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WRITING KID
Volume 12, Issue 1 - January 6, 2012
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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  


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WRITING NOTES
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Pieces of Soul: writing from the heart

by Laura N. Farrar

I've always loved writing fiction. In elementary school 
I started submitting short stories, but discouragement 
followed numerous rejections. Eventually, I submitted 
some poems to various markets and several were published. 
I kept writing and submitting fiction stories, but they 
continually came back. I was putting my heart into them, 
but they weren't polished yet. Finally, I decided to try 
a new genre, personal experience articles. 

I didn't know where to start, so I wrote what I knew 
best--the story of my high school "Extreme Makeover". 
Sitting down and writing about a challenging time in my 
life when I faced social anxiety and learned how to 
communicate with peers was difficult, but well worth it. 
Variations of that story sold to three anthology books and 
a teen magazine. Soon I branched out, writing about media 
influences, my experience with depression and illness, and 
friends who challenged me to become a better person. Finally, 
I had a fiction story accepted, but only after I had plenty 
of practice from writing my own stories--the ones closest to 
my heart.

Some people are gifted story-tellers who can craft amazing 
tales of characters' lives better than they can their own. 
If that's you, great! However, most of us struggle at first 
with the creation of characters, plot, setting and realistic 
conflict. We need to learn how to write stories, and a good 
way to do that is using the template of our own lives. Write 
about your earliest memory, fun family activities, playtimes 
with pets, fights and resolutions with siblings, times in 
the hospital, inventions and creativity, or friendships. 
Don't underestimate the power of a seemingly boring day to 
be part of a dynamic story!

If you aren't sure where to begin, try thinking of a topic 
that has impacted your life. It could be about becoming class 
officer, adoption, getting your first pet, your parents' divorce, 
physical or mental illness, babysitting, taking an art class, 
learning an instrument, moving, making new friends, or surviving 
a natural disaster. You can literally take any life moment and 
turn it into a story that can make people laugh, cry, smile and 
recognize new things about themselves. 

When you write about something that's personal and you're 
passionate about, whether it's in your life, school, community 
or the world, you're writing from the heart, and that's how you 
connect with your readers. Fiction can often seem distant and 
difficult to relate to, but personal experience stories are 
sincere and real. They can create emotion, lead to self-
awareness, and inspire people to succeed, try new things and 
make a difference in the world. 

Your pen is powerful, but so is your story! When you write 
from the heart, your words will take you on a journey to 
discovering more about yourself and learning how to tell 
stories even better. People will listen as you weave together 
the pieces of your soul!


BIO:
Laura N. Farrar is a twenty-two-year-old writer who balances 
college, work, and dreams while mentoring teens and inhaling 
books. Her first poem was published when she was sixteen, and 
since then articles, stories, and poetry have appeared in 
Skipping Stones, Encounter, CharacterZ, and more. Check out 
her website: www.laurafarrar.com 


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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. 

See the details at www.fundsforwriters.com/submissions.htm  


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1.
RIGHT WORDS CONTEST
http://www.rightwords.org.uk/ 
---
All students in years 10 and 11 in England and Wales (Key 
Stage 4) and all Secondary 3 and 4 students in Scotland are 
eligible. When we listen to music on the radio, watch the 
television, read news online, pick up a magazine or go to 
the cinema, we are taking part in this freedom. It is one of 
the most important guarantees of our democracy. But imagine 
for a second living in other parts of the world where writing 
newspaper articles critical of the government could lead to 
you being thrown into jail, where certain types of music and 
books are banned, and where just speaking your mind in public 
could lead to your arrest by the police. A distinguished panel 
of judges will consider the submissions and select winners 
in the following categories:

A newspaper article
A poem
A fictional story
Short dialogue / monologue
A rap / song (music and lyrics)

The best entries will be published in an anthology in the 
spring of 2012. 

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2. 
YBNV WRITE A DREAM SHORT PLAY COMPETITION
http://www.yvnvplays.org/competition.htm 
---
10-minute plays that have not had productions are preferred, 
but one-acts (20 page max.) will be considered. Use of the 
narrator is discouraged. Profanity and obscenity is prohibited. 
Due to the volume of plays we receive, only one script 
submission per author will be considered. All scripts must 
be submitted in English. Students in grades 3-12 are eligible. 
Deadline March 12, 2012. Grand Prize in Primary (grades 3-6) 
and Secondary Divisions (grades 7-12) is a stage production 
at the Young Voices With New Visions Short Play Festival. 
Location Atlanta, GA.

