Hello Reader!

Welcome to my new blog. I’m an amateur writer from Scotland who writes literary and speculative short stories. I’ve had a big break of over a year since I last wrote anything but now I’m back writing a little everyday in the hope of getting published in literary journals (short-term goal) and eventually a full novel (my long term goal).

I did have a blog before, ‘Lorna Writes a Novel’ but as I hadn’t written anything in so long, I didn’t continue with the domain and, in a fit of pique, deleted the whole thing thinking it useless. So there you go.

So, what brings me back to electronic journaling? Basically, I want to write again. I’ve been plagued with depression and anxiety which makes me not want to do anything at all. I hobby portrait every day while I’m not at work and wanted to try and use that black and white thinking to get me writing every day as well.

Where am I in all this? Well, I got a copy of Writing Magazine yesterday which had a supplement with writing competitions for 2026. I sat and went through them all, selecting only the Uk and Ireland short story competitions, then only a maximum of 3 per month and put them on a spreadsheet.

Here’s the list I came up with. Obviously, mine has a lot more data on it such as closing dates, word counts and required themes but this blog layout is so darn difficult to use- you can’t just cut and paste a table- I’m afraid you’ll have to do your own research or buy a copy while you can:

competition	top prize
Exeter Writers Short Story Competition	£700
Edinburgh Short Story Award	£2000
Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition	residential course
Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize	£1000
Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize	£3000
Bath Short Story Award	£1750
The Creative Future Writers’ Award	mentoring
Queen Wasafiri New Writing Prize	£1000
Bridport Prize	£5000
Yeovil Literary Prize	unknown
Moth Short Story Prize	£3000
HG Wells Short Story Competition	£1000
Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition	£1800
Val Woods Prize	£100
Mslexia Short Story Competition	£3000
The Bedford Competition	£3000
Southport Writers’ Circle Short Story Competition	£200
Aurora Prize for writing	£500

Of course, if you win a prize you often have to withdraw from any other competitions you’ve entered, quite aside from the fact you’re competing with hundreds of other entrants for each prize. So it’s no route to riches.

Sometimes you need to write to a specific theme, others are ‘open’ so you can submit whatever story you want (so long as it is within the acceptable word count). I’ve calculated that I’ll need to write a minimum of six stories throughout the year until October. Some competitions accept simultaneous submissions which means you can put the same story into several contests at the same time. For eighteen chances, six short stories over 9 months isn’t too bad.

I’d really recommend you doing your own research. There are competitions in the US (tons), Australia, New Zealand and even Spain that might suit you. Maybe you prefer micro or flash fiction? Maybe you’ve got an unpublished novel? These can all be submitted to the right competition. The number you can submit to is more likely limited to your financial means,your reservoir of finished works and your time to finish any more that might be required than the number actually available. Even if you live outside the US and UK, many are open to writers worldwide.

Anyhow, I hope you found this useful. I’d welcome any feedback/comments/hello’s you might have. See you next time!