Contest: Oregon Writers Colony (Deadline Aug. 20)

OWC WRITING CONTEST 2007

Short Stories: Both True and Imagined

Deadline: Postmarked no later than Monday, August 20th, 2007

CASH AWARDS!

1st Place in each category: $200 2nd Place in each category: $100
3rd Place in each category: $50 1st Honorable Mention/Certificate of Achievement.
Additional Honorable Mentions credited in Colonygram and on OWC website.

FUN FACTS

» First place winners are featured on the cover of the Colonygram.
» All winners are invited to read excepts from their stories at OWC Presents in October
» Several contest-winning stories have since been published
» For Writers of books: the contest deadline can goad you into creating a marketable short story from y our unpublished book. Publishing a story from the book attracts agents and editors to your whole book.

» Entering the contest supports the Oregon Writers Colony – whose mission is to support you.

Judging Criteria (not necessarily in order of importance)

Plot (hook, complications and satisfying resolution)
Sensory detail
Originality
Depth of character
Evokes emotion in reader (e.g. chuckle, sadness)
Tension
Theme (what story is about beyond the plot, e.g. duty, change)
Mechanics (grammar, point of view, showing/telling etc)
Follows the contest director's nit-picky Contest Rules

Contest Rules

Original, unpublished submissions, postmarked and submitted now thru August 14th.
Word limit – 2500 max, fiction and nonfiction
Enter as many stories as you like.
One story, one entry, per submission packet
Fees per entry: $10/OWC member, $15/non-member, $10 optional fee for a brief, supportive critique.

Submission packet check off list:

- SASP (Self addressed stamped postcard) for receipt/your peace of mind
- Four stapled copies of one story.
- Standard manuscript format (double-spaced, .5" paragraph indents, at least one-inch margins, 12 pt. Courier or Times New Roman font).5" paragraph indents, at least one-inch margins, 12 pt. Courier or Times New Roman font)
- On first page, specify word count and category (fiction, nonfiction).
- NO author information on story. This is an anonymous contest.
- One business envelope labeled fiction or nonfiction, with the following sealed inside:
- Check for entry fee, can combine with optional critique fee.
- 3x5 card (please, no odd-sized cards) with: Category (fiction, nonfiction); Your name, address, email address, phone; Title of entry; Where you found out about this contest
- #10 SASE for contest results and optional critique (additional $10) which will be mailed in early October

Mail to: OWC Contest, C. Lill Ahrens, 306 NW 32nd St., Corvallis OR 97330.

Questions? Contact: C. Lill Ahrens, contest coordinator. cclill@comcast.net