Quirky Contests – Writing the Unusual - WriterOnLine

Submit an Article | Advertise! | Staff and Contacts

Articles About Contests

Quirky Contests – Writing the Unusual

Digital Writing

Learning Center

WOL Search

WOL Partners
JustMarkets Daily paying markets

Articles - Articles About Contests
Written by Grace Tierney
2005-05-03
Quirky Contests – Writing the Unusual by Grace Tierney ‘I find the contest, you write the entry.’ One man’s meat is another’s poison, goes the saying. So how can entering a quirky writing contest help with the business of writing? Firstly there’s more than one kind of quirky contest–you can have a strange writing challenge or a weird prize. Both categories are likely to attract fewer entries by regular writers; hence you have a better chance of winning (if you’ve crafted a good entry, of course). Don’t be too proud to enter that writing contest from the back of your cereal box, particularly if you have something you can adapt easily for it or the idea comes to you quickly. It may not be the Pulitzer Prize, and you probably won’t put it on your resume except as an enigmatic claim to be a prize-winning writer, but hey it would be fun and it certainly keeps that pen moving. In my time writing about contests I have seen prizes of houses, writing residencies, chicken toys (I won that one), various foodstuffs, mentorships with professional authors, and travel. Those are good prizes. Sometimes money isn’t the best prize you can get. That crate of black-eyed beans could help you become an expert food-writer and to sell recipes to various venues, or at the very least, help you to eat for a month! Unusual writing challenges make us better writers and that’s good for business too. I’ve written, and published, short stories using only mono-syllabic words, 26 sentences each starting with a different letter of the alphabet, and one story that had to contain the word hornswaggle. Each was a true challenge but they made me write tighter and good results followed! So if you write poetry, try the song-writing contest or card-verse contest. If you write humor, try a silly shopping list or a photo caption. If you write fiction, try writing bad fiction or a radio-story. You never know, you might enjoy yourself. I have 19 quirky contests listed below, let one of them seize your imagination this month. Also consider contests dedicated to member of specific communities and organizations. For example, I sometimes find contests open only to people of a particular faith, age group, orientation etc., and I rarely list these as they exclude other writers, but they could be perfect for you – try doing a quick search on the Web for such contests. That type of quirky could be right up your street. Don’t forget to scroll down for my regular contest round-up for the month of May. Happy Writing! Ps. Hornswaggle means ‘to deceive’ * Unless otherwise noted, contests are annual and open to all writers. ThatComedian.com Photo Caption Contest http://www.thatcomedian.com/Photocaptioncontest.htm photo caption / humor monthly Desdmona Contests http://www.desdmona.com short erotic fiction various deadlines The 1000 words contest http://www.everywriter.com/words.htm flash fiction – starter sentence from photo prompt – if you’ve never written from a photo-prompt, this is well worth a try regular deadlines Labyrinth Society Writing Contest http://www.labyrinthsociety.org essay, short fiction or poetry with labyrinth as a theme June 15 SPS Studios Biannual Poetry Card Contest http://www.sps.com/k/poetry/contest.htm greeting card poetry June 30 and December 31 The UK Songwriting Contest http://www.songwritingcontest.co.uk/ song June 30 BBC World Service Short Story competition http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1210_shortstorycomp/index.shtml short fiction for reading on radio June 30 Cat Writers' Association Contest www.catwriters.org 40 fiction, non-fiction, and graphics categories. Feline-oriented articles and columns, short stories, poetry, books, photography and video/audio tapes published in magazines, newspapers, newsletters and online, plus awards for fiction and for new writers. July 1 Writing-Contests.us Book Review Contest http://www.writing-contests.us/bookreview.html book review of a book published in 2003, 2004 or 2005 which is important to you August 31 Automotive Poetry Contest http://www.toweautomuseum.org/html/p7.html poetry related to cars November 10 Write a Gripe Contest http://www.writeagripe.com/ short non-fiction of the complaining variety November 30 The Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Non-Fiction http://home.pcmagic.net/brashcyber/mona.htm comedic essays, shopping lists, and other forms of humor December 1 The 2-Day Poem Contest http://www.contemporaryverse2.ca/ poetry or short fiction written within a strict time limit using particular words provided January 19 (note : www.writersweekly.com and www.writelink.co.uk run similar contests on a regular basis) Grain Magazine