Submit Your Manuscript: A writing competition with a difference

Are you an aspiring writer looking to get your novel recognised? Ascent Novel Prize might just be the platform you need to showcase your talent. This international writing competition is dedicated to promoting diverse voices and providing a spotlight for under-represented writers worldwide. Hear from one writer below, who is keen for writing competitions to be run differently.

GUEST WRITER:

Starting a novel is hard. Finishing it even harder. It took me ten years and many half-finished drafts to be able to type THE END. There was no applause, or validation, just a novel that needed another five rounds of edits. I sometimes wonder if a novel is ever really finished, or is it more like pressing a BIG PAUSE BUTTON? I'm stopping the manuscript here because this is all I've got. Someday, I hope to be better. I aspire to be someone who lets the words flow from their fingers like liquid gold. But instead, I worry away, changing words and swapping around paragraphs.

Then, I entered my first writing competition. This was back in 2019 when the world was yet to know Covid. I wrote down the date of their announcements and waited. I never heard anything but watched the winner announced on social media and wondered where I'd gone wrong. The following year, I entered another. This time it was free. Again, I never heard a thing but on emailing, found I'd made it to the shortlist. I should've been proud but as there'd been no announcement it didn't feel real. I grew a thick skin and started to enter every prize going. This became an expensive hobby. I'm a working-class writer and some competitions cost more than a morning's work. Then they offer pricey courses or feedback for more than I can make in a day. I mean no disrespect to these businesses but the barriers seemed to rise.

HOW TO DO IT DIFFERENTLY? How could writers get more of a chance? Well, Ascent Novel Prize is built a prize built for you. The team decided it was important that every entry receive personalised feedback. Then, we wanted those from under-represented groups to have an additional chance to shine. So, in addition to the prize, writers can tick a box to enter our Under-Represented Writers' Awards, for free. It is too early to share the most important part of this prize. It will be in the after-care. In the access to FREE training materials from industry professionals. In the lasting community we hope to build. So, keep typing. The barriers are high, but together we can build a ladder.