Write time is now to get inspired about storytelling
All children love stories, but if your child baulks at the thought of writing their own, remember the adage “write what you know” has been passed down to centuries of junior scribes for a reason.
Using your own life as material is a starting point for most young writers – and one fast track to a fresh idea is to zero in on something in their world that has recently changed.
For example, Covid has up-ended routine and regular life for children, but it has also delivered canine companions to countless kids. And the family pet can be a source of inspiration.
Winner of the 2020 Kids News Short Story Competition in the kindy to year 2 category, Alyssa Reed, now 8, is planning to enter a short mystery starring her dog, Ruby, who joined the family in April. “When I’m brainstorming ideas for a story, I think about me and my life,” Alyssa says. “I think about her and then I think to myself, ‘This can be a story about dogs’.
“The thing that I like about reading is if the book’s engaging, it hooks me in and makes me want to read more, so when I write my stories, I try to do the same thing.”
The 2021 Kids News Short Story Competition is accepting entries in four age groups: kindergarten to year 2; years 3-4; years 5-6; and years 7-9.
First-prize winners in each age category will take home an ipad, a book pack and 10 copies of their winning short story, published into a printed book by Harpercollins.
There are also prizes for one runner-up and three highly commended entries in each age group. Entries close 5pm AEST this Friday, September 17.
For more information and to enter, visit kidsnews.com.au/short-story-competition