They say that everyone has a novel in them. And, if you have ever dreamed of getting that novel published, this could be the push you need to make it happen. Our First Chapter competition - in partnership with the Women's Prize for Fiction - gives you the chance to kick start your writing career.
Diana Evans, the award-winning author of_Ordinary People_, wrote the opening paragraph of a story - and hundreds of Grazia readers finished the full chapter. The deadline for entries was 13 March, so the competition is now closed. The winner will be announced at the Women's Prize for Fiction Awards.
Sadly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the Women’s Prize for Fiction ceremony being moved back from June to September, our judging timetable has also been pushed back further than expected. We're now hoping to announce the winner in early October.
The story so far...
Diana Evans has started the story - now it's up to you to finish the opening chapter.
Caught
If you steal something from another time, they will never find you. That’s what he’d promised. You disappear. You never were or are not yet. You’re transient, like speed, or like the wind. So easily she had stepped into those magical machines with their white coils and sharp rims, believing in the next world, the next moon and the next theft. But one day she was caught, and everything she discovered thereafter destroyed everything she knew about time. It does not move or tick. It is one place, one moment. It is us who are moving. None of this is real.
How to enter
Continuing Diana's story, write your first chapter (800-1000 words), and send it to us along with a short biography (200 words max), plus your address, email, phone number, occupation and date of birth. Read our terms and conditions, then send your entry to firstchapter@graziamagazine.co.uk, or post it to Rhiannon Evans, Grazia, Academic House, 24-28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DT, by 13 March.
What you'll win
The winner will have their full chapter published in Grazia, plus a meeting with a senior Penguin Random House editor, a year's mentoring from Diana Evans and a goodie bag. They will also receive their award at the Women's Prize for Fiction ceremony on 3 June in London. Two finalists will have their chapters published on graziadaily.co.uk, and all will receive the six Women's Prize for Fiction 2020 shortlisted books.
Meet the judges
DIANA EVANS, bestselling author of Ordinary People
ROSAMUND DEAN, Grazia's deputy editor
RHIANNON EVANS, Grazia's features & special projects director
Visit womensprizeforfiction.co.uk, and follow the prize on Twitter at @womensprize
READ MORE: The 2020 Books We Can't Wait To Read