How Do I Know My Poem (or story or essay) Is Ready To Share?

One of the most common mistakes writers, especially newer writers, make is to send out their work before it is ready. How do you know when your piece is ready to send out into the cold, cruel world of publishers, editors, contest judges and critics? Let's look at a few things that should tell you "WAIT!! Don't send this out yet!"

1) Your manuscript is riddled with typos, misspelled words, poor punctuation, etc. I'm amazed at how many intelligent writers send out their work without properly proofreading it. Spellcheck is not a proper proofreader. One set of eyes (your own) is not enough proofreading unless it is a very short piece such as a haiku. Always send it around to a qualified friend or acquaintance for proofreading only. You'd be surprised how many mistakes slip past your own eyes.

2) You haven't followed the guidelines EXACTLY. Judges tell me that the number one reason they reject poems in contests is failure to follow the rules. If the guidelines state "ten syllables per line", don't try to sneak in eleven. If the rules say "Put name on only one copy in upper right corner", don't autograph it at the bottom of each page. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse. The guidelines for any contest, magazine, publisher, etc. are readily available. Read them and stick to them religiously.

3) You have not researched your market. I don't care if you just wrote the greatest romance man or woman has ever seen, Scientific American is NOT going to buy it. Neither is a Shakespearean sonnet going to win a free verse contest. It is up to you to do the research, know your market, then target the proper one(s).

So, how then do you know your literary masterpiece is ripe and ready to sell on the open market? You must write, rewrite, edit, share, correct, tinker and rewrite again. Critique groups are an invaluable tool for writers. Qualified, caring writers in your genre are unbeatable when it comes to improving your work. If you fancy yourself a playwright, join a group of playwrights and stay in touch via e-mail, snail mail, Facebook, Twitter, phone, or even (OhMy!) face-to-face. The same goes for poets, fiction writers, essayists, and so on.

Reading your work out loud is a great tool for locating rough spots in the text, stumbling points in your poem, rough edges on your memoir. Hearing it read by someone else is also a wonderful way to pick up on those troublesome weak spots.

Most importantly, for any type of writing, you must suck it up and just sit down (or stand if you prefer) and WRITE. Write regularly. Write often. Write mentally, write physically. Phil Mickelson did not win the Masters by playing a round of golf at his local country club once a month. Take your writing seriously, or you won't be taken seriously.

If you can't find the time to write, MAKE the time to write. Try using writing as an excuse NOT to do something else for a change (like doing those troublesome dirty dishes).

Until next post, stay cool, stay safe, and stay at your writing desk just a few more minutes each day.

Contests, contests, contests!!!!

This time of year, I am busily preparing entries for a myriad of contests around the country. Some are poetry only, others include fiction and nonfiction. As a general rule, I try to hit contests that provide the most bang for my buck, since I am not among the one percent of writers lucky and good enough to earn a living from slinging ink. I look for contests that offer several categories for one low fee, or a low fee per entry in each. Contests that award only one prize are generally a waste of time, and contests that have no entry fee, though inviting, usually receive ten blue-zillion entries, drastically reducing your chances of winning. So, what are the contests I enter?

Most of the state poetry societies run good contests at a cheap price. I usually try to enter a good number of them. Some writers' organizations run contests that offer all types of writing awards, such as the Springfield Writers' Guild from Missouri, Saturday Writers, also from Missouri, and The Write Helper online. I enter several sets of convention/conference contests, as well. White County (Ark.) Creative Writers Conference in September, Maumelle (Ark.) Writers' Conference in November, and Ozark (Ark./Mo.) Writers Conference in October are all good ones.

In order to be a good contester, you simply MUST be ORGANIZED! No excuses. Buy a large wall calendar from Office Depot or WalMart with big squares for the dates and write your deadlines in ahead of time. Mark a reminder at least a week before the deadline to spark your steel-trap memory. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAY TO GET YOUR MANUSCRIPT(S) READY TO MAIL. You will pull out any hair you may have left, and you very possibly will fail to follow EXACTLY the guidelines for entries if you try to rush.

Make sure you have proper sized manuscript envelopes so the judges don't have to iron out your pages to get rid of the curls. Most judges won't do it. They'll simply relegate your unprofessional papers to the trash pile. They have too many other entries that are neat and mailed in proper envelopes to worry about entries jammed in too small envelopes.

Whatever you decide to enter, treat it as an audition of your talents and skills as a professional writer. Send only your best.

Next time, "How do I know my poem or story or essay is ready to enter a contest?"