The Gibberish Writing Competition 2024
There is no catchy name for this
Hi! I am Scoot, and you are currently reading Gibberish. And I’m about to host another competition.
Last year I started the Gibberish Writing Competition because I wanted to help up-and-coming writers and I had an idea to do it inspired by an Australian cooking show I was watching at the time1.
There’s other ways to get your writing in front of critical eyeballs, like the
. There’s other groups that are judgement-free and just want to help you write, like . There’s genre-themed writing challenges, like . You can and should take advantage of all of these.But what the Gibberish Writing Competition aims to do, and does, is threefold:
Elevate new, rising fiction writers on Substack who have not yet been “discovered”
Provide detailed, specific feedback to help writers improve their craft
Do so in the context of a challenging writer’s bootcamp, to see if pressure can help produce diamonds.
Last year2, we had TWELVE applicants for the challenge, selected FIVE, and through this gauntlet one emerged, the inimitable
whose writing for this challenge you can still find on her Substack.This year, I’m trying to make things a little clearer, a little less burnout-inducing, and a little more exciting.
Here’s Quick Links of what you’re about to read below—use these to jump to the relevant section!
I’m Interested! - Who should apply, how to apply, and by when to apply to GWC 24! This is also where you find the Application Prompt! APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
What Happens Next? - Notes on how the applications will be judged, and the calendar for the competition itself
What are the rules of the competition? - What kind of writing commitment you should plan for, and what kind of Judging Criteria and I will be using.
What do I win? - The prizes for the winners!
Let’s break it down, shall we?
THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION IN THIS POST. Please read it carefully, and comment if you have any questions. I want to make this as easy as possible to understand!
I’m Interested!
Great! Here is the kind of writer I am looking for: You’re a relatively small fiction publication with less than 200 subscribers. You’ve got the determination and grit to see this thing through—2,000 words per week for three weeks, basically. You’ve got a creative mind that no one else has, and stories to tell that no one in the world has heard before. You’ve read the Rules and examined the Calendar, below. And—you weren’t one of the five participants last year.
If this sounds like you, then it’s time to apply! Here’s what you do:
Make sure you are subscribed to Gibberish. This is important (and required!)
Send an email to substackscoot@gmail.com3
In the subject line, include the word “goose” somewhere.
In the body of the email, explain to me what part of your writing you are most interested in improving.
In the body of the email, explain your best skill as a writer.
Include a screenshot of your subscriber count that includes the header of your publication.
I am only accepting applications from people with 200 subscribers or fewer.
Finally, include a word-document or google-doc link to a 250 word story based on the following prompt:
APPLICATION PROMPT: Write about an argument between two characters.
Make this your BEST WRITING YET4. This prompt will be passed to an anonymous panel of judges, without any of your identifying information—they will have only these 250 words to consider you against your fellow applicants. Use your best skills!
Double check that you’ve got everything, and hit send!
Applications will be accepted any time between RIGHT NOW and 11:59:59pm EST Friday, March 22nd. No applications will be accepted after 11:59:59pm EST56 March 22nd, no exceptions!
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED! THANK YOU ALL WHO APPLIED!
What Happens Next?
My panel of judges will consider your 250 word stories, and I will consider your applications, between March 22nd and March 28th. On March 29th, the five contestants will be announced publicly. Sometime before that you will be contacted privately by the email you used to submit your application.
PLEASE REMEMBER: Not being selected doesn’t mean you’re bad at writing, and it doesn’t mean you can’t succeed on Substack. Last year, I had twelve applicants. I had to tell five people they were accepted, and I had to send seven excruciatingly difficult emails to seven people. The talent pool on Substack fiction is DEEP, and you are all excellent writers. This will not be easy for my panel of judges nor for me. But nevertheless, a selection must be made, and you should all feel proud of yourselves for having the gumption to apply to this challenge!
Here is a peek at the calendar for the Gibberish Writing Competition:
March 29th, GWC ‘24 contestants will be announced.
