A Writing Contest For Your Students or Children

My good cyber buddy, Clara Gillow Clark, is having her second annual Spilling Ink writing contest for children in grades 4 to 8! Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter is a great resource book for your classroom or your home–it’s a young writer’s handbook. On her blog, Clara says, “Spilling Ink is a humorous and inspiring book of advice, questions, and writing prompts for young writers.”

Basically,the contest goes like this: Write 200-300 words on one of these writing prompts:

Writing Prompts from Spilling Ink, the Book:
Writing Prompt #1: I DARE YOU Rewrite a scene from your life. Think of something that happened today. Something that wasn’t perfect–maybe something that was even downright mortifying–and rewrite it as you would have wanted it to happen. (Tip from Clara: Remember that scenes have a beginning, middle, and end!)

Writing Prompt #2: I DARE YOU Think of two people you admire. Now think of the thing you admire most about each of them. Combine those two qualities into one person and write about that person in the following situation: She or he is walking down the street and a strange man hands your character a small sealed carton and says, “Don’t let anything happen to this!” Then the man sprints away. What does your character do next?

Writing Prompt #3 from Wendy Townsend and Clara Gillow Clark: Is there a pet you wish you could have? Is it a wild animal? Maybe a goldfish, cat, dog, white mouse, a lizard or a snake? Perhaps, your pet is imaginary? You really really want this pet. Write about all the ways you might go about getting this pet. Now write a scene where you put that plan into action.

After you (students/kids) write your piece, you e-mail it to: claragillowclark@gmail.com by May 1. You can win cash prizes, books, and a publication opportunity on Clara’s blog. For all the details, check out the post here.

If you are interested in Spilling Ink, click on the link below: