Seven Ways To Win Story Competitions Quickly

Just consider these simple-to-apply tips to win story contests. Explore them in your own creative way and shape them to your present requirements. They will do their job admirably to win story contests - and better than anyone might ever suspect.

To win story contests regularly, you have to regard your writing hobby as a business. That means looking at contests as a job you go to every day, five days a week. One contest win may not amount to much but several wins each week mount to a rewarding sum.

True, it's difficult to transform a hobby into a business. But to turn a pasttime into profit needs a rigorous, professional mindset. Luckily, the task is very gratifying.

Your first step is to set up a log book. Paper files quickly get out of date so use a spreadsheet program like Excel. But spreadsheets are hard to master. It's easier to use the Table utility in Word for this simple application.

Be careful to inspect the 'body copy' of the competitions. You'd be highly annoyed to see an entry rejected because of some small snafu of format or theme.

Research every contest that looks promising. Do a web search. Copy the contest details and closing date into your table and arrange the closing dates chronologically so you don't miss one.

Look for the most credible competitions online. Typically these will be events offering attractive prizes yet small entry fees. Beware of events which tout very big awards but a high entry fee. Your entries may be splendid yet your prospects of winning are remote.

Don't be distracted! This is no longer a hobby. It's your job. Allocate yourself a given time to tidy and submit each entry.

Stay with your plan and avoid the temptation to lay the schedule aside for a few weeks. It's difficult to return to a dinner that's gone cold!

Set priorities for the contests you will research. Use specific key words in your search. For example, "story contests UK 2010". The long tail keywords will bring you the best results.

Schedule your selected events to get the most attractive return on investment. Don't waste time on frivolous competitions which advertize no cash but merely some trivial coverage on the web.

Keep a record of the fees you spend on all the contests and the time and money you invest over a period. What payback are you getting in prizes? If it's not impressive, maybe you need to improve your stories or choose your contests more ruthlessly.

Determine to retain a precise log of everything you spend on your competition business. Contest charges, postal monies, stationery, even research costs. Frequently you can reclaim part of it as business expenses. Check your returns on investment continually.

To keep yourself motivated, plan what you'll do with your winnings. Once you've mastered the system, you'll be able to fund a lot of small luxuries. As your experience increases, you'll get big wins almost every week. It's a win-win contest engine.

How will you spend your award cash? Prepare mentally some holidays, dining out experiences, nice extras for the home. Imagine the ways you might enjoy these wins. You will stay energized - and you will see your creative energies flourishing.

Step by step, take on board those proven tactics and in a short time you will enjoy more competition wins. All are easy to make happen and they're a pleasure to do!