Submit Your Short Story!

If you're waiting to get published and don't know how to get there, the best way is to submit a short story or essay into a contest. The easiest way to get started is to search "writing contest" on Google. The best contests to enter are ones with no initial entry fee. That way, if you don't win anything, you won't feel like you lost money. Choose your contest carefully! If you pick one that is geared toward a subject you have little or no aptitude for, there's a good likelihood that you won't win. Also contests with prizes that motivate you are also good choices. If you are motivated, you'll write as well as you possibly can.

I've entered my short stories into contests and magazines many times, and have won. Winning contests is wonderful! You will feel confident, and you'll believe that you really can write well!

There is the possibility that you will lose a contest. Finding out that you haven't won is painful and one of the most discouraging things that can happen to a writer. It's like being told that you can't write well at all. What must be understood is that there are hundreds of entries, and yours may not have met the criteria exactly. It doesn't mean that you wrote poorly, it means you didn't write what the judges wanted.

When your short story is rejected, don't give up. Submit your work to other contests, and maybe you'll be lucky.

Some tips on submitting your short story are:

• Make your first sentence capture the judges. I read in a writing book that judges read the first sentence, and either consider it or toss it.
• Keep the judges interested all the way through your short.
• Follow the rules! This rule is critical.
• If you write a cover letter, don't bribe or beg the judges to publish your work.
  Be polite.

Good luck!

Write a Short Story

Short stories are my expertise. They're quick, easy, and the plot is easily and speedily developed.  A short story is any story under 7500 words in length. My story Goodbye Earth is 1700 words long, and is a very short story. If you enjoy writing and don't feel like writing a 200,000+ word epic novel, maybe you should try writing a short story. Anyway if it gets rejected by publishers you might not feel as bad. I only type at 38 wpm (errors deducted), so it would take me a long time to write a long story. I was astonished at how quickly people write long novels. I take about a month to write 25 pages. That's pretty sad.
So, if you're sick of trying to write a long novel, try writing short fiction.
Here are some questions you should ask yourself before attempting to write a short story.
Have I written numerous very short stories?
Am I comfortable with typing?
Do I love to write?
Am I ready to edit my short story honestly?

If you answered yes to all those questions, then the answer to the question "Can I write a short story?" is YES! Also I recommend taking a test to see how many words per minute you can type. Leave me a comment about your results!
http://www.typingtest.com/

If you want to get your start in magazines, it's good to know how to keep your first draft short. Isn't it horrible to leave your story frail and dying from page removal just to get it short enough to enter into a magazine or contest?