REAL WORLD – Page 2

Fiction Writing Contests Worth Your Time in Winter 2019

November 22, 2019 By Arthur Klepchukov 11 Comments

Since my last contest roundup, I’m thrilled to share that one of my short stories has been included in the Best American Mystery Stories 2019. You can learn how attending a local writing conference made that happen.

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from December 1, 2019 through February 29, 2020. Finish the year strong by sending out your best work and start the new year with an invigorating round of submissions. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

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Become a Good Literary Citizen

November 20, 2019 By Julie Carrick Dalton 23 Comments

I recently shared a post on Twitter about a friend who won a writing contest. I was excited for him. Sharing his news seemed like an obvious move. Author Cai Emmons responded to my post with a simple comment: “You are a great literary citizen.” I got a bit choked up when I read her […]

Empowerment: The Gift of an UnConference

November 18, 2019 By Vaughn Roycroft 33 Comments

At the time of writing this essay, I’m less than a week from having attended the third WU UnConference in Salem, MA. If you click on the UnConference button in the header above, you’ll find an apt description of what it’s all about, ending with this: “In other words, we’re going to lean on our […]

The Hack’s Guide to Playing the Waiting Game

November 16, 2019 By Bill Ferris 4 Comments

Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody. Congrats on submitting your manuscript! But the euphoria of finally sending your work to an agent or editor is quickly replaced by the anxiety over […]

Linguistic Interventions (Et Tu, Bayer?)

November 15, 2019 By Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 31 Comments

Don’t Call Me in the Morning Writers are people far better suited than most to do a service to society–even to take on a responsibility–of offering guidance on language and how we use it. But we rarely live up to it. Writers are the ones who know that I could care less is precisely the […]

Career Writers: Embrace Paradox

November 14, 2019 By Kathryn Craft 31 Comments

At the Writer UnBoxed UnConference last week, I led a session in which we explored emotional strategies that would keep writers in good stead for the long haul. Of the many we discussed, the necessity of embracing paradox struck a fresh chord with those present, so I thought I’d expand on that in today’s post. […]

Other People’s Books

November 13, 2019 By Sophie Masson 20 Comments

Occasionally, you hear writers say they never read the work of other authors, especially writing in the same genre as they are, and especially if they’re currently in the process of writing a book themselves. The reason given is usually that they are afraid of being influenced, whether consciously or unconsciously, by the other writer’s […]

The Happy Go Lucky Guide To Problem- & Maniac-Free Travel

November 9, 2019 By Kathryn Magendie 4 Comments

In 1947, the first living critters to be launched into space were fruit flies—they were sent up with some corn so they’d not be hungry (I don’t know why this amuses me, but every time I read it I laugh; I’m laughing now … hold on … wait … okay I’m done). 106 miles up. […]

What I Didn’t Expect to Learn at This Year’s Uncon

November 8, 2019 By David Corbett 8 Comments

Among the great joys and benefits of teaching is the opportunity to learn from my students. That point hit home dramatically this week at Uncon – or rather, at lunch just before registration began. I happened to arrive at the Hawthorne Hotel restaurant shortly before another conference attendee, L. Deborah Sword, and upon realizing we […]

Don’t Take No for an Answer

November 7, 2019 By Catherine McKenzie 6 Comments

“No.” “Not right for us.” “Not right at this time.” “Nope.” “Nah.” “Um…” “There’s no easy way to say this, but…” “It’s not you, it’s the book.” “It’s not the book, it’s you.” “No.” “No.” “No.” Sound familiar? I mean, I could go on, but you get the point. The truth is, the book business […]