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WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

December 15, 2011 by

One of the book prizes

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

Another book prize in our competition

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

 

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Tell Stories in Comics

December 2, 2011 by

by Susan Stephenson, of The Book Chook.

Susan Stephenson is a writer who lives about as far east as you can go on Australia without falling off. She loves reading, writing and pretending to be a chicken. Susan shares her fascination in children’s literature, literacy and learning at The Book Chook.

Toon doo

Did you know there are online spaces that let us use their templates, art work and speech bubbles to create our own digital comics? Such a cool idea! Maybe I love them because my mum banned comics when I was growing up, and told me they’d rot my brain.

Brain rot hasn’t set in. Yet. I like to use comic makers or comic software to whip up a quick one-frame cartoon, perhaps as the centrepiece in a poster I’m making. Or I use a three-frame cartoon to tell a little story, or joke. Often I need an illustration for my blog, so I love to create one of my own. I use a comic maker for that too.

It’s probably a good idea to check with your parents before you use these sites, especially if you want to register and save your work.

Make BeliefsComix

Three Comic Makers to Try

Although there are a few differences, the procedure is pretty much the same at all the comic making sites. First you choose your basic template – 1, 2, 3 frames etc. Then you choose backgrounds. characters, objects. You choose speech or thought bubbles and add text to them.

1. MakeBeliefsComix

MakeBeliefsComix is probably the simplest of the comic makers, and a great one to start on. Read more about it on my blog. http://www.thebookchook.com/2009/04/make-your-own-comic-at-makebeliefscomix.html

2. Toon Doo

Choose a template. Once the template is loaded, you’ll see a screen that has your untitled, empty cartoon on the right. On the left you will see:

*a Toon Doo “start here” menu with important functions

*a vertical row of icons that allow you to choose people, animals, props, backgrounds etc, and drag them to your template

*a horizontal row of tools at the bottom that help you make elements you’ve dragged smaller, larger, flip or rotate them etc.

Creaza

3. Creaza

Creaza has lots of universes to choose from, historical, fantasy and even manga like I used here. There’s a video that explains how to use the site. http://www.creazaeducation.com/cartoonist Or you can read a post I wrote about it on my blog. http://www.thebookchook.com/2009/06/cartoonist-sharing-stories-with.html

How to Start:

I usually get an idea first, then I go to the comic maker I think will help me generate a story from that idea. Sometimes I go and check out the characters, and my imagination takes over. Pretty soon a story idea is nudging my brain, waiting to be told. The great thing about creating online is that if it doesn’t work out, you can change things around.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to print out the blank comic templates, and add your own art work and speech bubbles. Or print out lots of your own digital comics and make them into a book. A comic or cartoon might even spark a whole story idea for you, one that needs you to create a short story or novel with just words. Creating comics online might be something you do just for fun when you have a spare ten minutes, or become the start of an absorbing pastime. It doesn’t matter how you use the comic makers – the great thing is you’re creating with words and pictures. And that’s cool!

Thanks Susan for a fabulous piece. These all sound like fantastic activities for comic storytellers.

Dee:)

 


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