Monday, 11 November 2013

Francis MacManus Short Story Competition 2014 open for submissions

Gee, I've entered this competition so many times! And no, I've never got anywhere in it. I'm not giving up though - try, try, try again. The shortlisted stories are all broadcast on RTE, so there are lots of opportunities from it. And podcasts of past winning and shortlisted stories are available  here  They're well worth listening to.

Rules for submission are available here (to enter you need to be born or resident in Ireland).  It seeks hardcopy posted submissions only with a strict word limit of 1,800 - 2,000 words. The deadline is 31st January 2014, and results are not published until June 2014, so it does take a long while before hearing any news.
Be mindful of audience in writing this type of story. A story to be read for broadcast needs to follow some conventions to help the listener. I've a very good leaflet on writing short stories for radio from The Commonwealth Short Story Competition, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to exist online anymore, so I can't provide a link. Here are some online resources that are still out there with advice on writing short stories for radio:

National Short Story Week - Tips for Writing Audio Short Stories

Radio New Zealand Writing for Audio Drama

Good luck if you are entering.

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