Tips for Winning Writing Contests

Tips for Winning Writing Contests Entering writing contests is great practice for writing, editing, revising and submitting your work, whether it is creative nonfiction or flash or longer fiction. The more awards you can obtain, the better it looks on your resume and makes you more attractive when applying for specific writing gigs and searching for a literary agent. Having won several different awards for my work over the years, Ive developed three tips for finding success with writing contests. Select the right contest for your work. There are so many contests out there, its important to do your research when deciding where to submit your work. Are you familiar with the publication or website offering the contest? Are the entry fees reasonable? I personally dont enter contests where the entry fee is more than $30, but thats a personal choice. Research previous winning stories to get a feel for what the contest is looking for. When I entered the Writers Digest Popular Fiction Awards last year, I looked over the categories and decided I wanted to use the contest as an opportunity to create two new short stories- one a suspense/thriller and one in the young adult category. I read back through several years winners for the suspense category and then got to work. Admittedly, I didnt research the young adult category quite as much. My story, The Polaroid, won first place in the 2017 Popular Fiction Awards suspense category. The young adult story didnt go anywhere, so I filed it away. Make your submission unique. Follow the guidelines for stories to the letter. If theres a prompt, follow it and stay within the requested word count. Think of a unique angle for a submission. As a judge for the WOW! Women on Writing quarterly flash fiction contest, I read through a lot of preliminary submissions. One subject we see a lot are stories that focus on dementia and Alzheimers Disease or the disintegration of marriages. So, if you are going to write about those topics, take unique angles on them, such as sharing the story from the perspective of a neighbor or from the mind of the person with the illness, or giving a failing marriage short story a twist ending the reader isnt expecting. Use contests to find a home for work youve already produced. As I mentioned earlier, I had written a young adult story for the WD Popular Fiction Awards that didnt place. A few months later I came across another writing contest opportunity from the Womens National Book Association. I thought the story, titled The Name Youre Not Supposed to Call Women, would be a good fit for this particular contest. I read through a few of the previous winners and submitted my entry. Within two months I received notification that the story won Honorable Mention in the 2018 WNBA Writing Contest Young Adult Category. I was glad that I hadnt let the story languish and was able to find it a home in this particular contest, giving me another great credit for my resume. Writing short stories has helped breathe new life into my writing. There are also plenty of creative nonfiction contests out there, including one that WOW! Women on Writing holds each quarter. Try your hand at submitting using these tips and you may be surprised Links: WOW! Quarterly Flash Fiction Contest http://wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php#FlashFictionContest   WOW! Quarterly Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest http://wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php#EssayContest

Milestone 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Milestone 2 - Essay Example However, even the best individual encounters circumstances where his/her ethical and moral standards are tested (Bowen, 2009). The Annie Dookhan lab scandal is at the peak of legal, moral and ethical misconduct necessitating an overhaul of the American criminal justice system to avert future injustices. Forensic science can reveal information regarding whether or not a crime was committed, who committed the crime, and what transpired during the crime (James et al., 2009). Mishandling, manipulating, or misinterpreting even one piece of evidence could destroy a person’s life or pervert justice. It is vital that forensic personnel allow evidence to speak for itself without manipulations or errors (Bowen, 2009). Most people trust that scientific analyses provide trustworthy proof regarding the interpretation of evidence, failing to consider that humans handle the evidence, a situation that puts the evidence at risk of contamination (Bowen, 2009). From the scene of the crime to the lab and all the way into the courtroom, forensic personnel should always display good ethical and moral character, while providing trustworthy, first class forensic service (Bowen, 2009). Dookhan is just a drop of water in the ocean of a corrupt criminal justice system whose sole selfish ambition is to reap huge out of crimes committed. In the process, guilty individuals are set free while the innocent are convicted. When someone falsifies reports, interferes with evidence, misguides investigators, and fabricates credentials as Dookhan did (Jacobs, 2013), it shows that the whole system tolerates unethical and immoral conduct. Moreover, the legal backgrounds are so weak that these blatant misconducts go unnoticed and not remedied. Dookhan is just but a sacrificial lamb. The real issue should be the identification of the legal loopholes that lead to such gross unethical and immoral behaviors in the criminal justice system. Prosecuting Dookhan will not

Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Critique - Essay Example But can morality and law go hand in hand? A moral duty calls for a father to oblige a child’s need for food but law wouldn’t understand the necessity hence highlighting the action as an act of stealing. Imagining plays a vital role in assessing any situation. Perhaps one is not encountering a critical patch in life but can imagine the hurdles and bottlenecks a person has to face in the same scenario. Only imagination can lead to empathy and empathy does not connect with law at all. One needs to understand the aim of author here, who is basically trying to estimate the situation with a legal perspective and moral view. America is looked upon by other nations, who have claimed over the years the view of empathy through indulging into activities for welfare of other states. However, it gives a negative impression if just claims are left to believe in and lofty rhetoric negates our actions. The rights to all are discussed and agreed upon by all but to actually distribute and share them comes under the implication part which unfortunately is not being practiced and somehow law is forbidding it without our knowledge. If only justice can be attain by law and values can be learnt through n orms our nation could be experiencing a dilemma of fear. Fear to see and feel what actually brings misery and helplessness in a society. Immigrants do abide hurdles to adjust into a different culture but to understand the various reasons; they leave their zone of comfort one can only see means of obtaining financial or social security. When we teach our younger ones to imagine, the horizon of their thinking can lead to a global change. This idea can not be exactly legitimate but will be crucial and will contain ethical responsibility in it. Hunger and well fare of offspring are reasons which are commonly observed for a person to take desperate measures. In the history we can see, differences among cultures and regional diversity was regarded

Information Technology Management Phase 1 DB2 Essay

Information Technology Management Phase 1 DB2 - Essay Example the article states, the employees spend a lot of time talking to their families, friends, and their specific target market noting market trends and emerging needs. Through these exposures, they are able to design products which are suitable to the lifestyle of their market. It should also be noted that Pottery Barn’s employees are aligned with the company’s goals. They have absorbed a culture of developing nice looking, high quality, and reasonably priced product. When planning to penetrate their market, these strategies can also be pursued by Pottery Barns. Their employees should also be strategically aligned with the customer value that the company wants to deliver as well as market-driven. The SWU identifies their clients as â€Å"post-college singles, newlyweds, and new families.† From these descriptions there is a common need which SWU wants to fulfill—to be able to design, manufacture, and sell products which bring convenience but are priced significantly lower in order to maximize the purchasing power of the market. The key strategy in SWU is cost leadership that is, offering high quality products at a lower cost. On the other hand, Pottery Barns customer base has branched out from newlyweds, to kids, and even to teens. The company is now looking at the needs of almost the entire market for furniture because of the huge profit and business opportunity. Aside from emphasizing a low-cost strategy, however, Pottery Barn has the strong commitment of providing really high quality products which makes living in this fast paced world more convenient and comfortable. The company draws its strength in the unique and customer-driven designs as well as reasonable pricing scheme for its various products. Thus, in a sense Pottery Barn is a direct competitor of SWU when it comes to serving post-college singles, newlyweds, and starting families. However, Pottery Barns market is relatively larger than that of SWU. From the conception of a product to its sales in

A proposed study on facility planning and design in manufacturing Assignment

A proposed study on facility planning and design in manufacturing process - Assignment Example Three types exist in manufacturing system, which includes process layout, product layout and group layout and they are further classified into flow line, cell and centre (Khusna, Siti, Jamasri, and Hideki 1). A techniques recommended in planning analysis of a facility is simulation techniques, which helps the designer in identifying the assembly system storage in this stochastic situation. It is developed as an analysis tool reconfiguration of line to handle the future demand fluctuation. Simulation tools in planning include Flexsim software, QUEST (17), Arena (9), Witness (21), ProModel (25) and IGRIP (17). The tools used for optimizing layout design include Simulated Annealing (SA), Tabu Search (TS), and Genetic Algorithms (GA) (Khusna et el. 3). Different studies have been carried out by different authors to explain the application of those tools. Different investigation have been carried out to identify the appropriate tools for planning and manufacturing process though they have been faced with limitation such as time. The studies done found out that the facility design analysis such as material handling system and layout are crucial in manufacturing industries (Khusna et el. 3). Khusna Dwijayanti, Siti Zawiah Md Dawal, Jamasri, and Hideki Aoyama. A Proposed Study on Facility Planning and Design in Manufacturing Process. Viewed on May 2010, from

