Enter Your Work to Win Cash Prizes

The 10th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition is accepting entries! We’re looking for fiction that’s bold, brilliant … but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or less. But don’t be too long about it—the deadline is December 1, 2009. The Grand-Prize winner will receive $3,000 (that’s $2—or more—per word). For guidelines, prizes and to enter online, click here. $15 entry fee. How sweet is that?

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And TheNextBigWriter is running two summer contests. You need to be a member of TheNextBigWriter to enter.

Create the Most Horrible Wedding That’s Out of This World

The theme of this contest is the wedding that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But as a twist, the story must be set in a science fiction or fantasy setting. Other than that, use your imagination and have fun.

We’re looking for the most creative, most entertaining story. One that melds a disasterous wedding with a credible science fiction and fantasy setting. Key elements that we’ll be looking for include:

• Well conceived characters
• Credible science fiction and fantasy settings
• A creative and original story
• A well written story.

The story should be a minimum of 1,000 words but under 3,500 words.

Prize: $100.

Contest submission deadline: August 31, 2009.

Can You Write a Chaiku that Rocks?

Submit a Chaiku with a nature theme. Writer about plants, trees, weather, ocean, or anything else in the natural world that inspires your muse.

We will be judging the Chaikus on their ability to tell a story or paint a scene within the constraints of the Chaiku format.

So what is a Chaiku? Chaiku is a neologism derived from the first two letters of Chinese and the last four of HAIKU. It refers to the notion that Chinese poetic meter can play the same role as the meter of haiku in the composition of verse in English.

Whereas a haiku consists of three lines, the first and third containing five syllables and the second seven, chaiku consists of four lines, each containing four syllables, that is to say either four words of one syllable, or four syllables regardless of number of words. Chaiku may consist of one or more quatrains. Rhyme is permitted but not required.

EXAMPLES

Four words of one syllable per line

Though clothes should suit
Men short or tall
Souls dress in love
One size fits all

Four syllables per line, regardless of number of words

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you

Prize: $50.

Contest submission deadline: August 15, 2009.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

~ by Courtney Vail on July 3, 2009.