children’s writing contest 7-13

Jane Bloomfield lives in Queenstown and is the author of three Lily Max novels for young readers.

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Queenstown author Jane Bloomfield on a writing contest that unlocks children’s imaginations while locked.

Encouraging young people to roam the wild is what drives themselves and the authors of their nine children to run an online writing contest, Fabostory. With the current lock, we urge writers ages 7 to 13 to unlock their imagination and make plans.

Every Monday one of our authoring teams sets the beginning of the story. Always stop by the cliff; children who enter the competition then have 500 words to continue the story any way they want. Attendees must enter their story on the website by Sunday evening and strike submit, We usually start in Term 2, but with family at closing we wanted to give young minds a creative department as they cool inside. We occasionally raise the subject, but this year it’s open. Oh, and discouraged apocalyptic and locking stories. There’s a lot of that in real life.

Fabostory is now in its tenth year. I joined four years ago and was amazed at the quality of writing the young Kiwis sent me. All the stories make me laugh. Except for those who travel so well and then end abruptly and then I woke up.

As well as picking the winners and posting their story on the site, each author writes a report outlining their favorite excerpts from the other participants. Our young writers are really encouraged when they receive such personalized feedback.

Indigo Tomlinson, 12, from Ohope, was great for many of us last year. She has a huge vocabulary for her age and a great eye for detail and story. This excerpt is from her winning entry, Weird Tuesday: “It was an elephant. Hardly a tiny miniature elephant. He blinked, confused, then looked up at me, sending a little lukewarm water into the air with his boot. He had broken hundreds of glittering diamonds and for a moment he felt like the world was full of rainbows. “

Indigo has twice been my winner. If you read mine Lily Max trilogy of books, I asked her if she wanted to be a beta reader of my last manuscript, as her prize. She jumped at the chance. And read it twice. It drew me to a few things – stronger verbs I could use, urged instead called for example. She wrote a very succinct report. I can see Indigo as an editor, should he pursue a career in writing.

Another outstanding writer, from 2010, was Angus Smith of Auckland. He could win every time he enters, but this is unlike other regular entrants. Angus won the overall award and was played by the author of Fabostory and wrote the story. It’s great to feel that this competition could have shaped future writers. This year will also be the overall winner to receive the Puffin Prize Pack.

My slot is scheduled for mid-August. We hope to meet a different New Zealand by then. Still, I suppose my storyteller will have a medieval theme – with horses.

I have written three novels for children and often my imagination runs away on its own, down rabbit holes and beyond. Just before lockdown, for example, I drove to Glenorchy to buy a black horse. It was oddly still a day. The road from Queenstown winds along Lake Wakatipu, and pearly ceiling hangs low above the lake. I counted three white SUVs and 12 white-breasted booms swaying over power lines, mostly in pairs, one set of four …. At this point I began to wonder if maybe I should return to the hunt for food in an unknown, distant future. . I also wondered if the Clydesdale-cross (with hoof-sized hooves) I intended to test doubled as a horse pack, should I run to the market to buy a bag of wheat.

There is a small historic stone cottage just across the fence from our property. We have found many things over the years goods from the family who lived there, back in the 1900s. I dug out a baby leather boot, a tin bag of gunpowder and numerous bottles in blue glass. I have often wondered about this family, did they have a daughter who picked wild plums and nettles that spilled over the fence when times were easy and they rode the bull trail to Queenstown. I can’t meet this family so I’ll have to unlock my imagination and catch up with them. Hopefully, while riding a big black horse.

Fabo is a free writing contest for children 13 years and under, held weekly during lockdown. This week’s story begins, “It was a dark and stormy night, so Rona made sure her torch worked before she came off the deck into the long damp grass …” The entries must be up to 500 words. Register!