Holly Lisle's Vision
Can you write a novel in…
By
Jennifer St. Clair Bush
Poetry Moderator
©2001, Jennifer St. Clair Bush
This
year I participated in the 3-day novel contest held by Anvil Press. Compared to
that, the Book in a Week and the Book in a Month contests look tame, but they
might be just the things to get you up to speed. Participating in these contests
might not net you an immediately publishable novel or short story, but it will
allow you to write on a deadline and see how well you do. If you decide to
participate in any of these contests, drop a note on the Forward Motion
Discussion Board so the community
can give you virtual support! (http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/64272)
November
is National Novel Writing Month, and there's a contest to match:
National
Novel Writing Month Contest Nov. 1-30, 2001
http://www.nanowrimo.com/
Participants
try to complete a 50,000 word, or 200 page, novel in one month. There are no
prizes, other than the satisfaction of finishing the work. Last year the contest
drew over 140 participants, but only 29 crossed the finish line! That's not a
very good finish rate, but I'm sure it will be better this year. There are
already quite a few people signed up. It costs nothing to join, and you can post
your word count throughout the contest.
People
from Forward Motion who are taking part in this year's run (drop by the
Discussion Board to see us complain... see how we're doing!)
 |
Jennifer
St. Clair Bush |
|
Robert
Sloan |
|
Allikat |
|
Lazette
Gifford |
|
Julia
Pass |
|
Fiona
Shearer-Hann |
|
Caroline
Allard |
|
May-Lee
Sia |
|
Nick
Bronson |
|
Crista
Rucker |
|
Vicki
McElfresh |
|
Gayle
Garrod |
|
Kent
Jensen |
|
Deb Osorio |
The
3-Day Novel Contest,
held over Labor Day. Next contest: Labor Day weekend 2002.
More
details can be found at http://www.anvilpress.com
Participants
in this contest try to complete a novel in three days. The Grand Prize Winner is
published by Anvil Press, and there are cash prizes as well -- and a large
turnout. The contest entry fee is $25. The average page count for submissions is
100, so that’s a fairly short novel to write in 3 days. Last year there were
over 500 manuscripts turned in at the end of the weekend. Very large turnout!
The
Book in a Week Writing Challenge
Painted
Rock Writers' Colony holds a Book in a Week (BIW) writing challenge at the
beginning of each month. The person who has written the most pages at the end of
that week wins a prize.
http://www.paintedrock.com/memvis/about/biw.htm
For
those of you interested in short stories more than novels, there's also a
24-hour
short story contest:
http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html
There's
a limit of 400 participants per contest and $5 entry fee.
The contest offers cash prizes as well as books. They supply the topic,
and you write a story to fit the subject matter. The story has to be written in
the contest time frame. Hmm, this might be one to enter! The site does say that
the contest fills up fast, but check out those prizes to see why! The next
contest begins Jan. 26, 2002.