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Spread the Word Short Story Feedback

  • Opening soon
  • Applications open
  • Judging underway
  • Shortlist announced
  • Winners announced

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What you win

Ten IdeasTap members will receive feedback from Spread the Word on their short stories. 

Judging

Spread the Word

Description

As part of Spread the Word's support, celebration and promotion of short story writers we are offering bespoke feedback to 10 short story writers. The feedback will focus on voice, structure and tone. You will also receive advice on the next steps you can take to make your story the very best it can be. Submissions of complete stories (no extracts) of up to 5,000 words are invited.

This is a fantastic opportunity for short story writers to develop their writing skills and knowledge of the short story landscape. It is hoped that brief winners will form a relationship with Spread the Word. 

The judges of this brief are looking for unique short stories that show promise in voice, pace, structure, and characterisation. The worlds that are created in the chosen short stories will be unique and compelling.

Ten winners will receive feedback on their stories from writers Adam Marek and Clare Fisher.

 Adam is the author of the short story collections Instruction Manual for Swallowing and The Stone Thrower. He writes about absurd, futuristic and fantastical things colliding with everyday life. Find out more about his work here http://www.adammarek.co.uk/

 Clare is based in Leeds where she is currently preparing an interactive storytelling commission for Light Night Leeds and writing a novel.  In 2013 she won the Spread the Word Writing Prize and the Cinnamon Press Writing Prize for her short fiction. You can find follow her on twitter @claresitafisher and find out more here http://claresitafisher.com

Spread the Word, London’s writer development organisation, is celebrating short stories this year. They ran the first London Short Story Festival,  launched the London Short Story Prize  and publish bold short fiction on their publishing imprint Flight Press.

Having problems applying? Please read our quick troubleshooting guide before contacting us or leaving a comment – or for more information, visit our help centre. 

This brief closes on Friday 29 August 2014 at 5pm BST and is open to IdeasTap members aged 16 and over. Late entries will not be accepted under any circumstances, including technical issues – so make sure you don’t leave your application to the last minute.

Image used under Creative Commons from DukeUnivLibraries.

How to apply

Comments

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  • Hello, when should we expect he shortlist to be announced?

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    marlinsart , Illustrator , 10/09/14 , 762 AP

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  • I have set my portfolio to private. Can the judges view the projects?

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    flisan , Artist , 29/08/14 , 325 AP

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  • Is it possible to submit something that has also been entered into another competition?

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    Kirsten Hayley , Writer , 28/08/14 , 1,416 AP

    c139df61-fbcf-4d5b-b6c7-a39500d66124

    • Yes, if it's useful to get feedback on the piece.

      Thanks!

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      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 28/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      381addbd-c675-470d-a236-a39500e2066d

  • Um... how do you publish a document please? I've put a couple of things in my portfolio and it tells me they haven't been published yet, but I can't see how to do it. From the previous comments it looks like they have to be published in order for the judges to see them.

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    Carole Parsons , Writer , 26/08/14 , 100 AP

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    • If you go to your portfolio, click "Edit", then if you hover over the individual items of content you can publish using the 'eye' icon.

      Thanks!

      avatar

      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 27/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      cac95eb4-c5ef-4fa8-b5c4-a39400a14e36

      • Hi I was checking my story that I uploaded and stupidly just noticed that I uploaded it in the wrong box! Sorry.

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        yoyo70 , Writer , 27/08/14 , 99 AP

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      • please could you help me on this?

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        yoyo70 , Writer , 27/08/14 , 99 AP

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      • Hi, which box did you it upload it to? You can resubmit if necessary.

        Thanks!

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        The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 28/08/14 , 12,194 AP

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    • That's great, thanks a mill

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      Carole Parsons , Writer , 27/08/14 , 100 AP

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  • Hi, I am not entirely confident that I have uploaded my entry properly so that it is viewable by the judges...? Is there a way that you could confirm whether I have or not please?

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    Leds777 , Writer , 26/08/14 , 199 AP

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    • Hello, you have uploaded your short story to your portfolio but you must publish it in order for the judges to view it. To do this, go to your portfolio, click "edit", then if you hover over the item, you can publish it using the eye icon.

