This free writing competition is open to writers from around the world.
Write us a 600-word piece on the theme: The worst writing mistake I’ve ever made.
Make it funny, heartfelt, quirky and real. We’ll publish the best piece in our newsletter and on our blog, plus the winner receives NZ $200 (R2 000 or £100).
Send your entries to Nichola Meyer at nichola@nzwriterscollege.co.nz.
Closing date: 30 June 2025
Rules and Guidelines for Entries
- Send in your entry in the body of the email, not as an attachment.
- Use the subject line ‘My Writing Journey Competition’ in your email.
- Entries must be no more than 600 words and must be the author’s original work.
- See the full rules on our new blog here.
Read more past winning entries in our e-anthology ‘22 Best Essays to Inspire New Writers’ – free to download. CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW to grab your copy.
Read the individual essays from past winners for the ‘My Writing Journey’ Competition here:
The Best Writing Tip I Ever Received Was Not to Write by Russell Mickler – winner June 2023
‘The Best Writing Advice: Cut Like a Razor’ by Amelia Ray – winner December 2022
‘The Best Writing Advice: How I Learned to Write Garbage’ by Sarah Kelleher – winner May 2021
‘The Best Writing Advice: Find Your Voice’ by Sandy Kline – winner September 2020
‘The Best Writing Advice: Ditch the Filters’ by John Tipper – winner May 2020
‘The Best Writing Advice: Do The Work’ by Nohlee Cloete – winner January 2020
‘The Best Writing Advice: The Power of Revision’ by Rosie Sorenson – joint winner September
and
‘The Best Writing Advice: Mix Up Those Sentence Lengths’ by Ginny Stone – winner May 2019
‘The Best Writing Tip: Say What You Mean’ by Danielle Ramaekers – winner January 2019
‘The Best Writing Tip: Kill Your Adverbs’ by Nikky Lee – winner September 2018
‘‘The Best Writing Tip I’ve Ever Received’ by Anna Stroud – winner June 2018
‘My Movie Moment’ by Tracy Solea – winner January 2018
‘‘Weird, Minus One House-Point’ by Carmen Marcus – winner September 2017
‘My Big Fat Regret‘ by Leonie Fourie and ‘My Writing Journey‘ by Glenn McGoldrick – joint winners May 2017
‘My Journey as a Writer’ by Heinrich van der Walt and
‘Neuroses and Nirvana‘ by David Whitaker – joint winners January 2017
‘Full Circle’ by Natalie Swain – winner September 2016
‘The Hundredth Day’ by Do Hyun Kang – Winner July 2016
‘The Writing Lobe’ by Eileen Kennedy – Winner March 2016
‘Meeting the Potato Farmer on the Road to Publication’ by Gabriella Brand – Winner Dec 2015
‘Haymaker’ by Clinton Matos – Winner September 2015
‘African Dream’ by Olakunle Oladiran – Winner May 2015
‘Magic’ by Thorne Busakwe – Winner January 2015
‘My Writing Journey’ by Nkaela Mocumi – Winner September 2014
‘It Started with a Bang’ by Marianne Saddington – Winner June 2014
Read the March 2014 winning entry here.
Read the December 2013 winning entry here.
Read the September 2013 joint winning entry here.
Read the September 2013 joint winning entry here.
Read the May 2013 winning entry here.
Read the February 2013 winning entry here.
Read the December 2012 winning entry here.
Read the September 2012 winning entry here.
Read the June 2012 winning entry here.
Read the February 2012 winning entry here.
Read the November 2011 winning entry here.
Read the September 2011 winning entry here.
Read the June 2011 winning entry here.
Read the April 2011 winning entry here.
Read the February 2011 winning entry here.
ABOUT THE WRITERS COLLEGE
(NZ Writers College, SA Writers College, UK Writers College)
Established in 2005, we are an online writing school with three country-specific branches offering over 35 specialist online writing courses run by multi-award-winning authors, journalists, scriptwriters, poets and copywriters.
From journalism to creative writing courses to writing for the web, our courses provide one-to-one tuition at an affordable cost. We have trained thousands of satisfied students worldwide.
