Attention middle school students who live in or attend school in Contra Costa County!  Mail your short stories, poems and/or personal narratives postmarked by April 1 to be eligible for $$$ prizes! 

We need YOUR entry NOW!  Apologies for the wonky way the guidelines appear on this post.  They also are on the right side of this blog in a neater version.

California Writers Club Mt. Diablo Branch, Contra Costa County

YOUNG WRITERS CONTEST

Honoring a New Generation of California Writers

      See cwcmtdiablowriters.wordpress.com/young-writers-contest for contest information

 

PLEASE PRINT

Name______________________________________________________________

Home Address_____________________________________________________________

               Number  &  Street                                                           City                                                      Zip

Home Phone_____________________________ E-mail Address

__________________________________________________ 

School____________________________________________________________

Grade_______________________

First and Last Name of your English (Creative Writing) Teacher___________________________________________________________

Manuscript Title___________________________________________________________

MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES (please check one):

_____ Short Story (up to 5 pages typed, double-spaced)

_____ Poem (up to 30 lines, can be single or double-spaced)

Suggested Poetry Prompt ideas (not necessary to use these specific words)

1. It shouldn’t have happened this way                                    2. Who knew what I was thinking?

3. If I had been there, it all would have been different             4. More ideas on website noted above

_____ Personal Narrative (capturing an event in your life; up to 3 pages, typed, double-spaced)

Mail submissions to:  Young Writers Contest, California Writers Club, PO Box 606, Alamo, CA  94507

DON’T MISS OUT:  Only entries that follow the guidelines EXACTLY will be considered!

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CONTEST GUIDELINES:

1. Contest open to 6th, 7th and 8th grade students who live in or attend school in Contra Costa County.

 2. Submit 2 copies of your manuscript. Do not include artwork or a cover. Your manuscript must be typed or computer generated at 12 point, double-spaced, one-inch margins around perimeter. No staples. Paper clips only.

3. Put your name in the upper left-hand corner of each page. Number each page.  Put manuscript title on the first page.

4. Multiple entries are welcome.  Each entry must be accompanied by a separate application form (above) or 3×5 card noting: name; home address; home phone; school; grade; e-mail address; teacher; manuscript title; and category.

5. Deadline:  Manuscripts must be postmarked by April 1, 2013. Winners will be announced when judging is complete.

6. INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSIONS BY STUDENTS PREFERRED. TEACHERS: PLEASE ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO SUBMIT THEIR STORIES AND POEMS THEMSELVES.

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 PRIZES: Winning short stories and poems from each grade level will receive $100 for first prize, $50 for second prize and $25 for third prize. The Betty Tenney Essay Award of $100 will be given to the best personal narrative/essay in each grade. Second and third place prizes may be awarded in this category at the judges’ discretion. Prizes will be presented to winners on May 11, 2013, at a lunch banquet. A published author will speak. Parents are welcome.

TEACHERS: We are striving to encourage individual creativity and expression. Do not send entire class assignments. Teachers of winning students will be invited to attend the May 11th banquet.

As I gaze out of my office window, pondering over my next phrase, I am thankful for the California open space behind our house.  If you have a little patch of nature, or can walk to one and sit under a tree with a notebook, you’ll discover how freeing a few trees, a bit of grass and the smell of fresh earth can relax the writer or artist within any of us. 

Next, I am gratified by the room around me, filled with my most precious possessions:  books and creatures writing and reading, and lovely cards given by wonderful friends.  I remember when several years ago my writing area was a small retreat between our bedroom and the hallway.  My son and his friends ran back and forth between his room and the backyard deck, while I rolled my chair away from my computer as they whooshed by, a stream of boy-noise and action.   

Who can forget a best friend by my side, encouraging my writing?  Zoie will be sixteen-years-old at the end of this month.  When she was a puppy, I barely wrote at all.  Once she was out of baby-hood, I resumed my normal schedule, with walk breaks, of course.   Within the last year she has lost most of her sight and hearing, so she doesn’t feel comfortable outside without one of us by her side.  She is more impatient with my writing time.   It MUST be time to go out NOW, she seems to say with her big brown eyes.  I agree.  We must remember time with our loved ones is important, too. 

No matter if you write for a few minutes now and then or hours every day, be grateful your passions have led to toward this path.  

Writing Prompts:

1. Where do you hope your writing will lead you?  What do you wish to discover about yourself, your past, present or future?  Write an essay about this adventure.

2.  Interview yourself.  What is your favorite word?  (I have several – – most of them I make up.  Since I happen to be starving right now, I think my favorites are hot fudge sundae.)

Where do you write most productively?  (Me – my office.  Although any classroom or library with individual desks works well, too.)

Do you have any favorite moments of inspiration?   (Just before I fall asleep or as I awake.)

What are your favorite writing books?  ( I love What’s Your Story by Marion Dane Bauer.  Although it is marketed for middle grade students it is wonderful for everyone.)

How did you find writing?  (I found it in school but a guidance counselor said the only option was working for a newspaper.  So I dropped that idea until my son was born.  Then I took a pen in hand and began again.)  

What is your biggest conflict with writing?    (It is often harder than it looks.)

What do you enjoy most about it?   (It drops you into another world entirely.) 

3.  Write a poem, song, or personal narrative on gratefulness. 

4.  Have you ever been inspired by nature?  Where?  When?  Write about this inspiration.