Contests http://www.grainmagazine.ca/contest.htm Dramatic Monologue January 31 Children's Writer Profile of a Contemporary Young Person http://www.childrenswriter.com/ essay profile of a role model, inspirational in some way, or have lived or done something of interest to readers ages 5 to 9 February 28 The Oestara Anthology of Pagan Poetry Contest http://www.oestarapublishing.com poetry – 1) sonnet; 2)villanelle, rondeau or other traditional poetic forms; 3) linked haiku; 4) free verse; 5) and dreamed/trance-received verse. March 21 Bulwer-lytton Fiction Contest www.bulwer-lytton.com One line of bad fiction – various categories April 15 Coming Soon to the Writing Contest Department Forthcoming features will focus on non-fiction contests, no-fee contests, humor writing, short story contests, travel writing, writing for children, speculative fiction, contests with unusual prizes, mystery writing contests, romantic writing contests. I’m always looking for new contest types to research so if you’re looking for a particular type of contest for your writing, just drop me a line. I’d also love to hear from you if you win a contest you read about here or if you have a contest to suggest for inclusion. Please note that I will only include contests that are open to writers anywhere in the world as our readers are geographically dispersed. Contest Deadlines from June 1 to 30 June 1 Boston Review Poetry Contest Poetry www.bostonreview.net June 1 Difficult People Contest short fiction http://www.difficultpeople.org June 1 Dark Short Shorts short fiction, dark in style http://www.deathlings.com/contests.html June 6 Wild Violet Fiction and Poetry Contest short fiction and poetry http://www.wildviolet.net/fictioncontest.html June 15 Orchid Short Fiction Contest short fiction http://www.orchidlit.org/ June 15 Labyrinth Society Writing Contest http://www.labyrinthsociety.org June 15 Robert Penn Warren Awards poetry in free verse format http://www.newenglandwriters.org June 15 New England Writers’ Short Fiction Contest short fiction http://www.newenglandwriters.org June 15 The Nancy Weil New Play Search Play http://www.fireflyprod.com June 22 TooWrite short creative non-fiction http://www.toowrite.com June 27 Gival Press Oscar Wilde Poetry Award poetry which best relates gay / lesbian / bisexual / transgender life by a poet who is 18 or older http://www.givalpress.com/ June 30 The Haiku Calendar Competition Haiku http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/competitionshaiku.htm June 30 Arche Books Novel Contest novel in one of three categories; Sci-Fi, Romance, or Mystery www.archebooks.com/Contest2005.htm June 30 Whim’s Place Flash Fiction Writing Contest short fiction http://www.whimsplace.com/contest/contest.asp June 30 The Little Bitty Poetry Competition poetry, including poetry from younger writers http://www.shadowpoetry.com/contests/littlebittycontest.html June 30 The UK Songwriting Contest Song http://www.songwritingcontest.co.uk/ June 30 Autumn House Press Poetry Contest poetry collection / chapbook http://www.autumnhouse.org/ June 30 Caveat Lector Poetry Contest Poetry http://www.caveat-lector.org/ June 30 SPS Studios Poetry Card Contest Poetry http://www.sps.com/b/poetry/contest/poetrycontest.htm June 30 bridport poetry and short story competition poetry and short fiction www.bridportprize.org.uk June 30 The Ekphrasis Prize poetry – the poem must address individual works from any artistic genre http://hometown.aol.com/artspoetry June 30 Rhyme Time Poetry Contest Poetry http://www.shadowpoetry.com/contests/rhymetime.html June 30 American Poetry Journal Contest Poetry http://veenet.value.net/~dbear/apj_contest.html June 30 Penumbra Poetry and Haiku Contest poetry and haiku http://www.twaonline.org/contests.htm June 30 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest poetry in traditional verse forms http://www.winningwriters.com/margaret.htm June 30 BBC World Service Short Story competition short fiction for reading on radio http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1210_shortstorycomp/index.shtml Grace Tierney** is a freelance writer who lives in Ireland. When she’s not researching writing contests, she enjoys gluttony, reading, gardening, and travel. Her short stories have been published internationally in magazines, books, and online media. Her non-fiction has been published in Ireland, the UK, America, and Australia. She is a staff writer with Writer Online, Netsurfer Digest, and The Good Book Guide. Contact Grace via www.gracetierney.com

WOL Top 10 Articles
Free Writing Contests for when your Wallet is Empty Funny Business: Writing Humour for Greeting Cards Getting Personal – Writing Essays for Contests Six Steps to a Writing Schedule Origami dragon Play time – Contests for the Theater and Screen Writer Top 10 Mystery Markets Flash Fiction Contests Eleven Minutes The Curmudgeon Speaks: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue: Who Cares?!

WOL Login

No account yet? Create one