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What criteria would you use to select a poem for competition entry?

edited January 2017 in Writing
I keep seeing comps that I would like to enter, but I am so overwhelmed by the number of poems I have written that I end up not entering any.

Comments

  • edited January 2017
    It is very hard to tell what the judges (and also pre-readers) will be looking for. I have sent in poems simply to make up a '3-for-2' entry, that have done better than the ones I really liked!
    I can only suggest 3 things:-
    i) read the winners from previous years. Do they have a 'style'? Are yours like that? e.g. my poems tend to be quite simple in their language and structure. Some comps seem to like the more heavily metaphorical ones, so I would doubt I would do well in those.
    ii) get someone else to read them and see what impresses them. It can sometimes be hard to tell how much of what you were feeling/trying to express has actually reached the page successfully.
    iii) enter comps that publish a long and shortlist so at least you are likely to get some feedback!

    Other than that, you can only go with your gut!
  • There are always poems that deep down you prefer to the others you have written. I'd use one of those. Print them out first. If you alter anything, don't send them off for at least 3 days. Each time you alter, 3 days.
  • Enter ALL the competitions, that way you can send all your poems out. ;)
  • edited January 2017
    Enter ALL the competitions, that way you can send all your poems out. ;)
    Interesting strategy, PM. I had noted in another thread that I've 'highlighted' quite a few comps from the Writing Magazine supplement that I will enter before the end of March. We all know that most levy a fee (for both poetry and prose) BUT is it only one's experience that steers us to the more 'appropriate' comps?

    Some, of course, are credible by name - 'Swanrick' comes to mind, yet others, and I'm being very cautious here, seem as if they're a front for bolstering an ailing organisation.

  • I also find this really difficult, TN. But for the opposite reason - I don't write enough poems and I don't think that those I have written are good enough.

    I look at the judges' own work, look at what has won previous competitions and look at the poem I'm thinking of entering through narrowed eyes - then I don't enter it because I think it's crap! :(
  • I enter very few comps these days, I have a very limited budget for entry fees and similar issues to Seaview, so tend to find myself weighing up whether there's any point in 'wasting money' on the fee and, nine times out of ten, not bothering.

  • Originality always stands out.

    You could try entering a smaller competition first and see how you do...
  • Slightly off topic, but finance has been mentioned. I've only been writing a few months and resolved to fund this new hobby via selling on Ebay (I've given up work and am living off savings until publishers enter into a bidding war for my (work in progress) book!). I'd never sold anything before but it's really easy and just clearing out clutter has paid for everything to do with writing for at least the next year, from paper and ink to competition fees.

    My only success with poetry was to win a sack of bird seed a few months ago. I think good poems are as varied as good novels and would agree with other posters that you submit any that you think are worthy of an audience - you never know what will grab the judge.
  • We all know that most levy a fee (for both poetry and prose)
    Perhaps, but there are also hundreds of free ones.
  • Slightly off topic, but finance has been mentioned. I've only been writing a few months and resolved to fund this new hobby via selling on Ebay (I've given up work and am living off savings until publishers enter into a bidding war for my (work in progress) book!). I'd never sold anything before but it's really easy and just clearing out clutter has paid for everything to do with writing for at least the next year, from paper and ink to competition fees.

    My only success with poetry was to win a sack of bird seed a few months ago. I think good poems are as varied as good novels and would agree with other posters that you submit any that you think are worthy of an audience - you never know what will grab the judge.
    OMG, Keith. you do know that the average wage of a published author is £4,000 per annum, don't you? One of my friends had 6 good, best selling books under her belt before she gave up work, and in fact still does one day a week. Another works for Transworld, churning out excellent books, one a year, and she, too, has a full time job.

  • Yes, lots of good points. I suppose the key is to look at the judge's own work, and at past winners, as you say. And, yes, every winner is original, so it's hard to know what compares!

    I much prefer a theme to narrow down the options. I've had a few published, and I've just counted up sixteen shortlistings and one win for poetry - but that doesn't include the very BIG name comps, so not quite there...

    I think I've just read them too often to be able to assess if they're any good, and now, when I look in my Poetry file, I just see hundreds of titles.
    'Wood and trees' springs to mind.

    If I can whittle possibles down to just a few, I might ask for some objective advice!


    You've given up paid work to become a writer, Keith? Eeek.


  • edited January 2017
    As you have so many, and so many shortlistings (well done btw!), have you considered entering a competition that asks for a small collection/pamphlet?
  • Yes, I did do that once, heather.
  • 16 shortlistings is fantastic, TN. You must be doing everything right. Bridehood can't be far away.
  • Hi, I've only just seen this thread.
    Yes, poetry for competition is hard especially when they don't have a word/line count or clear theme wanted. I always struggle with knowing if my work IS poetry, or just ramblings.
  • Poetry always has a rhythm, whether it is rhymed or free verse.
  • Emily, some 'ramblings' make very good poetry, even if only appreciated by a select few.
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