Summer of Submission: Writing a standout short story
The Sheffield Short Story competition has just re-launched for 2024. With the juicy theme of Secrets and Lies, it’s a great competition for aspiring writers to enter, especially if they’re Sheffield-based. The winners present their stories at an event during the Off the Shelf festival in October and there are prizes to be won. But what makes a story a competition winner? Our founder, Beverley Ward, was one of the judges last year so we asked her to tell us what made a story stand out for her.
Judging a writing competition is always a really interesting experience. Firstly, it’s good to see the fascinating variety of ways in which writers approach the same theme and to read an array of different stories. What’s more interesting for me though, is to see the way in which different judges respond to the submissions. Whenever I’ve been involved in judging a competition, the judges never agree on the winners which reassures me as a writer that, to some degree, what gets published really is subjective. That said, it’s also really interesting to observe what it takes to make a really good short story for me and how often writers make the same errors with their writing.
We shared out the judging amongst a team of judges, but this is what I was looking for when I selected my winners.
A story with a beginning, middle and an end in which something changed for the main character.
It was surprising to me to see how rare it was to read a story which took me on a real journey. A lot of the submissions I read were situations rather than stories. In many cases they had nice descriptions of Sheffield settings but not much was happening on a plot level which left me feeling unsatisfied as a reader. For me, a story needs to have a moment of transformation of some kind. Something clearly needs to be different at the end from the beginning even if it’s only a small change. I need to feel that a character has been on a journey and emerged different in some way. When you begin your story, I’d advise you to think first about what change is at the heart of your story.
2. A story that made me think or made me feel something
This is connected to the first criteria. For me, a story has to have a point. It’s not just the main character that should be transformed at the end of a story, in my view, the reader should be transformed too. Last year there were some well-written stories that just failed to move me. Think about how you want your reader to feel when they’ve finished your story and then take pains to make sure you execute that aim.
3. A story that was well-written.
This sounds obvious and, to some degree, is also subjective, but I was looking for some evidence of writing flair. What does this mean? For me, it’s a well-honed sentence, an interesting metaphor, a lyrical phrasing. It might be a description of a place or person that vividly comes to life or a neat bit of alliteration. some smart wordplay or witty humour. I’m looking for style and panache. It’s hard to describe what it is, but I know it when I see it!
4. A story with no major flaws.
Last year, there were some stories that contained original ideas or pleasing prose, but they were let down by the common errors that beginners often make and I didn’t feel able to award prizes to writers who had made the following mistakes:
Unconsciously changed viewpoint. (I’d suggest writers stick to viewing the situation through one character’s eyes unless they’re very skilled at writing with an omniscient narrator).
Unconsciously changed tense. (So many new writers start in one tense e.g. the past, and switch to another tense e.g. the present, halfway through their story. Get someone else to check that you’ve not done this before you submit your story.)
Made basic spelling and grammatical errors. (You can get away with one or two, but with the technology available these days there’s no excuse for poor spelling and punctuation.)
5. A story with a Sheffield flavour
I don’t want to read writing that’s steeped in Sheffield cliches but a dash of Hendos never goes amiss! It’s good to read a Sheffield story and to have that moment of recognition and the sense that only someone from Sheffield would fully understand.
The deadline for this year’s competition is 30th September.
Good luck with your entry. You can find out more about the competition here.