Wednesday, December 5, 2018

How to #Win a #ShortStory Contest!

How to Win a Spot in the IWSG Anthology Contest
by Gwen Gardner

I’m always impressed by the quality of writing in the Insecure Writers Support Group anthologies. To me, it’s a prestigious compilation of stories by respected members of this growing community of writers. When I won top spot in the third anthology, Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, I was sure someone made a mistake. I mean, I write cozy mysteries. Cozies are gentle reads. They are clean, low key, and low action. Any violence happens off stage and sex is never mentioned.

So how did a cozy mystery story win the top spot in the anthology? First, I went back to the basics that every writer knows: hook, strong verbs and dialogue, quirky characters with flaws, a grounded setting, show rather than tell, and edit, edit, edit. We all know the drill.

I always knew the competition was tough. That much was apparent once I’d read all the stories in Tick Tock. But now that I’m a judge of the next IWSG anthology, it’s become even more apparent. The margin of excellence is so narrow between the remaining competitors that it’s nearly impossible to choose a favorite. As a judge, how do I pick my top three favorites when they all deserve to win? What is that extra something you can do that gives you the winning edge?

Go back to the guidelines:
  1. Keep your eye on the theme and genre. In Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, the theme was time/clock and the genre mystery/crime/thriller. When I won, the title I submitted to the contest was, A Stitch in Crime. It’s a play on the old saying, “A Stitch in Time”. So you can see I used both the time theme (through a play on words) and the genre (crime) in the title.
  2. Continue the theme throughout your story. In my story, time was running short to reunite a little girl with the nun who raised her.
  3. Come full circle by tying the ending of the story to the beginning. In the beginning of my story, my main character was learning how to cross-stitch. Towards the end of the story, a cross-stitch panel ends up being the clue that solves the mystery.
I hope these tips help. For myself, I continue to study the writing craft, and I’m always reminding myself of the basics. Over on my Pinterest page, I have over 2000 pins separated into 37 different sections that are chock full of everything writing related, from inspirational quotes by famous authors to detailed how-tos on the craft. Check it out!

How do you stay up on the writing craft?
Any tips or tricks you use?


Gwen Gardner’s story, A Stitch in Crime, won the feature spot in the IWSG Anthology #3. She writes clean, cozy, lighthearted mysteries with a strong ghostly element. Since ghosts feature prominently in her books, she has a secret desire to meet one face to face – but will run screaming for the hills if she ever does.

She thinks there’s nothing better than a good mystery (being an excellent armchair detective herself), unless it’s throwing a ghost or two into the mix just to “liven” things up. Don’t worry, though. Ghosts may be difficult to keep in line, but they’re harmless—mostly. And it turns out they’re pretty good sleuths, too.

Gwen adores travel and experiencing the cultures and foods of different countries. She is always up for an adventure and anything involving chocolate – not necessarily in that order.

26 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You did tie it all together nicely.
And yes, the top stories are all so good. Good luck picking!

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks, Alex. I worked really hard on it and tried to cover all the bases. I feel so blessed and honored to have won a spot. I saw how tough it was to choose between stories as a judge. It comes down to nitpicking!

Jemi Fraser said...

I loved your cozy story!
I didn't enter this anthology competition (life went completely sideways for a bit) but the story I started for it has potential and is nagging at me to finish it! It must be tough to find the top 3 stories in what I bet is a wonderful pile of writing!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I loved your story (and the character) and your play on words with the title. It was perfect.

Gwen Gardner said...

It was so tough to choose! Like I told Alex, it came down to nitpicking. They were all so good!

Juneta key said...

Great tips. I thought you had a great story too. Happy IWSG Day.

Gwen Gardner said...

Thank you, Diane, I really had fun coming up with it too :)

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks, Juneta, you've been so supportive of the anthology, You Rock!

Carrie-Anne said...

Good luck on judging! I had to trim 1,200 words out of my story not only to get it down to wordcount limits (which then gave me room to add in 900 new words), but to put the meeting of the couple much earlier, without so much lead-up.

Gwen Gardner said...

Carrie-Anne, cutting and rewriting is part of the process! I'm in the middle of a short story that I've been struggling with. I was trying to fix it, but it's just not working. So rewrite, here I come!

Christine Clemetson said...

Your story was awesome! Such great tips here.

Gwen Gardner said...

All the stories were awesome! The next anthology is excellent too. I’m excited for the winners to be announced.

Tanza Erlambang - Every Day Issues said...

useful tips.
thank you for sharing

The Cynical Sailor said...

Great tips, Gwen! BTW, I love how you've woven humor into your bio with the reference to running away if you ever meet a ghost :-)

Gwen Gardner said...

You're welcome, my pleasure :)

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks, Ellen. I had fun with my bio, LOL.

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Good post! Yes, keeping the themes and requirements in mind is important, as is keeping the story tight! I like the point about bringing the ending back around to the beginning, too. I'm not as good at that. I'll have to think about it more!

Gwen Gardner said...

Keeping it tight is probably the hardest part. That's why cutting is important too. But it's hard!

Angela Brown said...

Your short story was, indeed, a very enjoyable read.

Thank you for the tips.

Gwen Gardner said...

Thank you, Angela. Your input as my critique partner helped me to make it a great little story!

Cherie Reich said...

Those are fantastic tips, Gwen! And it can be terribly hard to judge stories. Sometimes it's the smallest of things that make one story a winner over another, and, even then, it's all subjective.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I judged Write Club one year and came out with a much better sense of why writing was so hard- there is tons of talent for us to compete with.

These are great tips. I enjoy a tight story.

Heather R. Holden said...

Great tips! So helpful not just for contests, but story-crafting in general. And I can only imagine how tough it must be to judge countless amazing stories like that!

Gwen Gardner said...

You’re so right, Cherie. Subjective is the key word. And it can change on any given day.

Gwen Gardner said...

So many talented people these days!

Gwen Gardner said...

Judging was eye-opening for sure. So much talent that I had to keep revisiting the stories and what I liked about them in order to choose—a nearly impossible situation!