April 6th, the first challenge will be announced.
First challenge will need to be posted on the 10th, and the results will be shared on the 13th
April 15th, the second challenge will be announced.
Second challenge will be need to be posted on the 19th, and the results will be shared on the 22nd.
April 25th, the third challenge will be announced.
Third challenge will need to be posted on the 29th, and results will be shared on May 2nd.
May 4th, the final results and the Champion of GWC ‘24 will be announced.
What are the Rules of the Competition?
Good question! There’s two things to be aware of.
First, how the challenges should be written. I will include more specific guidance when the challenges are announced, but here’s the general idea:
The first challenge must be 2,000 words +/- 300 words.
The second challenge must be 2,000 words +/- 150 words.
The third challenge must be 2,000 words +/- 50 words.
The challenges cannot feature the same characters.7
Second, how the results will be judged. Here I can announce that I will be joined by the distinguished alumna of GWC ‘23,
! She was the second place finisher by a hair8 in last year’s competition, and has gone on to expand her stories in her serial “Remembrance” at .The judging criteria are different from last year!
Craftsmanship: This relates to structure elements (beginning, middle, end), and story elements(tension/release, setup/payoff, conflict/resolution).9 5 points possible.
Character: This relates to your characters, naturally. How you develop them, how unique are their voices, their motivations. How well do we get to know them in the limited wordcount given? 5 points possible.
Setting10: How well do you illustrate the setting, how does the setting contribute to the story you are telling? How do the characters interact with the setting? 5 points possible.
Grammar/Syntax/Structure: This will be rated by guest judge, technical-editing-expert
! This will consider how well the structure and order of the words contributes to the story. Proper grammar is not required, if it serves the story. Make sure every word, punctuation, and sentence is designed to serve the story! 5 points possible.Pacing: How well do you speed up or slow down the reader with your story? Do you put us on the edge of our seat? Make our hearts race? Cool us off and slow us down? Pacing is an important part of every story! 5 points possible.
Je ne sais quoi (JNSQ): Sara and I will each be allowed to assign one point for stories that have that undefinable something that made us fall in love with a story. These can be given totally subjectively, and should be given by the judges sparingly for those truly excellent pieces that deserve a bonus point. 2 points possible (one from each judge).
The maximum score for an entry in this competition is 27/27!
What Do I Win?
The Winner will receive: A $25 amazon gift card AND a free for life paid subscription to both
andThe Runner up will receive: a one year comp to Gibberish and Blinking Blue Line!
What Are You Waiting For?
Send your application today!
Good luck, all! I look forward to reading your applications, reading your wonderful fiction, and discovering some more truly talented writers of fiction here on Substack!
Godspeed!
-Scoot
My Kitchen Rules, featuring Manu Feildel, Pete Evans, Colin Fassnidge, among others. It was supposed to be about cooking but there was 🔥🔥🔥d r a m a🔥🔥🔥
Please do not DM me about this—leave questions in the comments of this article for others to see, and I will answer them! Email me your completed applications when you are ready!
maybe mosey over to the judging criteria 👀
determined by the timestamp of the email in my inbox! Make sure you give yourself plenty of time!
Edit 3/22/24: I told you a different deadline time on notes. This used to say 11:00pm, I changed it to 11:59:59. An extra hour in case you’re scrambling!
This requirement is new this year—the idea is that each entry for the competition should stand on its own as much as possible. More on this when I announce the first challenge!
literally one point
This category combines the “Craftsmanship” and “Storytelling” categories from last year
This is a new category that was not present last year!
 | A guest post by
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"Provide detailed, specific feedback to help writers improve their craft..."
This is what I love about your competition, Scoot! Because even if the writer submitting is not a winner, they're still a winner because of what you're providing in feedback. Thanks for giving folks another opportunity here on Substack.
I'm looking to enter, but the only thing putting me off is how long the competition runs— worried work will get the best of me. Looking forward to the challenge.