****************************************************
****************************************************

WRITING KID
Volume 10, Issue 7           -       April 4, 2010

****************************************************
 
The zine for future writers today.
 
Publisher/Editor: C. Hope Clark
Mailto:      Hope@FundsforWriters.com

Published biweekly and free for the asking. Spread it around.

TELL YOUR TEACHERS ABOUT WRITING KID!

Find this newsletter online at
www.fundsforwriters.com/writingkid.htm
 
Read the archived editions at:
http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?writingkid

****************************************************
WRITING NOTES
****************************************************

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
By Sharon Kebschull Barrett

Write what you know! How many times have you heard that
phrase -- and how many times have you ignored it? Creating
your own Harry Potter may sound like fun, but is your writing
ready for that?

Any time my son's fourth-grade class wrote a story on anything
they wanted, what they wanted was fantasy or science fiction.
They kept finding out, though, how much tougher those are to
write than to read. Focusing on a plot line wasn't nearly as
much fun as coming up with kooky characters - but then they
ended up with stories too far-out to draw their readers in.

When, instead, they wrote about a trip they'd taken, a fight
with a brother, a mistake in a school play or a nail-biting
baseball game, out came delightful, suspenseful, surprising
stories.

Write what you know! We kept saying it, and they kept protesting:
But we haven't lived very interesting lives yet!

OK - but write what you know doesn't mean sticking to the facts.
The way to start is the way all good writers do: Find the seed
in real life, then water it with imagination. 

Seed: We stayed in a cottage on a trip and became great friends
with the owner's dog.

Imagination: When we got home, we discovered that the dog had
snuck into the back of our van and come home with us!

How to spot the seeds in your life? Look first for humor.
Build a story around a silly mistake, a misunderstanding
(especially one that also leads to a gentle life lesson), or
some mixed-up words coming out of a parent's mouth. Did you do
something that embarrassed you, but made you laugh later? Every
reader can identify with that.

Look for tension: Sports stories, brother-sister spats, a failure
at something you worked long and hard for will pull readers along.

Look for the unusual in your everyday life: Sometimes it's easy
to forget that what you do every day isn't typical. (I'm always
a little surprised when people are so interested in my life as a
food writer - until I remember how that seems as exotic to them
as their jobs seem to me.) Are you the only boy in your tap-dance
troupe? Are you a pastor's/zookeeper's/house-builder's/fireman's
kid? Do you play the double bass? Dance Irish jigs? You have stories
there that won't seem outlandish to your readers, but definitely
different from their lives.

Above all, keep it believable. Take your story just one or two
steps beyond what really happened, to spice it up but keep your
readers nodding along.
 
BIO
Sharon Kebschull Barrett is a food writer and author of two
cookbooks, Desserts From an Herb Garden and Morning Glories
(both from St. Martin's Press), and owns Dessert First, a
custom bakehouse.
 
=====
 
Always keep writing.

    Hope
 
PS
We cover elementary to college teens. Each week we
carry 12 or so opportunities for all ages. Read each
market closely. Some cover a wide range and others
address a very small age group. Always read the directions!

We need guest articles. Have you considered writing a
guest article for WritingKid? Are you a student, a parent,
a teacher? All are eligible. Just make sure the topic
touches upon writing and runs no more than 500-550 words.
Those under 16 receive the book of their choice. Those
over 16 receive $10-$20, depending on the quality of the
piece, the amount of editing required and the obvious
amount of research. Send any submissions to
hope@fundsforwriters.com and label it SUBMISSION TO
WRITINGKID.

 
*******************************************************

1.
HUNGER MOUNTAIN PRIZE FOR YOUNG WRITERS
http://www.hungermtn.org/hunger-mountain-prize-for-young-writers/
---
$10 ENTRY FEE
Three first place winners receive $250 and publication!
Three runners-up receive $100 each. There will be a first
place winner and runner up in each category: fiction, creative
nonfiction, and poetry. Any high school student with a piece
of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction may enter.
Deadline April 30, 2010. We accept all forms of poetry, and
poets may enter up to three poems in one entry packet.
Fiction can be experimental of traditional. Creative
nonfiction can be a personal essay or a mini-memoir.

=====
 
2.
THE BENCHMARK GROUP
http://www.benchmarkgrouppublishers.com/Writers_Guidelines.html
---
We want talented young writers between the ages of 13-19 who
speak clearly to their generation. We publish fiction and nonfiction.
Our books will be available through many bookstores, but they are
actively marketed to teens in Christian schools and home-schooling
environments with conservative values. We will not publish anything
that contains or promotes profanity or morally questionable
situations. Though our books aren't all overtly Christian, they are
decent, honest, and non-discriminatory to race, creed, color, or
religious origin. Our books will not proselyte or in any way promote
a particular denomination over any other. Neither will we publish any
book that suggests that any religious cult is to be accepted or
promoted. In your book proposal, include a 3-5-paragraph summary
of the book, a 1-2-paragraph synopsis of each chapter and a sample
chapter.

(**Thanks to http://dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com/ for this one.)
 
=====
 
3.
YOUNG CHRISTIAN WRITERS
http://www.youngchristianwriters.com/
---
Young Christian Writers magazine features short stories,
articles, book reviews, poems and other creative work by
Christian students ages 12-18. If we accept your work for
publication, we will send you a free copy of our magazine. 
In addition, we pay $10-20 for short stories, articles and
book reviews; $10-15 for poetry.  Payment amounts vary
based on length and quality of work. 

=====
 
4.
CAPPER'S
http://www.ogdenpubs.com/writers/cappers.html
---
The magazine emphasizes home and family to readers who live mainly
in the rural Midwest. "Space Place" is for original drawings, poems,
jokes, stories, etc., by children 12 and under. Contributors receive
T-shirts. (Include birth date, home address and shirt size with
submission.)
 
=====
 
5.
NEWCASTLE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SHORT STORY COMPETITION
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla/projects/competitions/isssc/
---
1st Prize: £1,000
2nd Prize: £500
3rd prize: £200

Best stories to appear in an anthology in 2010. Deadline
June 21, 2010. Students from anywhere in the world can enter,
providing they are studying at a UK university, or have
graduated within the past two years. Entrants can write
about any aspect of their experience of studying abroad,
such as the challenges of adapting to life in a different
climate and culture, the ups and downs of 'international
living', culture clashes, coping with food/cuisine in a
new country, homesickness, love (or the lack of it), social
lives, job hunts and struggles to make ends meet. The winning
story and a short-listed selection will be published in a
collection exploring international students' experience of
studying in the UK in 2010.

=====
 
6.
GOTHAM GAZETTE.COM EDITORIAL INTERNSHIPS
Organization: Citizens Union
Location New York, NY
---

Qualifications