Wonderful Writers Competition 2019

Hi everyone, and welcome to Wonderful Writers - our creative writing competition run in partnership with Wirral Libraries.

There are two competitions, one for those aged between 5 and 8 years of old and the other for children aged 9 to 11 years.

So, if you are aged between 5 and 11 then you can join in. Oh, you also have to live in Wirral too.

Assuming that you do let’s get on with explaining things. Firstly, this competition is open only during the summer of 2019 – between 22nd July to 9th September 2019 to be exact. So, if you want to submit a story it has to be in by 9th September 2019 at the latest.

Secondly, let’s discuss the prizes.

Both winners of the first prize will win a family ticket to see this year’s Christmas Panto at the Floral Pavilion. Winners of the second prize will win a £25.00 book voucher. Winner of third prize will win a £10.00 book voucher. We will also award commendation certificates to all good stories not only to their authors but also their school as well.

Theme

This year’s theme is about “Space Chase” and is linked to the Summer Reading Challenge which celebrates 50 years since Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. In this competition the story is up to you. Perhaps you are an astronaut lost in space or a friendly Martian who suddenly has a spaceship land in your garden. Set your story wherever you want to it be. Could it be in your home on earth or on the planet Jupiter or even a planet you have made up in your head. It could start inside a spaceship or a space station.

Just remember the story can only be up to 1000 words.

What we are looking for?

The most important thing we are looking for is for your story to be as creative and amazing as possible. We really love reading imaginative stories.

Make sure your story has a great start, middle and ending to it.

At the start introduce where you story begins, can you describe this? We want to be transported from our office and land directly in your story so tell us what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel.

Bring in your main character, are they the goodie? Perhaps you want them to be the baddie? We don’t mind. We do want you to describe them though. We want to close our eyes and imagine what your character looks like. Do they have a name? Characters in space stories always have out of this world names so be really imaginative when thinking of their name. What are they like? Are they playful, brave, scary, scared, naughty or clever?

Now we want to read about what happens to them. For example, we don’t want to read about a journey into space where not much happens. That’s boring – yawn! We want something interesting to happen. It could be fun, it could be sad, but it must be interesting, imaginative and exciting. Perhaps you are hurtling towards a black hole, or crash land on an alien planet, what are you going to do? Are you going to just sit there? No, of course you are not. What if local aliens come and have a look at your broken-down spaceship? Are they really the enemy? Perhaps they are friendly and curious and want to help (imagine if you were sitting outside in your garden when a spaceship from Saturn landed on your washing line, what would you do?)

Lastly, we want there to be an ending. Have you learnt something, about yourself or others?

Personally, and I am one of the judges by the way, I like stories that may me think rather than ones where people just fight each other. I do like a moral at the end of a story, just like in a fairy tale. An example could be do not be rude to people or do not always listen to what people tell you. Could there be a moral in your story?

You can stick some dialogue into your story if you want. Remember to mention how your characters talk by the way. Rather than,

“I am Lord Cosmic Charlie the Courageous,” said Charlie.

Have it a bit more like this,

“I am Lord Cosmic Charlie the Courageous,” boomed the grey bearded fool.

With all stories your reader will want to know how your character and, perhaps, the others, feels about things during the story. Are they sad and unhappy at the start, scared in the middle and hilariously happy at the end?

When you have finished your story, we want you to read through it and make sure you are happy with it. Perhaps let someone else read it and let them tell you what they think about it. Did they like it, did they understand what was going on, could they close their eyes and imagine that they were there?

Please also check that you have spelt everything correctly and, if you can, punctuate the story as much as you can. It’s always nice to have commas’ and full stops to let your reader have a breather. Using paragraphs is also a good idea as is the use of capital letters, speech bubbles and so on.

Check too that you are using really good adjectives to describe everything and verbs to describe what your characters are doing and adverbs to show how they are doing it.

Lastly, don’t forget to give it a really catchy title.

Just before I go, remember a story should be about getting what is in your imagination down onto your computer or on paper. Take your time and make sure you have written it all. Don’t worry about not writing 1000 words too. Think quality over quantity.

When you're ready to submit your story

Please make sure your parents, guardian or carer read our rules page before you submit your story.

If you have any queries, then ask your parent, guardian or carer to contact me on wonderfulwriters@readnowwritenow.org.uk.

To submit a story you need your parent, guardian or carer to email wonderfulwriters@readnowwritenow.org.uk

Please make sure the person who submits your story has read the rules below, especially Rule 3.

Don’t forget the deadline and best of luck.