      Thanks!

      avatar

      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 26/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      9d6b02b8-34ed-4e9e-a8d0-a39300f7db78

      • I'm trying to do exactly this but when I hover on the eye icon it won't let me click to publish?

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        doubledippingden , Journalist , 27/08/14 , 91 AP

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      • Hello,
        Have you tried doing this in another web browser (e.g. Firefox or Chrome)?

        Thanks!

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        The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 28/08/14 , 12,194 AP

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      • I'll try on Safari - already tried on chrome

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        doubledippingden , Journalist , 28/08/14 , 91 AP

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      • didn't work either so added a new doc with the same title but with the addition of 'public' in the title, can you confirm this is ok.

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        doubledippingden , Journalist , 28/08/14 , 91 AP

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      • if I want to make it just viewable to the judges - is that possible?

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        doubledippingden , Journalist , 28/08/14 , 91 AP

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      • I've pasted the web address on the portfolio page into the application form that requests this - can you also confirm I've done this correctly. thanks

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        doubledippingden , Journalist , 28/08/14 , 91 AP

        ec89383d-f14f-4167-bdb5-a39500fa3a19

      • Please can you confirm my entrant is submitted correctly? thanks

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        doubledippingden , Journalist , 29/08/14 , 91 AP

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  • If there are multiple short stories in my portfolio, how will STW know which one I am submitting? I assume we're only allowed to submit one each?

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    Simon James , Writer , 13/08/14 , 903 AP

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    • You could create a new portfolio set with the one specific story and label it, or simply title the specific story with "Spread the Word" entry - try to make it as clear as possible.

      Thanks!

      avatar

      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 14/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      67af2ca7-3416-4355-b3f4-a38700961ca1

  • Would it be appropriate to submit a children's story?

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    amyillustration , Illustrator , 13/08/14 , 963 AP

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    • There is no restriction on genre, so yes. Thanks!

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      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 14/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      25764499-f89f-42ba-86be-a3870098919b

  • Hi
    Is there a minimum word count? I'm working on a short story but it will definitely be a long way short of 5000 max. I'd rather submit something else than pad it out.
    Thanks

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    Omicmo , Writer , 11/08/14 , 326 AP

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    • There is no minimum but you cannot submit an extract. Thanks!

      avatar

      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 14/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      2cab2ce3-1598-4b92-955c-a38700964181

  • Is this brief open to those outside the UK? I'm from Ireland...

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    ahayzer42 , Writer , 06/08/14 , 1,592 AP

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    • This opportunity is for UK-based writers (as IdeasTap is a UK-based charity, as is Spread the Word). Thanks!

      avatar

      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 18/08/14 , 12,194 AP

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  • does whatever i enter have to be published in the portfolio and available to the public?

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    nobodytrue , Writer , 05/08/14 , 435 AP

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    • It needs to be published, but you can set your portfolio to private (but unchecking the box on the privacy settings page) so that only judges can view it.

      Thanks!

      avatar

      The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 06/08/14 , 12,194 AP

      7833f08d-1d8f-41b4-9078-a37f0096ff7e

      • so i have no way of selecting which work im happy to share publically and which i cant? i either publish them all publicly or not at all?

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        nobodytrue , Writer , 07/08/14 , 435 AP

        7a316485-5a69-4c2a-85b5-a3800000f203

      • No, you can choose whether or not to publish and select privacy setting so only the judges can view. A number of my uploads on Ideastap are private.

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        Rebecca Robinson , Actor , 11/08/14 , 4,043 AP

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      • Could you explain how to create a private upload to an otherwise public portfolio? I'm not seeing an obvious way. Thanks.

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        ColetteSensier , Writer , 14/08/14 , 408 AP

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      • me neither. Any help would be good showing how to allow one item on the portfolio to be private.

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        shehir , Writer , 17/08/14 , 828 AP

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      • At the moment, you can either choose for your whole portfolio to be private or public - not individual pieces of content.

        You can always change between the two, however, if you wanted to add specific private content for one brief and then revert back.

        Thanks!

        avatar

        The IdeasTap Team , Editor , 28/08/14 , 12,194 AP

        47ef46fa-52cc-4446-87e7-a39500a31c62

      • thanks

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        shehir , Writer , 01/09/14 , 828 AP

        5653fb2f-60e9-4caf-a2a3-a39900cb100b

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