I’m going up to the junior campus of our local secondary college tomorrow to give a little talk about submitting work for competitions and for publication. I thought it might be useful on the blog, too – so here it is!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all about your writing. You want the reader to be able to love your piece – without having to work to hard to read it. So, your piece of writing should be double spaced, printed on one side only of the page, with wide margins.
\nDon\u2019t use a fancy font. Please. Especially not one of the handwriting ones. Why? Because they can be hard to read. They can distract the reader from your work. And those two things can make a reader grumpy, which is not what you want. Use a font with a serif \u2013 like this one, Times New Roman \u2013 because it\u2019s clear and easy to read. A sans (sans just means \u2018without\u2019) serif font \u2013 like Calibri \u2013 can look great, and you may want to use one for headings or part of a piece when it\u2019s published, but not for submissions.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t mix fonts in the same piece. Don\u2019t use underline<\/u>, bold<\/strong> or changes of size. This isn\u2019t about squashing your creativity, it\u2019s about giving your piece the best chance to be read and enjoyed. You might want to play around with type and font and layout when it\u2019s published, but as a submission, it needs to be naked so that all the reader is aware of is the writing.<\/p>\n Punctuation isn\u2019t about arbitrary rules either. It\u2019s about making it easy to be understood. Paragraph your work. This means a new line for a new idea, theme, event, train of thought. Look at a few novels and you will get the idea. When you start a new paragraph, indent.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a conversation, you need to make sure it\u2019s clear you know who\u2019s talking,\u201d said Susan. \u201cHave a look at what I\u2019ve done here.\u201d A few further pointers. Go easy on the exclamation marks!!!!! Make sure you\u2019ve spell-checked. See if you\u2019ve unintentionally over-used words or phrases or ideas. In one of my books, I had everyone constantly glancing or glaring or looking or staring\u2026 My editor told me it was all too much eyeball action. And finally, don\u2019t get discouraged if you don\u2019t get anywhere in a competition. Individual judges have their likes and dislikes, so partly it\u2019s the luck of the draw. Sometimes a judge might argue passionately for an unusual or confronting work he or she loves. But in the end, judges have to decide on a winner, so to reach a compromise they may choose something less edgy. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m going up to the junior campus of our local secondary college tomorrow to give a little talk about submitting work for competitions and for publication. I thought it might be useful on the blog, too – so here it … Continue reading
\n\u201cYes, you\u2019ve used quotes and a new line for each different speaker,\u201d said Jane Austen.
\n\u201cWhat a good idea,\u201d said John Green. “And if you\u2019ve finished a scene, you can put in a line break, and then go on to the next scene.”<\/p>\n
\nPut page numbers at the top or bottom of your work, along with the title. Sometimes you can put your name there, too – but often organisers of competitions want the work judged ‘blind’, so check first.<\/p>\n
\nIt takes courage to submit something for a competition or for publication so be proud of yourself. Good luck!<\/p>\n