Tips: Preparing for Competitions

Preparing for the poetry competitions.

Its always worth entering a poem or two to build your confidence if not to launch your career and get noticed as a writer. But how do you get inspired to write in time?

I also follow a few simple rules to get started


1. Read the guidelines.

This is extremely important. Don't waste your time working on a beautifully written piece of work only for it to be rejected because it exceeds the word limit. What a waste! And get it in on time!

2. Read about the judges.

I particularly recommend doing this as each judge tends to express what they are looking for in the poetry that they will be judging. This could help you decide, not only your subject matter, but also whether to work with form or free style.

3. Read about the magazine.

Have a look at the poems which have won in the past. Also looking at the type of material the magazine publishes is a good indication of what material they are looking for.

4. Try to stand out

Poetry is not meant to be boring. Its expressive and it can be technical in structure. Poetry uses words to paint an image which changes how the world is viewed by the ordinary reader.

5. Your a writer all day.

If you keep your mind open for writing ideas throughout the day your bound to be inspired. Read Poetry, fiction, newspapers keep your mind in shape with ideas and vocabulary. Write wherever you are: on your phone, hand, paper, tablet etc, don't just wait until you get home.

Happy Writing