Developmental theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Developmental theories - Essay Example Each of the stages of development in Erikson's theory is a "sensitive phase" that represents the optimum time period within which to resolve a crisis (Slater & Bremner, 2003). Whether the resolution is positive or negative, the results function as the foundation of the next crisis period (Slater & Bremner, 2003). Middle childhood, was also termed the Latency stage by Erikson and occurred during the ages of 6-11 years (Slater & Bremner, 2003). The beginning of this period paralleled the concrete operational stage of cognitive development of Jean Piaget's (1952), where the child begins to conceptualise more systematically, can consider several factors of a situation at once (decentration), begins to classify and categorize, and can perform conservation (as cited in Austrian, 2002). The child must resolve the socio-emotional conflict of inferiority vs. accomplishment (Slater & Bremner, 2003). Children at this time are encouraged to work together on tasks and so the child compares their ability to create and achieve goals with the achievements met by their peers (Austrian, 2002). The significant others at this time, according to Erikson, will be peers at school and in their neighbourhood (Slater & Bremner, 2003). However, their social sphere in general is extending beyond their parents and famil y, to incorporate teachers and other members of the community with whom they are coming into more contact with (Slater & Bremner, 2003). As such, all these social beings contribute to the socio-emotional growth of the child (Slater & Bremner, 2003). Systematic instruction is required for the child during the latency stage, with the direct involvement of relevant role models critical to the child's development of a sense of industry (Coughlan & Welsh-Breetzke, 2002). Lev Vygotsky (1978) also emphasised the critical need for social interaction for development, although his theory focused on the social process of learning for cognitive development (as cited in Austrian, 2002). According to moral theory of Lawrence Kholberg (1970), middle childhood is a time of progressing from the stages of preconventional to conventional morality (as cited in Austrian, 2002). Hence, the opinions of social others become more important and the child's behaviour conforms to meet social norms (Austrian, 2 002).Erikson viewed the latency period as a developmental period where the child must learn to tame their imagination, and orient themselves towards learning the social norms of their culture, and of learning the educational requirements for their age (Slater & Bremner, 2003). The child continues to develop their sense of autonomy and independence as initiated in the

A proposed study on facility planning and design in manufacturing Assignment

A proposed study on facility planning and design in manufacturing process - Assignment Example Three types exist in manufacturing system, which includes process layout, product layout and group layout and they are further classified into flow line, cell and centre (Khusna, Siti, Jamasri, and Hideki 1). A techniques recommended in planning analysis of a facility is simulation techniques, which helps the designer in identifying the assembly system storage in this stochastic situation. It is developed as an analysis tool reconfiguration of line to handle the future demand fluctuation. Simulation tools in planning include Flexsim software, QUEST (17), Arena (9), Witness (21), ProModel (25) and IGRIP (17). The tools used for optimizing layout design include Simulated Annealing (SA), Tabu Search (TS), and Genetic Algorithms (GA) (Khusna et el. 3). Different studies have been carried out by different authors to explain the application of those tools. Different investigation have been carried out to identify the appropriate tools for planning and manufacturing process though they have been faced with limitation such as time. The studies done found out that the facility design analysis such as material handling system and layout are crucial in manufacturing industries (Khusna et el. 3). Khusna Dwijayanti, Siti Zawiah Md Dawal, Jamasri, and Hideki Aoyama. A Proposed Study on Facility Planning and Design in Manufacturing Process. Viewed on May 2010, from