There are a few days left to enter Figment's Mythical World Contest.
Entries of 500 words or less are due at the Figment website by the end of day, November 21. Read complete contest rules and guidelines here. Good luck!
 A brief tip to keep in mind as you write: it's important that you create obstacles for your characters to overcome. Don't make important problems too easy to solve. Nabokov's quote (above) gets at the heart of this concept. Besides making the story more interesting, creating obstacles also helps the reader to root for your characters.
What obstacles are your characters currently facing? How can you make the fictional situation worse? Disclaimer: "throw rocks" is not meant literally. No kittens were harmed in the writing of this blog post. Writers spend a lot of time focusing on the main character (MC), particularly if the story is written in first person. But what about the secondary characters? The best friend? The older sister?  Sometimes when a scene with multiple characters isn't working, it can be helpful to think about the action from another character's point of view. If the MC is arguing with her best friend at lunch, you may have a good handle on the MC's emotions and the events that led up to the argument. But what about the BFF? She can't be manipulated to say what you need for the plot to move forward. She should be a believable character with her own set of emotions and actions. What if she was telling the story? What happened during her morning that might be contributing to the argument? What is she feeling about the MC? You wouldn't necessarily add all of this background (and probably shouldn't, in most cases), but working on the supporting characters can help a scene-gone-wrong.
 A resource to explore is author Jacqueline Jules' website, Pencil Tips: Writing Workshop Strategies from Children's Authors and Illustrators. She includes a section dedicated to magazines and contests that accept student work for consideration. If you're looking for places to submit, be sure to check it out.
In case you are new to my blog, this week's Teen Tuesday post is a summary of some ongoing contests and market profiles that I've listed previously. Contests
Markets
Giveaway WinnerA winner has been randomly selected for the Emergency Preparedness giveaway. There is a 48 hour period for the winner to respond. Once I hear back, I'll announce it. Happy October! By Yvonne Ventresca  The Gulen Institute sponsors an annual essay contest for students in grades nine through twelve, worldwide. According to the website, "The contest challenges young minds to identify the obstacles to stable peace and social harmony and to offer possible solutions from their own cultural perspectives." This year's theme is global poverty. Cash prizes and sponosred trips to Washington, DC are awarded to the top thirty winners, with first place receiving $2000. Sample prompt: Discuss some innovative practices that have been particularly effective in reducing or eliminating poverty in some regions. Do they show any promise as a model for implementation elsewhere? Are they promising on a global scale?" -- Gulen Institute Youth Platform essay contest, 2015 Essays (written in English) must be between 1500 and 2000 words and are due December 15, 2014. See the contest website for the six writing prompts and complete guidelines. Good luck! Disclaimer: Word Pop blog is not associated with the running or judging of this contest. Please verify all rules, details, and guidelines on the contest website.
 The Louisville Review publishes poetry from kids in kindergarten through seniors in high school. From the website: "We seek writing that looks for fresh ways to recreate scenes and feelings. Honest emotion and original imagery are more important to a poem than rhyming and big topics--such as life, moralizing, and other abstractions." They pay in copies. You can read the complete guidelines here.
Adults: They publish poetry and prose people over eighteen, too! See the submission guidelines here. Happy Writing!  Online Magazine Crashtest is an online magazine run by students in Greenville, South Carolina that publishes the writings of other high schoolers (grades 9-12) twice a year. You can submit year-round by email, but response times may be longer during the summer months.
From the website: "Here at Crashtest we believe being alive right now is what matters. We don’t think the ability to observe the world and form an opinion is denied us because we can’t yet rent a car. . . " They publish poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction. (No fan fiction.) Please see the website for complete details about sending them your work. Happy Writing! "School Daze" Writing Contest for High School and College Students  Deadline: August 31, 2014 Prizes: IHOP and Papa John's Gift Cards Entries: 500 words or less, nonfiction (write the true stuff!) Essay topic: "Submit a story about a school memory - being the new kid, a great school achievement, a special (or not so special) teacher, something joyful or something embarrassing." Contest run by StageOfLife.com. See their website for complete rules and details.  Is it really almost time for back-to-school? This time of year makes me think about the quote from an Edna St. Vincent Millay sonnet: "no such summer as the one before" (Fatal Interview XLVI).
What phrase or quote describes this summer for you? The 12th Annual Collingswood Book Festival will take place on October 11th in Collingswood, NJ, and I'm excited to be signing books that day. You can read a full list of the attending authors on the festival website. As part of the book festival, the Collingswood Public Library is running two contests. One is a poetry contest with a sensory theme (smell, taste, etc.) for kids ages seven to thirteen. Entries need to be postmarked by September 15th. Complete details are available here.  Collingswood Book Festival Poetry Contest In honor of Amelia Bedelia’s 50th anniversary, a second contest is being held for the illustration of an idiom (several examples are listed on the site, such as "hit the books" and "face the music") in a way that Amelia Bedelia would interpret it. There is one prize for kids ages twelve and under, and one prize for teens/adults. Entries are due October 1st. Go here for details and scroll down. You can enter the contests even if you can't attend the festival. Good luck!  Collingswood Book Festival Illustration Contest |
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