Thanks to all the wonderful writers of all ages who entered our November Writing Competition! I really enjoyed reading your stories. The winners are announced below. We also encourage you to read the Judge’s Report at the end of this post.

THE WINNERS

Congratulations to the worthy winners and to everyone who wrote their stories and entered them.

If you didn’t win a prize in this competition, please don’t be disheartened. We’ll be running a competition every month at this blog and providing tips to help you with your entries.

Our winners for November are:

8-12 category

First Place (Winner of Toad’s Revenge and Blood Money – Hazard River books by JE Fison plus 5 page manuscript assessment): Rose Owen for her story, Grimble

Highly Commended: Leah Harvey – untitled story

Highly Commended: Asia J Jewels – Lili

Highly Commended: Willow Metcalf – Mel’s War

Commended:  Nicholas Dimotakis – Bob’s Adventure

Commended:  Matthew Dimotakis – The Mysterious Cube

Commended:  Sarah Black – Fire Attack

Commended:  Celine  Ng – The Vacation

Commended:  Aditya Kerhalker – Fred’s Secret Ability

Commended:  Gus Threlfall – Skate Skills

Commended:  Vanessa McLaren – When Elephants Could Fly

Teen Category

First Place: (Winner of Letters to Leonardo plus 5 page manuscript assessment) Joel Teixeira – Bad Moon Rising

 

Adult Category

First Place: (Winner of Letters to Leonardo plus 5 page manuscript assessment) Sally Hall – Day 6

 

Highly Commended: Michaela Sanderson – Kiah

Highly Commended: Kelly McDonald – The Hidden Fey

Highly Commended: Georgie Donaghey – The Story Unfolds

Commended:  Anisa Scott – Angels of Darkness

Commended: Dimity Powell – PS What About Christmas

Commended:  Dimity Powell – Gone Cruising

JUDGE’S REPORT

NOVEMBER ‘FIRST PAGE’ WRITING COMPETITION

We received a large number of entries of a very high standard for our November ‘first page’ writing competition.

THE BEST THINGS ABOUT OUR NOVEMBER COMPETITION STORIES

• There were a number of entries that displayed great humour and imagination.
• Some stories had very strong characters and voices. There was also plenty of great dialogue and tension.
• Some very original ideas and great world building in these pieces of writing.

JUDGES TIPS

1. Always follow submission guidelines. If the competition only asks you to submit one page then don’t submit more than one page. Some competitions will disqualify you if you don’t follow submission guidelines.

2.Try to get into the action quickly. Some entries provided information that the writer needs to know, but the reader doesn’t. Try to introduce your character and their problem/goals as soon as possible in your story.

3.Make sure you identify your character early on by naming them and giving an indication of their age and the kind of person they are. This will help your readers engage with them.

4. Does your piece have enough tension? Does it get your character right into the action straight away?

5.Look at how other writers start their story. What draws you into a story? Try to apply these things to your own writing.

6.Show what’s happening through the character’s actions and reactions. Try to show the reader instead of telling them.

7. Try not to tell the story after it has happened. Let the action unfold for the reader.

8. Try not to complicate the story too much. Make the meaning clear for the reader.

9.Don’t overdo the description.

We hope you have found these tips helpful.

We look forward to reading your entries in future competitions.

Happy writing:)

Dee