1. Know Your Judge(s)

Familiarizing yourself with who is doing the judging (if that information is available) is near the top of the list of things that can help you excel in a contest. Look at who's judging a particular round or prompt of the contest and study the kinds of things they write and/or review themselves. You can learn a lot about what engages a judge, and therefore gives you a better chance of success. If your judge appears to have conservative or simple tastes, you're probably not going to do will with a big, bold, boundary-and-rating-pushing entry. If your judge appears to really like genre fiction, there's a good chance a genre piece will speak to them better than, say, a straight drama or piece of literary fiction.


2. Think Outside The Box

Coming up with a unique take on the prompt is critical, especially in contests where there are a lot of entries. Judges are reading entries responding to the same prompt, so if they're reading three, or five, or ten, or twenty-plus entries, they're all going to start to run together unless yours stands out. Try to come up with a take on the prompt that isn't the first thing that comes to mind; that's what a lot of other people are going to do. One technique that I've seen work effectively is to brainstorm three to five ideas for how to tackle a prompt ... and then throw those out and push yourself to come up with something more original than the low-hanging fruit that initially came to mind.


3. Check Out The Competition

Read the other entries that have been submitted for the contest round. It can be incredibly informative to learn what you're up against. You can see if other entrants have similar ideas to what you're considering doing, and whether the competition will be intense or if you think your chances are pretty good. There have been a number of contests that I've entered over the years because I was either liking my odds after checking out the other entries, or because seeing what someone else did inspired me to tackle my own entry in a new way.


4. Don't Give Up / Don't Get Discouraged

If you're really angling to win a particular contest (for example, one that has a really great prize, or a unique merit badge you want to win), keep at it. In cases like the official Writing.com contests, the judges and prompts change every round so each new round is a different configuration of elements that could lead to a win. In cases like recurring contests with the same judge(s), entering multiple times will teach you something each time (especially if the contest offers feedback from the judges). Learn from your prior failures and start fine-tuning your entries to match the feedback you're getting.


5. Take Risks

While this is similar to #2, I'm including it as its own number because the tactic is a little different. You can think outside the box without taking a risk. Taking risks is the idea that you're really going to put yourself out there and try something completely unexpected. This can be a great tactic when you're at a loss for anything else to do. If you're feeling uninspired by a prompt, or if you think the competition is particularly fierce, sometimes you just have to go for it and push the limits. This is a tactic that can lose as often as it wins, but taking risks usually means doing something memorable, and you'd be surprised how often doing something memorable is enough to make you stand out, which is enough to give you a place on the winner's podium.

EXCERPT: Althia snatched her keys off the shelf. She spun around to face her fuming parents and shouted, “I hate this place! I’m leaving and I won’t be coming back!” Before her father could say anything she slammed the door shut behind her.

EXCERPT: The second that she managed to pry her eyes open she knew that something wasn't quite right since she was staring up at the slate grey headliner of her X-Terra.

EXCERPT: The day she had long awaited was finally here. After teaching third and fifth graders for nearly forty-five years, Ethel Cunningham, who celebrated her seventieth birthday this past April, was finally enjoying the pleasures of retirement. Though she never married or had children of her own, she always had enough things to do and people she knew through her many travels to keep her company and from getting bored.

EXCERPT: “BA-BOM-BOM-BAaaum-BO-BA-Baaaum” Leon’s doorbell summoned him. Convenience allowed him to look at live video from his “smart” doorbell. A small parcel wrapped in brown paper and string had been dropped by a delivery driver. “Too bad the stupid door cam can’t bring it in,” Leon mumbled to himself. “Right, better get that before the porch pirates do.”

EXCERPT: The agile woman running through the forest wasn’t afraid. Has her long raven hair whipped in her face as she ran through the trees. The woman knew that the path that was ahead of her was unknown and there would be a slim chance she wouldn’t be around to see it again for a long while. It would be dangerous for her if she were to be caught before she got to where she was urgently going, but her mission-THIS- mission, far outweighed what would or will happen at that moment in time. She couldn’t change what had happened, but she could, hopefully with what happened she could help shape a better future for her people and the baby she was currently trying to ferry to safety. Her focuses on the path in front of her, but her ears listened as she was trained to listen so many years ago. Listened for any signs that she was being followed.

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