Contest Article Date

The Young Writers Fall Fiction Contest article, pictures, and first-place stories will publish in the Dec. 16 edition of The Advertiser News. Watch for it.

Young Writers Article Publishing Soon

Hi Young Writers Contest Winners,

I am finishing up last minute preparations for the article that will share your pictures and 1st-place stories in The Advertiser. I hope to have everything ready to send to The Advertiser by Saturday, Dec. 5. So be watching for the article to publish sometime in December. If I find out a definite date, I will post it here.

Winners Announced!

Hi Young Writers,

I have the results you have all been waiting for. The winning stories and those the judges awarded honorable mentions to are listed below.

Please plan to attend the Young Writers Fall Fiction Contest Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2:00 p.m. The ceremony will be at the Spring Hill Library. We will also be taking pictures of all of the 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, and honorable mention young authors for publication in the The Advertiser News and the Daily Herald.

1st place winners - Your stories will also be published in the papers. If you see your story in the first place category below, it is important that you e-mail your story to me. I need electronic versions to submit to the paper.

To ALL of our contestants - We loved ALL of your stories. Some made us laugh. Some gave us chills. And some warmed our hearts. If you did not place in our contest this year, please do not let that deter you from writing. Even the very best writers had moments in their lives when they didn't "place." So follow your dreams and keep on writing!

Contact me at livingwriterscollective@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Category, Age 8-10

1st - Randy the Super-hero Grandpa
2nd - The Land of Literally
3rd - Googalee World
Honorable Mention - The Human Pixie
Honorable Mention - Halloween on the Moon
Honorable Mention - The Night That Halloween Arrives

*We had a tie for honorable mentions in this category so we awarded three instead of two.

Category, Age 11-13

1st - The Rose
2nd - Adventure... or Disaster?
3rd - Candytown

Category, Age 14-16

1st - There's Nothing Like A Real Buddy
2nd - Castle Under the Sea
3rd - Spread Your Wings
Honorable Mention - Time Spent in a Graveyard
Honorable Mention - Maggie, the Super Hero?

Thank You for your participation, and I will see you on the 21st.

All Entries Are In!

Thank you, Young Writers, for your entries in the Young Writers Fall Fiction Contest. All of the entries are in, have been logged, and are ready for judging.

Preliminary judging will take place during the week of Nov. 2. Final judging by our professional judges (Stellasue Lee, Dave Fulkerson, Ashley Bone) will be on or around Nov. 9. Watch your mailboxes during the week of Nov. 9 for the final results.

The awards ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 14 at the Spring Hill Library. I do not have a time yet, and this date is subject to change. The final date and time will be listed in your letter which will be mailed out during the week of Nov. 9 and will also be posted here as soon as I get confirmation. So keep checking back.

How Do I Get an Entry Form?

Contact us at livingwriterscollective@yahoo.com, and we will be happy to e-mail you an entry form for the 2009 Young Writers Fall Fiction Contest. You may also pick up a copy at the Spring Hill Library.

Young Writers Contest Theme

We are excited to announce the 2009 Young Writers Fall Fiction Contest theme. Let your imagination soar, and weave us a fantastical tale. This year's theme is:

FANTASY

Think outer space, knights, elves, magic, superheroes, under the sea, Halloween, goblins, vampires, princesses, trolls, talking animals, swamp creatures, unicorns, fairy tales of all sorts, or just craft your own special tale. You can do anything with this one. Have fun!

Young Writers Contest Judging Criteria

Contestant's entries will be measured on a scale of 1-5 (1 = poor, 3 = average, 5 = great). To achieve the highest possible score, focus on these criteria:


CONTENT

The story hooked and held the reader’s attention to the end.

The story had a distinct beginning, middle and end.

The story focused on the contest theme.


SYNTAX

Correct punctuation used.

Correct subject-verb agreement used.

Tense shifts used appropriately.

Sentence and paragraph usage aided the story’s structure.


STYLE

The story had a clear point of view.

The story had a distinct voice.

The author’s word choices describe the setting without being verbose.