Tag Archives: Screenplay

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q.#44

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions. To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION: My fellow writers in my writers group suggested I submit my screenplay. Do you have a category for the 2021 contest?

ANSWER: Unfortunately, not for 2021. We usually do screenplays every other year in a round robin fashion and 2021 is the year for the stageplay category, named in memory of Joe McCabe, a beloved playwright from Martinsburg.

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WV Writers Contest F.A.Q.#13

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions. To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION: Am I correct that only the Book-Length category considers works over 5,000 words? I wasn't sure if the other categories consider 5,000 word excerpts of longer works?

ANSWER: Yes Book Length is the only category that accepts works of over 5,000 words, but the specifics is that it accepts a 7,500 word excerpt with a 1 page synopsis. The work itself may be 90,000 words, but we can only receive a 7,500 word excerpt for the contest, plus the synopsis of the entire story.

As to whether the other categories will accept 5000 word excerpts of longer work, the spirit of the contest is that the works for all prose categories, unless otherwise specified, should fit within the 5000 word limit.

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WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #9

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions. To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION: Your contest rules state that entries should be stapled or paperclipped. With the stage play category, which accepts up to a 30-page sample. Are writers able to submit a script that's conventionally bound, using metal brads to fasten three-hole-punched pages at top and bottom? Please let me know if the readers have a preference.

ANSWER: The binding you write of would be just fine. The WVW contest rules used to be real picky about the binding on stage plays and screenplays, but larger manuscripts definitely need a bit more to them than a staple or a paperclip. (In 2013, we received a full length screenplay sandwiched between two 8.5" x 11" planks of plywood and that clued us in to what might have caused binding problems in the past. These days, brads or a slim clear document holder are happily accepted.

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WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #8

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions. To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

Question: If you won a cash prize for stageplay in a previous year, can you enter this year with a new play?

Answer: Indeed you may. The only categories that disallow previous winners from entering are the Emerging Writers categories, which are designed to be entered by new and unpublished writers. (Once you've won an Emerging Writers award, you've officially emerged.)

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