As we start a new season of competitions here at Write the World, we wanted to say how much we love reading your work each month—your writing is powerful, funny, moving, thought provoking, imaginative, and real. Thank you for sharing it with us. In turn, and in preparation for this coming competition season, we want to share some of our insights as to what makes a piece really stand out for us, as well as more details about the shortlisting process.
First, here’s a few tips that will help you submit your best work each month:
- Start your first draft as soon as the competition opens (and you can even start making a few notes on upcoming comps—you can see all current and upcoming competitions here!)
- Read through all the competition guidelines and additional resources. They are there to help you get familiar with the genre and are packed full of tips!
- Once you are happy with your first draft (it doesn’t have to be perfect) publish it on the site and submit for expert review. (Remember to also tick “Check here if you would like to get peer reviews on this piece” so your fellow writers can provide peer reviews!)
- Polish your final draft, taking into account the feedback you received from an expert reviewer or a fellow writer, then submit it!
- And, most importantly, keep writing, try out as many genres as possible (our weekly prompts are a great way to do this) and, of course, like all good writers, read voraciously!
So now what? You’ve crafted the best entry you can and submitted it to our competition. What happens in the week and a half between when entries are due and we announce the winners?
On the Wednesday after the competition closes, all the entries are divided between our shortlisting team of teachers and writers, and each shortlister carefully reads through each piece and picks their top 2-3 entrants. Then, we whittle the longlist down to the top 5-8 entries for the Guest Judge to review. From the shortlist, the Guest Judge chooses the winner and runner up, as well as best peer review.
Okay, you might be wondering, but what really goes on? How does a shortlister decide to advance a piece to the next round? What makes a piece the winning piece?
When we shortlisters are reading through our entries, we find that so many pieces contain flashes of brilliance and moments that move us. They show an understanding of craft, a facility with language, or a unique perspective. They have elements that tell us that the writer has a talent that deserves to be cultivated and recognized. Sometimes, with many outstanding pieces in the pile, it comes down to a certain magic of a particular submission: Does a piece make us think of the world or an issue in a new way? Does it resonate with us? Is the author’s voice fresh and true?
As shortlister and author Melissa De Silva (Singapore) says: “I often think of it as choosing from a bowl of fruit. The bowl may have mangoes, cherries, grapes, plums, and oranges. All delicious fruit you enjoy, each one singular and unique. But what do you choose if you can only choose one to eat that day? That can sometimes be the dilemma of a shortlister when choosing between pieces of writing that are all good.”
Ajay Nair, a former Write the World young writer and now shortlister, agrees: “As a former Write the World member, I was surprised by my personal experience of the shortlisting process: often, choosing between pieces comes down to personal opinion and gut feeling. The truth is that for every competition, there are many excellent pieces out there which may not be shortlisted or awarded.”
Most of us shortlisters are writers and artists ourselves, and being on the “judging” end of things has highlighted the importance of sticking to the craft of writing:
Eliza Fitcher (US), writer and actor, says “As a theater artist, I have had to get very comfortable with rejection, which is no easy task. Being a shortlister has reminded me that rejection is not a judgement of your abilities, but rather an invitation for you to keep putting yourself out there. I think of it less as a closed door, and more as an invitation to take another route! The more you write, the more you will learn about your unique voice as a writer. Being an artist takes grit!”
So what’s our message to you, dear writer, as we enter a new competition cycle? Simply, whether or not you win a competition, you are talented. Keep going!
Sincerely,
Write the World Shortlisters
Editor’s Note: Here at Write the World, we ALL love reading your competition submissions. We all have pieces that resonate with us each month (whether they are shortlisted or not!). This also goes for the rest of the WtW community—the thousands of young writers who are not only writing on our site, but reading too. At Write the World, there is always an eager audience just waiting to read your next draft.
