How To Improve Your Writing to Win a Contest
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Making your writing the very best is essential to winning a writing contest. There are some very simple ways that writing can be effectively improved, resulting in big differences that will not affect a writing contest entry, but also your writing in general.
Always use spell check. Spell check is one of the greatest features of word processing software. It is easy to use and can find spelling errors that were made, unintentionally or not. Ask someone to proofread your work. It is amazing how often a writer will read through their own work, and still miss errors. This can include grammar errors, forgotten words, fragmented sentences, etc. A fresh set of eyes reading your work can go a long way to improving an essay or story. |
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Don't be too wordy. Very often, whether it is for a homework assignment or a writing contest entry, people can get caught up in trying to make sure they have the right amount of words. (And you don't have to count the words--Microsoft Word will do a word count for you). Adding in unnecessary adjectives or adverbs i.e. "she was very, very, very pretty, nice, lovely and sweet" just makes the sentence seem amateurish and unreadable.
When proofreading, try to cut out unnecessary words and instead, think how you could change a sentence using clauses, for example. The same sentence above could be changed to "Although already a very pretty girl, her beauty made her seem even more sweet than she already was." By using a clause, the sentence became longer but it |
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also became more descriptive and painted a better mental picture of the girl's appearance and personality. Think about it: if you were a writing contest judge, which would appear better to you?
Use a thesaurus and a dictionary. Sometimes just using a fresh word to describe something or someone, or a new verb to give a fresh take on the action going on in a story or essay can make the difference. Just don't go with a word too big or too obscure. The word should tie in well with the rest of the writing piece. Don't ever start a story with "Once upon a time..." or anything commonplace. That has been done over and over. Try starting a story with a cliffhanger like "Dangling from the edge of the tree, the sweat dripped from my forehead as I could barely hang on. All my friends were below me, shouting at me to just drop, but terror filled every nerve in my body and I just couldn't let go. I could only think about...". Using something action packed immediately grabs the reader's attention, making them want to read more. It is much better than "Once upon a time, I tried to climb the tall tree in my front yard but I got really scared." Lastly, make sure there are no loose ends. Whether writing an essay or story, everything should tie in seamlessly. An essay should carry the same theme throughout, and a story should have a introduction, a middle and a clear ending. |
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