8 minute read
Children’s Writing Competition
Children’s
Writing Competition 2021
Two months in, we have already begun to receive some wonderful entries to our Children’s Writing Competition 2021. But don’t worry – there’s plenty of time left if you’ve not yet started.
Did you know that all profi ts from the fi nal illustrated anthology will go to local children’s charity the IW Story Festival? Although a physical event was not possible this year, organisers welcomed a fabulous line-up of children’s authors in a four-day festival of online talks and interactive live sessions back in February half-term.
So, if you’re still waiting for inspiration to strike or have an idea but don’t know quite how to start, here are some top IW Story
Festival tips to help spark, develop and polish your story-in-waiting. We all have a story to tell “Stories make the world utterly brilliant. It’s through stories that we develop compassion for other people’s lives. If you’ve got a story you want to tell, make sure you save it up in your heart and one day you can write it down and share it with the world.”
- Cerrie Burnell, activist, actor, CBeebies presenter and author of ‘I Am Not a Label’, an illustrated anthology exploring the lives of 34 disabled artists, thinkers, athletes and activists from past and present.
Map it out “Drawing a map is a really useful way to get your imagination started and develop your story. Think about the world you want to create: is there lots of ice and snow? Are there lots of little islands? Are there mountain ranges, forests, volcanoes or caves? Where do your characters live?” - Kieran Larwood is the awardwinning (and Island-based) author of The Peculiars and The Five Realms series. He took setting inspiration for his new book – Uki and the Swamp Spirit – from local landscapes including Brading marshes and Newtown Creek.
Plot a journey “Your characters should always go on a journey – whether literal or emotional. Every time you write a story, try and ask yourself ‘what does my character really want?’ and ‘what is stopping them from getting it?’ throughout their journey.” - Roopa Farooki is an award-winning author of six novels for adults, NHS Junior Doctor, mother of four, and lecturer in creative writing at the University of Oxford. Her middle-grade series ‘The Double Detectives Medical Mysteries’ features twins Ali and Tulip, inspired by her own twin girls. Be more Picasso
“Whenever Picasso does something different, people say “No! No! No! Picasso!” But Picasso doesn’t listen, and he became the greatest – and richest – artist in the world.”
- Nicholas Allan is the bestselling picture book author of The Queen’s Knickers and many more. His latest book – Picasso’s Trousers – celebrates the life and art of this creative genius.
Let poetry be your prompt “Poetry books are lovely things to read to get the imagination going.” - Neal Layton is the award-winning children’s author and illustrator of many books, including ‘A Planet Full of Plastic’, perfect for inspiring young environmentalists. Create space to write “Have a special place to keep all your writing and art. Make it your own. Fill it with your favourite things. If you like going there you’ll go there more often – and that means more writing, more reading, and more drawing. And one day, you might write and illustrate a whole book there!”
- Eve McDonnell is a children’s book writer and artist based halfway up a hill in Co. Wexford, Ireland. Her timetravelling adventure novel Elsetime was inspired by the Great Flood of London in 1928. Research, research, research “I think research is really important when you’re writing about history. Try and fi nd what historians call a primary source – you could read books, listen to archive recordings, watch fi lms, look at maps, or even interview people who were there at the time.” - Tom Palmer, author of 52 children’s books about history and sport. He has won 20 prizes including the Children’s Book Award and Ruth Rendell Prize.
Feeling inspired?
To enter your 500-word story in the Style of Wight Children’s Writing Competition, send via snail mail to Style of Wight, 8 Salisbury Gardens, Dudley Road, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1EJ or email features@styleofwight.co.uk
Sponsored by:
ROBIN MCINNES OBE
Rebel Beauty for Teens
It’s not easy being a teen. Especially today. From the labels we give ourselves to the ideals we measure ourselves against, Bethan Christopher’s latest book ‘Rebel Beauty for Teens’ gives young women the permission and tools they need to rip up the rulebook and define their own brand, on their own unique terms.
Bethan began writing at the beginning of the first national lockdown, and, by the time we are emerging from the third (and hopefully final), her book will be available in bookshops and online retailers, launching across the
UK and US from 15th April.
In many ways, its themes have taken on a new and important relevance amid the pandemic’s swirling uncertainty.
“With the effect Covid is having on mental health in young people, there couldn’t have been a better time for this book to come out,” Bethan says.
“The young people I’ve spoken to about self and body esteem during lockdown have told me the pressure to do ‘body transformations’ and obsess over their appearance has been exacerbated; they are spending more time on social media and anxiety is through the roof.”
How her gorgeousness gorgeousness grew
Pages to draw, colour, write, doodle, scribble, cut, stick and unleash your creativity all over
The book encourages teens to treat their bodies as a lifelong BFF, with tried-and-tested roadmaps to help develop literacy and compassion around the menstrual cycle, as well as creative prompts to help recognise the patterns and beliefs that sometimes hold us back from discovering our purpose and power. Packed full of Bethan’s gorgeously unique illustrations, inspiring quotes, and the kind of practical exercises, rip-me-out and fi ll-in-now activities that our own Filofax-mad teenage selves would have loved, ‘Rebel Beauty for Teens’ gives teenagers everything they need to fi nd and express their unique brand of gorgeousness.
Win
We have two fabulous copies of Bethan’s guided journal ‘Rebel Beauty for Teens’ to give away.
For your chance to win visit www.styleofwight.co.uk
As a child, Bethan was bullied for her appearance, an experience which she credits with the impetus to write her fi rst book, ‘Grow Your Own Gorgeousness’. Starting in tiny handmade self-stitched ‘print runs’ for family and friends, and later through a professional self-publisher, word spread and ‘Grow Your Own Gorgeousness’ developed into an educational delivery programme rolled out across the Island, where at the time, self-esteem in teenage girls was lower than the national average. In August 2019, Bethan was approached by Trigger publishing, specialists in mental health and wellbeing, who loved the programme and wanted to publish it in book form. “It’s almost like this book is the fi nale,” Bethan says. “I’m really excited for it to get out there in the world.”
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