Charlie

Summer Creative Writing Competition 2019 Rules

The competition is organised, administered and judged by Read Now Write Now and Wirral Libraries.
Entry to this competition is open to persons who will be aged between 5 and 11 on the date the competition opens (22/07/19) and who are full time residents of Wirral in the UK. Proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested. Entry will be in two age categories – ages 5 to 8 years (as at 09/09/19) and 9 to 11 years (as at 09/09/19).
Entrants must write a fictional short story (no more than 1000 words in length). Entry is via email to wonderfulwriters@readnowwritenow.org.uk. Submissions must be made by an adult parent, other relative, guardian or carer. When submitting a story please ensure the subject box states: Submission 2019 along with the child’s name and story title.
In the email the adult must provide the child’s name, gender, school (if applicable) and their age. The story must be attached as a word document only. All stories should be submitted in English. We can only accept stories which are 1000 words or under according to the word counter on the document.
When submitting the story, the adult must confirm that they approve the entry and agree to these Terms and Conditions (including the use of the story submitted and the fictional nature of the story) on behalf of the entrant. The adult must provide their own contact and personal details (not the child’s) by way of contact telephone number and their relationship to the child.
The personal data provided will be used for the purposes of administering the competition. All winners names will be used when announcing the winners and winners and commended writers names will be displayed next to their stories at selected Wirral libraries. Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now will use the contact details provided by the adult to send general updates as to the progress of the competition by email and other promotional activities which only they run.
Entry opens on 22 July 2019. Entry closes on 9th September 2019. Submissions received outside of this time frame will not be considered, so please do not wait until the last minute to upload your entry. .
Entrants can only enter individually. Only one entry per person is permitted and the story must be wholly written by the entrant only; stories cannot be written by more than one person. If more than one entry is submitted, only the entrant's first submission will be considered.
Entries must be an original piece of fiction and based on the selected theme for the competition. Stories must be fictional but can feature well known public figures from present day or from history or take place in historical eras. If you are unclear on whether the content of a story contradicts these Terms and Conditions email wonderfulwriters@readnowwritenow.org.uk. The entrant warrants that they have not used material or depicted events that actually took place or used the personal details of any living persons in the story. As the stories will be published it is important that entrants do not include any personal details about themselves. The entrant must not include their name in the title or body of the story; entries which do contain this information may be removed from the competition.
Entries cannot be returned so please remember to retain a copy. Unsuccessful entrants will be contacted in respect of their entry but no feedback on any entry will be provided.
All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. Both Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now accept no responsibility if entrants ignore these Terms and Conditions and entrants agree to indemnify Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now against any claim by any third party from any breach of these Terms and Conditions.
Entries must not contain defamatory, obscene, offensive, or any other unsuitable material. Entries must be suitable to be published or used online by Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now for audiences of all ages, but in particular for a child audience. If the story has troubling content the Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now may if required take advice from the NSPCC or the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, and may refer the Troubling Content to the relevant authorities.
Entrants retain the copyright in their entries but grant to both Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now a perpetual non-exclusive royalty-free licence to publish and post the entry online and on any other platforms yet to be envisaged. This licence will be deemed to include all the necessary rights and permissions to enable such use by the Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now to fulfil the prizes and to complete the administration of this competition.
By submitting a story the entrant agrees that Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now may at their discretion edit, adapt, abridge or translate the entry for the purposes listed in clause 10 above.
In the event that the entry is published online by either Wirral Libraries or Read Now Write Now, for the avoidance of doubt, this will not be part of, or influence in any way, the judging process. Only the story title, entrant’s name and age will be published with an entry.
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
- Originality and creativity
- Plot
- Characterisation
- Language
- Enjoyment
- Grammar and Presentation
The competition will be judged by Charlie Lea of Read Now Write Now and librarians employed by Wirral Libraries using the criteria above. Commended stories will be entered into the final round.
The stories selected for the final round will be read and judged. There will be one winner for each age group plus second and third prizes in each age group.
The entries from the 6 finalists and the commended writers will be shown in selected libraries across Wirral. Prizes will be awarded to the 3 finalists in each age category.
The 6 finalists will be invited to a prize giving ceremony and we will require parental consent for pictures to be used for media and social media purposes.
The parents or guardians of the top three finalists in each group will be contacted and further proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested at this stage.
The decisions by Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now in relation to this competition is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now reserve the right to disqualify any entry which breaches any of these Terms and Conditions, or to withhold a prize if in its opinion entries do not reach the required standard.
Wirral Libraries and Read Now Write Now reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions or cancel this competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.
Neither Wirral Libraries or Read Now Write Now can accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any server, Internet access, system or otherwise which may result in any entry being lost or not properly registered or recorded. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.
These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.