether an entry can be sponsored,” says Sean Dooley, who won the 2021 WriteMentor Novel Award 2021 and is now represented by Caroline Wakeman Literary Agency.
And Sean’s writing advice: “I think the old phrase “Don’t get it right, get it written” is always appropriate. I know that I can spend ages skirting around the edges of a project, worrying that I’m going to get it “wrong” and then nothing gets written. So sometimes it’s good to set out to write the worst possible page of prose it’s possible to do and then from that, something might work out – or at the very least help me to get started. I can thoroughly recommend Stephen King’s book On Writing which contains some excellent insights into the craft of a writer.”
Be brave and put your work out there
On entering writing competitions, Sue Cunningham, winner of our 2020 WMCNA whose YA novel, Totally Deceased, is now published by Scholastic,, explains:?”Remember you’re not alone! There are loads of opportunities out there, books, magazines, free content and courses online. The writing community is so welcoming. Read widely in your own and other genres. Seek out critique partners or an online group, be prepared to give as well as receive constructive criticism. Apply for mentoring, enter competitions. Be brave, put your work out there. And, as Stuart says, once you’ve pressed send, put it out of your head. Don’t expect to win, start something new. You might get a fantastic surprise like I did.”
Once you’ve entered, forget about the writing competition
Maureen Tai, who won the WriteMentor Picture Book Award 2022 and is now represented by Fuse Literary, adds: “Only enter work that you’re completely, one hundred per cent happy with: that has been peer-reviewed by trusted critique partners or in writing groups, and polished to as shiny a state as you can make it. It’s trite but also true that once you’ve submitted your entry, give yourself a pat on the back, forget about the contest completely and throw yourself into another writing project. Don’t diarise the results announcement dates either! That’ll just make you antsy as the date looms.”
And Maureen’s writing advice?
“Seek out good books to learn from, and read, read, read, as many books as possible of the genre that you’re writing. There are so many great resources online these days as well as thoughtful, dedicated book reviewers who can help you keep your TBR list manageable. If you have small children you can read aloud to, read a variety of picture books with them – perhaps even a dummy version of your own picture book manuscript – to get a feel for what really appeals to, and works with, younger audiences. Lastly, don’t forget to play with your writing as well. Have fun, and try experimenting with different forms to keep things fresh and interesting. I dabble in flash fiction, short stories, poetry, etc. for both children and adults and I love the variety.”
Read the writing competition guidelines carefully
Aoife Doyle, who won the WriteMentor Novel Award 2022 and is now represented by Peters Fraser + Dunlop, lists her valuable advice – from writing your entry to pressing ‘send’.
“The entering stuff: Read the writing competition guidelines carefully and strictly adhere to it – don’t risk automatically losing by submitting too many words or a synopsis that’s juusttwo lines too long. Give them every reason to wave you through onto the next round. Don’t submit in a panic, take a breath and make time to double check.”
Polish your opening pages
“The writing stuff: Have your writing software/the internet read out your sample to you to check (yet again) for errors and that the rhythm is just right. Ensure your opening pages are effective in 1) being full of voice as possible, whatever that means for you, your MC, and genre, 2) connecting the reader to your MC and their wound, 3) establishing the reader in the setting/space & time. Opening pages are elite writing for competition, and like any athlete, you have to make it look easy. Just like for athletes, that takes time, trial and error, discipline, and most importantly, rest days.”
Celebrate entering the writing competition
“The emotional stuff: Celebrate entering the writing competition – you shared your writing baby with fancy professional writey people! Yay you! You deserve a decadent donut or a new pin or a walk along your favourite route and a proper movie night. Actually do it though, actually treat yourself. Associate pushing against the comfort zone and investing in your writing career with positive reinforcement. (I am terrible at this, be better than me, please!) Once you get the confirmation email, make a note of when the longlist will be announced/whatever end date the waiting has, and forget about it. Move on to the next Thing, get writing, get thinking about the next story. When news does come, sit in it. Feel the sadness of the rejection and talk to friends who understand. Dealing with rejection is a skill, you will get better at it but to do that you must learn how to handle it healthily, and since rejection is a neverending and unavoidable part of writing, start learning now. If you don’t have people who understand creative rejection yet, find them now, whether through WriteMentor, other writing resources, the bird app, or local writing groups or book clubs (or other creative groups). Of course, if you hear good news, CELEBRATE! Full on fancy meal and non-zoom clothes level celebrate (however that translates to you)! Tell your writey people and share the joy! Revel in it! No matter the news, acknowledge the fact that you have put a piece of your creative self out into the world for judgement, and that is deeply vulnerable, and that makes you brave. It’s easy to forget that along the way. Have another donut.”
Finally, Aoife has “so much” writing advice to share she could write a book, but she sums it up with “two practical tidbits and one social”.
“If you’re ever stuck in a scene and aren’t sure how a character will react, or aren’t sure how to get the right tone for a scene, need it to be funnier, sadder, turn on a line of dialogue from silly to serious, try casting your characters out to actors whose skill you know well. They don’t necessarily have to be child actors, but just think how a Dakota Fanning would play this scene, or Millie Bobby Brown, or a teenage Chris [insert favourite version here]. Imagining how someone whose storytelling ability you see fluidly take on a section that has you snagged can often untangle you and add another layer of subtly. Having anchor characters for your characters is also very helpful. For example, my MC Finta has the confidence of Wolfwalker’s Mebh so I would often anchor myself to Finta by thinking of Mebh’s proud and sometimes reckless self-belief and how that is shown in the film, and translate that into Finta’s can-do, witty attitude that masks her insecurities and terror of making more mistakes,” describes Aoife.
“Show and tell are a screwdriver and hammer, respectively, and you need both to build the house of your story. Knowing when to use which is the key. Screwdrivers are for precise, detailed, close-up work – ie, show the reader important information through cause and effect. Best done when you know the cause but only show the effect. For example, I know the character is angry but I’m only going to write about the vein throbbing in their temple and the nails biting into their palms. Hammers are for broad, basic, rough work – ie, tell the reader important information by relating what has happened. This information does not draw attention but quickly moves the plot and pace along,” adds Aoife.
“Stories are such a deep and intrinsic part of who we are and who we become, they are and always have been how we learn. I think the best advice I can give that you couldn’t easily find elsewhere is to write ethically. Be aware of your word choice. What insults does your bully character use? What throwaway derogatory comments are in your MS? Do you call characters fat or lazy, when other words would work just fine? Do you equate femininity with inferiority? What do your unlikable and antagonistic characters look like, and is there a trend or bias you hadn’t noticed before? What is being said in your story that the story itself, the plot and its triumphs and comeuppances does not unsay? What behaviour is deemed cool or acceptable by the narrative? Who is being laughed at in your story, and is it fair? I don’t mean this in a plot sense, but in the sense that your story is a social construct, and there will be children reading, learning from it, and your words will teach them how to behave, how to react. You have the power to teach them another lesson in subtle bigotry, like so much of our media does without thinking. Or, with another pass of revisions when the heavy work is done, you have the power to teach them kindness and compassion in a way that many may not register, but all will feel. The world would be a more empathetic place with more people willing to risk being kind if more custodians of media took on this responsibility, and it starts with us. We won’t always get it right (and certainly not without sensitivity readers!) but we can try. And as every protagonist learns, that’s what makes the difference,” concludes Aoife.
Enter the WriteMentor Novel and Picture Book Awards
Responses