Submit Early for Success

Even though the deadline isn’t for a few weeks, the time to write is now. Why? Because you shouldn't rush to hit that “submit” button as soon as you finish your first draft. That's a beginner's error, and you aren't a beginner!

There's a critical step in between: revision.

Whether you write for a half hour every day, only when the mood strikes or on a schedule that coincides with the phases of the moon, every writer has their own process.

There is, however, one aspect of every successful writer's process that's the same: a willingness to revise.

Openness to revision stems from recognition that there is always room for improvement. That, and a healthy dose of humility.

To this day, I can open any one of my books, each revised a dozen or more times, and scrutinized by a team of editors, and still find several ways in which it can be improved.

As writers we must understand that nothing will ever be perfect. You could spend your entire life working on a single page and it still wouldn't get there. Damn good? Maybe. Perfect? Impossible.

There are always opportunities to improve, and it’s our duty to seek them out (which our Publishability Index makes easy, by the way!). If we don't, we limit our growth, and put a huge barrier between ourselves and our goals.

Simply put, don’t wait until the last minute to start writing. When you delay until the eleventh hour, you’re disallowing a golden opportunity to step away from a thoughtful draft, then step back into it refreshed and ready to revise.

This is true in general, but especially when entering a contest with Bardsy. We offer a special early deadline for those who want to give themselves the best opportunity to succeed.

Why you should submit to Bardsy’s early feedback deadline

Our mission is to help writers improve their craft, and that extends to our contests.

If you’re serious about growing as a writer (and winning), you should submit a thoughtfully completed draft to our early feedback deadline. That means a story already revised to the best of your ability, and free of typos and grammatical errors. If we feel it has exceptional promise, we'll show you how to make it even better, and give you time to resubmit your new and improved version for final consideration.

Putting together a short story anthology is no small feat. We need adequate time to provide feedback to select entries. We also have to give our authors time to make final revisions. Hence the week-long difference between the first and final deadline.

Of course, you can still submit your entry after the early deadline passes, but you’ll receive normal consideration without the possibility for major revision. The bar will be higher!

Simply put, when you submit by our early deadline, you give yourself a leg up. You know what they say: the early bird catches the worm. Or, in this case, the early writer gets the feedback. It could turn your story into a winning one.

How to stop procrastinating and start writing

In delay there lies no plenty.
— William Shakespeare

You sit down to write, and soon find yourself browsing the pages of a shopping site, scrolling through social media, rearranging the knickknacks on your desk…doing anything but writing. Sound familiar?

As writers, the devil on our shoulder is procrastination, constantly whispering sweet diversions into our ears. Before you know it, it’s the end of the day, week or month (or the day before the contest deadline), and you’ve hardly written at all.

Time is precious. To ensure you get what you want out of it, we developed Will.Power (WP).

WP offers you a path to writing success through accountability. After you take the assessment, we’ll analyze your responses to provide weekly check-ins. Not only will we touch base on your progress, but we’ll also deliver specific next steps to keep you on track to achieving your goals.

Plus, you’ll gain access to a shared personal planner, with a scratchpad for ideas and a to-do list to see them through. I can’t wait to see you check off your first task as complete: finishing your entry for the Character Anthology contest.

If you’re struggling to complete your story before the early deadline, Will.Power is here to help (for free!). Get started by taking the brief assessment here.

The early feedback deadline for our Character Anthology contest is June 19. Set yourself up for success by taking the time to revise and submit your story early. I can't wait to see what you write!

TO DO SCRATCHPAD PRIVATE JOURNAL TRACKING Update Assessment

CLICK A TAB TO USE WILL.POWER

TO DO LIST:
Add tasks to your sortable list, then revel in checking them off.

SCRATCHPAD:
Cache your gems as they fall in this always accessible place.

PRIVATE JOURNAL:
Reflect on your process — good, bad and ugly — in your dated diary.

TRACKING:
Measure your progress with key writing metrics, automatically,

ADD DO

Show Dones

ADD ENTRY

Metric:

Words

Minutes

ADD

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Submit Early for Success

Those who write are writers. Those who wait are waiters. — A. Lee Martinez

Our mission is to help writers improve their craft, and that extends to our contests.

In delay there lies no plenty. — William Shakespeare

Those who write are writers. Those who wait are waiters.
— A. Lee Martinez

In delay there lies no plenty.
— William Shakespeare