A helpful hint if your still writing your soon to be judged masterpiece, make sure not to overuse illiteration, and completely stay away from overused cliches. The great thing about writing a poem is that no two are alike because the writer is giving her individual touch to a poem. A cliche is not a personal touch, it it something that readers are sick of seeing and it shows a lack in creativity on the part of the poet. Use your own imagination to play with words until you get the perfect combination of word flow.
Once you’ve entered a poetry contest, remember to be patient. Sometimes these competitions can take time, so you must learn to have patience. Also, if you are offered constructive criticism, never get mad. Use this information to improve your art, and be thankful that you have been given opinions that can help your further your writing craft. Also, steer clear of any poetry contests that require you to pay money upfront for your poem to be read or published. Many con artists use techniques to scam poets out of money, but you can avoid this by refusing any poetry contest that expects you to pay money.
No matter what poetry contest you are entering, the most important thing is to write your poem from the heart. Don’t generically manufacture your thoughts into words you think will be most pleasing to others. Be true to yourself and create poetry that comes from inside, and right there you will have an edge on the competition because no other person on earth can express themselves in the exact same way that you do.