Women: Write Your Way To Starting Your Own Business!

The Mirassou Winery, a longtime supporter of Women in Business, is sponsoring an essay contest that will net the winner $50,000 in seed money to start her own business. The deadline for their Make Your Dreams Come True With Mirassou contest is December 15, 2007. Your personal essay of 500 words or less should include 1) a description of the new business, 2) consumer appeal to the new business, and 3) a plan to implement the new business.

Dream Quest One Poetry & Short Story Contest

Dream Quest One's poetry and short story contests are open to everyone, and you may write about any subject or theme you like. Short stories should be 5 pages or less; poems should be 30 lines or less. There is a small entry fee, ($10.00 per short story, $5 per poem), and you may enter as many times as you like. Cash prizes for poetry contest winners range from $50 to $250, and short story winners will receive from $100 to $500. The deadline for both contests is December 31, 2007.

VERY Short Story Contest

If you've got a short piece that you've been concerned is not long enough to be published, here's the contest for you: Lunch Hour Stories is accepting submissions for its annual VERY Short Story Contest through December 31st of each year. Winners are considered for prizes as well as publication as part of an anthology in December of the following year. Your stories should be previously unpublished and up to 500 words. There is a $5 reading fee per story or poem, for a chance to win $25, $50, or $100.

Short Story Competition ~

Win big bucks! The L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest awards prizes every quarter, with the next contest deadline being December 31st. Each quarter prizes up to $1,000 are awarded. At the end of the year, a Grand Prize of $5000 is awarded to the Best Short Story and the Best Illustration of the year. All types of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Dark Fantasy are welcome. There's no entry fee for this contest. Simply submit your original prose, up to 17,000 words, by midnight at the end of the quarter, for your chance to win $500, $750, $1,000 and $5,000!

Where Will Love Blossom Next In Your Life?

Life coach Melissa Rosati, whose clients are writers, authors and creative artists, shares this insightful essay about her experience in discovering her own writer's voice. If you believe that "there is no end to the journey inward," you will enjoy reading the starting places she provides for that endless journey.

How to Begin? Where to Go?

Need a little help getting started on your fiction writing? Annette Beveridge-Young, a freelance writer and editor at Savannah Publishing, has compiled this list of 15 suggestions to help writers flesh out your characters and bring the settings of your stories to life.

Eliminating Obstacles ~

If you're interested in writing but just can't seem to find time to indulge in your creative outlet, this article by Mui Tsun, the creator of Inspire Software, might help you to overcome some of the obstacles life places in our way.