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Adelaide Plains Poets Poetry competition

The Adelaide Plains Poets are holding another poetry competition this year, with the theme of VISION.

It would be great if you’d think about the theme, and check the details, and enter the competition!

The entry form and guidelines are below:

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ADELAIDE PLAINS POETS Inc.

POETRY COMPETITION 2020

‘VISION’

1st, 2nd & 3rd cash prizes, plus Highly Commended & Commended certificates as awarded by judge. 

Total prize pool over $700

ENTRY GUIDELINES

Work entered in this competition must be original, in English, unpublished and not have won a prize in any other competition. Authors retain copyright.

Theme ‘Vision’ – Poems entered must in some way refer to the theme

Open Class – poets 18 years & older

Junior sections – Primary School student (one poem only), Secondary School student (one poem only)

To maintain anonymity, entrant’s name should appear on entry form only, not on poems. 

Entry forms are to include entrant’s name, address, phone number, titles of poems submitted.

Entries should be typed, on one side of paper only, one poem to a page.

Poems to be no longer than 60 lines

Entry fees: Open class $10 for first poem, $5 for every poem entered thereafter

Junior classes – no entry fee, only one poem per student

Cheques/money orders to be made payable to Adelaide Plains Poets Inc

Or electronically using these details: BSB 105-009 Acc 105 954 340 

(please give poet’s name with electronic payment)

 

Entries to: Competition Secretary, 1594 Germantown Rd REDBANKS SA 5502

Entries to be received by close of business 26 June 2020 – entries received after this date may not be  considered for the competition.

Authors should retain a copy of their work

 

For further details contact: Competition secretary, 

Carolyn Cordon 

phone: 0418 806 490:
Email: kittycordo@gmail.com 

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 ADELAIDE PLAINS POETS Inc. 

POETRY COMPETITION 2020

‘VISION’

ENTRY FORM

Name……………………………………………………………..…..……………………

Phone…………………………………

Address……………………………………………..………………….……………………………………………………………

Email……………………………..……………………..

Title of poem/s – ……………………………………………………..…………..………………….……………

……………………………………………………..…………..………………….……………………………………………………………………………………..…………..……………

 (use back of page for additional entries) 

Entrants’ names or other details must not appear on poems

Declaration by author: I agree to comply with the Entry Guidelines and declare that the written work submitted in my name is my own original work and has not been copied in part, or in full, from any other source.

Author’s signature…………………………………………………………..date………………………

Date of birth (if entering a junior section) ……………………………….………………………… 

Secondary School or Primary School – Circle to indicate which section, for Junior sections

Name of school (if entering junior section) ……………………………………..………….…………………..…………..    

Entry fees: Open class $10 for first poem, $5 for every poem entered thereafter 

(OPEN CLASS ONLY – NO FEE FOR JUNIOR ENTRIES)

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES – 26 June 2020

Cheques/money orders to be made payable to Adelaide Plains Poets Inc, and sent with entries to Competition Secretary, 1594 Germantown Rd REDBANKS SA 5502

Or pay electronically using these details: BSB 105-009 Acc 105 954 340

Authors should retain a copy of their work, entries will not be returned

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Fab Feb Writing Prompts – Day Twenty-four

“Reasonable action, beats thoughtless reaction”

As a writing prompt, the opposite idea is true, I suppose, because taking reasonable actions is likely to lead to sensible results, no drama, no conflict, all calm … But of course this will lead to a quiet and sensible piece of writing (even boring), and without dramatic things going on, where’s the excitement, where’s the possibility for action packed climactic scenes at the end of the poem or story?

But when you’re writing something more philosophical, and meaningful, reasonable action is the way to go, rather than lashing out, jumping straight in, taking a shot without knowing where the target is!

man jumps from to water
Photo by Jacub Gomez on Pexels.com

These thoughts are useful to think about in terms of character development, if writing fiction, and trying to think on what kinds of characters you have to work with, always remembering that characters are generally held to need to change, by the end of a book, or story, in some way.

Of course, generally held truths are always there to be twisted and shaped in ‘other ways’ if the writer wants to, but bear on mind publishers may hold to more traditional views! A character acting in a different way, but lashing out suddenly can be an exciting way to get a story going, and you can then explore in the story what led to that unusual action …

People aren’t robots, and they don’t always do the expected thing. This is what makes life, and writing interesting, exploring those moments when things suddenly get very, very exciting, dangerous, interesting …

wall e toy on beige pad
Photo by Lenin Estrada on Pexels.com

If one is a follower of the Stoics, reasonable action is likely to be your way to go for everything. Considered thought, doing the best thing for self, family, friends, community, and the world, whenever possible, is the way to go. Can that attitude always be the way a person, living by Stoic principles, always goes? Well, people, as I wrote previously, aren’t robots, so maybe not.

No-one is born with a Stoic attitude, far from it. Babies are born with a give it to me, don’t care about you, give, give, give attitude, but they quickly learn to love the one who gives them what they want (need), and become more nuanced in the way they may make their demands … Some anyway. And as we get older, we gain more understanding about those nuances that are there, and that need to be thought about.

baby child close up crying
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What might cause such a diversion from the thoughtful wisdom of the Stoic person? Therein lies the interest in a story with such a character … In the weighing up of options, ideas, emotions, and actions, there are many gaps and tweaks that have to happen, all of which add interest. Whether Stoic or not, people are people, and have motivations, sometimes conflicting ones, and so comes the interest in examining people and their actions …

As the John Lennon song goes, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans …”

I hope these ideas might be helpful to writers when thinking about characters, story development, poetry themes, articles …