Advice on Writing for Competitions in 2025

If you have a poem, short story, or other piece of writing you feel is ready for the world to see, you may consider entering it into a writing competition (as opposed to submitting it to a journal or magazine, for example). Writing competitions may offer enticing payouts and a chance to grow your audience. But are they worth it? Here are some things I have discovered while submitting to competitions.

Competitions are often a net negative, financially. Most competitions have an entry fee, but not all awards cover the cost to enter—so even if you win the contest you may lose money. However, winning or placing in these competitions looks great in your portfolio or resume.

Do you write for the competition? Or do you wait for a competition that matches one of your finished stories? It’s a little of both, but mostly the former. Last year I entered a competition with a modified version of a story I had just finished a few weeks earlier. The competition required incorporating the element of a reoccurring dream. I altered my story to meet these criteria and won the competition. I did not like the story I submitted as much as the original, but you don’t enter a competition to lose. There are rules, and the goal is to win.

Avoid rushing to deadlines and produce good writing. If you rush to get a story or poem ready for a looming competition you just learned about, how confident will you feel about winning? Go ahead and write or modify your story, but take the time to make it good. If it’s ready in time for the competition, you will feel good about submitting a solid and thoughtful entry. If it’s not ready, keep writing until it is. There will be another competition for it someday, and you have lost nothing by crafting writing you are proud of.

Keep a good submission log. Some competitions do not allow simultaneous entries, meaning you cannot submit a story to them that you currently have submitted to another competition. You also don’t want to submit a story or poem to a competition that has already rejected it. A simple spreadsheet works well to track where and when you submitted each story, whether it was accepted, and if you received any feedback. This is also good advice when submitting to journals, agents, editors, or publishers.

Build up a large story bank. While you should try your best to stay ahead of competition deadlines, some have short entry windows and you may discover others unexpectedly. If you’re constantly writing, you will have a pretty big story folder filled with everything from vague ideas to nicely polished, finished pieces. These can give you a significant head start over other writers in the competition who are starting from scratch.