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This year the subject is open. Poems up to 28 lines and short stories up to 2,000 words. Entries must not carry identification. Author’s name etc. on separate sheet please. Work cannot be returned, please only send copies. A collection of short listed work is to be published price £4. Copyright to stay with authors. A criticism service is offered. For £5.00, judge’s comments on the submitted work with recommendations for editorial actions.

Entry fees: £2.00 each entry.

Entry fees in Sterling (UK pounds) please - PO /cheque /money order.

First Prize 50% of the pool for each category.
Second prize 20%.
Third prize 10%.

Number of entries not limited.

Entries with appropriate fees to:

REDCAR WRITERS
76 Harwal Road
REDCAR
Teesside
TS10 5AQ

Short Story Tips

Short means short. Don’t ramble and pad out the story to make it look like more work. The shortest stories often tell the most.

Your characters should do things rather than be described in physical detail, they should be described by their actions.

Something or someone has to change by the end or else it is not a story, just an anecdote.

Start with the action, no long build-ups, we get bored easily.

Don’t be afraid to use humour, even in serious situations.

Dialogue is useful to change the speed of a story and dialogue brings characters to life.

First person viewpoint is very hard to master. Keep off it unless you have a really good reason to use it.

Don’t spell it all out. Credit us with some sense to work out the story. The reader’s imagination should be working for you not against you, so use hints and clues, not explanations.

Read it again. You might have missed another mistake.

Poetry Tips

Be concise, poetry is a condensed form of writing, edit out unnecessary words.

Be sincere. Use your real feelings, so we will feel them.

Be kind to yourself. Don’t use rhyming couplets, they are the hardest form of poetry to master and only masters win.

Be kind to us. If you must, use handwriting, but make it easy to read. Don’t use fancy fonts or background pictures, they don’t impress and make it harder to read.

Use A4 paper, it keeps our stack of entries neat and us happy.

Be up to date. No “o’ers”, “’neaths” “’pons” or any other archaic language. You are writing today, so use today’s language.

Be careful. We have to read what is written, not what was supposed to be but got missed off or misspelt etc.

Be thorough. Edit and read your work out loud. It helps to show up errors.

Be happy. You should enjoy your writing, then we will enjoy reading your work.

Be poetic not flowery, don’t add words just to sound poetic.

Be lucky.

ENTRY FORM

Contact Redcar Writers for a proper one or use this one - Competition entry form

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