How to prepare for poetry contests?

Posted by Chris Dufner on January 23rd, 2018

Are you a budding poet who is keen on letting your work known to the world? Not everyone could get to write and not everyone who gets to write could write poetries. So if you have this talent, you should be proud of yourself. It is important that this talent does not die within you but let the world benefit from your work. If you are preparing for 2018 poetry contests here are few useful tips that you might want to keep in mind during the preparation stage.

First things first, never enter any contests in the last minute because when you do, you are likely to tense yourself up and that is not the right mindset to get into a contest. As part of the preparation for the poetry contests, you should look for contests that allow you adequate time. Remember, poetry is not work, it is creation, and it has to happen, you cannot force it. However, there are few things that you could to for it to happen naturally.  

Secondly, as part of the preparation, decide that you will not settle for anything but the best. Decide not to submit substandard work at any point of time. This is very important for a poet because once you start submitting mediocre work just because you could not come up with something striking, you will try to settle there and start thinking that it is alright. This is where you stop growing.

Always have a notepad handy with you to put down your inspiration. This you should be doing whether there is competition or no competition. Today we always carry our digital gadgets, in your smartphone you could install apps that will allow you to record your voice so that you could dictate into the phone your inspirational lines. If you are in a place where you cannot record your voice, you could go with a digital notepad installed in your smartphone. It does not matter how you do it; you need to make sure to capture your inspirations as and when they occur to you.

As you do all these things, also remember to set aside a specific time of the day, whenever you think you could, without being disturbed. This is one of disciplining yourself to get into that writer’s bubble whenever you want to. If your submission dates for the free poetry contests are one month away, try to spend a few minutes daily for the entire month putting together your thoughts. When you are engaged in this exercise, do not tear or throw away the various versions that you write just because you think it is not good. Hold on to them, it will help you get fresh ideas when you look at them sometime in the future.  

Most importantly, maintain cool and composed demeanour because for a poet, it is very crucial to maintain this state of mind to easily get into that creative space whenever required.

Contact :

Free Poetry Contests
4540 Bell Street,
New York City, New York
10019, USA
212-247-3597