Screenwriter, author and Raindance tutor Jurgen Wolff is well known as an informative and inspirational creative writing coach. Here he writes his sure-fire ideas of winning screenplay contests. The best way to win writing contests is to write a better script than everybody else, but there are some additional tips I can offer. First, look for contests with narrow qualifying criteria. These can be geographic--for example, in the U.S. there are a few contests open only to the residents of individual states. Sometimes there are age limits as well. There will be less competition than if it’s a contest with no limits and one that takes entries from around the world. Ask how many entries they usually have. Not many contests list this in their promotional material but some of them will tell you if you ask. The bigger the prize, the more entries—usually. But you could find exceptions. Take the entry fee into account. A high fee limits the number of entries especially if the money prize is low. Normally that's a good reason to avoid entering, but if there is another benefit (e.g. a residency, meetings with agents, etc.) and you feel you have a strong entry it may be worth going for it. Read and follow the rules carefully. This sounds obvious but you would be surprised how many people don't adhere to the required format, for instance. Consider contests which require entries on a particular theme or mentioning a location, etc. For instance, a contest may require that your screenplay be set in a particular location or be on a particular theme. For more generic contests, people will dig up something they've already written. Responding to a more specific topic or style usually means sitting down and writing something new, and fewer people will put in that effort. However, I would avoid doing that if the requirement is so narrow that you think it would limit your ability to market the script elsewhere if it doesn’t win. Good luck! If you want to read the reast of Jurgen's advice along with a terrific breakdown of Mad Man creator Matthew Weiner's career took off, read here: http://www.raindance.org/win-screenplay-contests/