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3.
ELIZABETH GRAEME FERGUSSON AWARD IN POETRY
http://www.a2pwebdesign.com/montcopoet/graeme/entry.htm 
---
Eligibility: All high school students (grades 9-12) in Montgomery,
Bucks, Chester, Delaware or Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania.
Poems must be mailed to: MCPL Program, PO Box 441, Hatfield, PA 
19440. Manuscript must be post-marked NO LATER than Monday,
March 12, 2012. Awards: $250 prize (plus $50 Honorable Mention) 
will be given at a formal awards presentation on Saturday, April 
21, 2012, at Musehouse: A Center for the Literary Arts (7924 
Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118). 

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4. 
ALABAMA HIGH SCHOOL LITERARY ARTS AWARDS
http://www.writersforum.org/programs/competition.html 
---
The Alabama Writers' Forum invites high school teachers to submit 
their students' creative writing to the 2012 High School Literary 
Arts Awards and Scholarship Competition (HSLAA). The postmark 
date is January 18, 2012.

The 2012 HSLAA is open to Alabama high school students in grades 
9-12. Cash awards are available to high school seniors through 
the senior portfolio competition. Categories include poetry, 
short fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, portfolios, and 
literary magazines. 

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5.
AG DAY ESSAY CONTEST
http://www.hpj.com/agdayessay/ 
---
Theme - "American Agriculture: Feeding the Future, Filling the Gaps."
The 2012 Ag Day Essay Contest is divided into two categories of 
competition: written essay and video essay. Both are national 
competitions. Essays must contain no more than 450 words. The 
maximum length of a video is two (2) minutes. Students in grades 
9-12 in the 2011-2012 school year. Contestants must be U.S. citizens. 
Contestants must meet all requirements to compete.

National Video Essay Winner-$1,000.

National Written Essay Winner-$1,000 and trip to Washington, D.C., 
to be recognized at the Celebration of Ag Dinner held at the Whitten 
Patio March 8, 2012. Entries must be received by: midnight CST, 
February 1, 2012. 

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6.
CANINES FOR CHARITY CONTEST
http://www.caninesforcharity.com/youngwriters.htm 
---
Write an essay of 350 words or less on the following topic:
"My First Puppy". Feel free to decorate the pages. Essays need 
to be mailed in. We are no longer accepting emailed essays.
Mail us your essay by February 6, 2012. We have four different 
age groups. K-3rd Grade, 4th - 6th Grade, 7th - 9th Grade & 
10th - 12th Grade. 

Mail your entries to:
Canines for Charity
c/o Pam and Floyd Dunn
PO Box 4522
Casper, WY 82604

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7.
BLUE SKY PROJECT - DAYTON, OH
http://www.blueskydayton.org/artists 
---
Links young people aged 14-18 from the local community with 
professional artists from around the world to pursue projects 
proposed by the artists. Resident Artists will extend their 
own artistic exploration and studio practice in a unique 
collaborative setting with youth; develop the leadership, 
self-awareness, critical-thinking, communication and collaborative 
skills of Youth Participants through the art making process; and 
enhance the vibrancy of the community through increased engagement 
and creative energy. Seeking project proposals from artists, 
activists, and creative professionals in the following disciplines: 
visual art, film, tech art, dance, music, writing, performance art, 
and other creative media. 

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8. 
GEORGIA STUDENT WRITING WANTED - PEGASUS MAGAZINE
http://pegasusliterarymagazine.weebly.com/index.html 
---
Pegasus, the literary magazine at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural 
College in Tifton, Georgia, invites submissions of poetry, 
short fiction (flash fiction welcome), creative nonfiction, 
artwork and photography for the upcoming spring 2012 issue. 
The submission deadline is February 29, 2012. Pegasus is an 
award-winning regional journal that publishes writers enrolled 
in Georgia high schools or Georgia colleges and universities. 
Pegasus accepts electronic submissions only. Please see website
for full submission guidelines. 

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9. 
COUNCIL FOR WISCONSIN WRITERS COMPETITION
http://www.wiswriters.org 
---
$20 ENTRY FEE
The Council for Wisconsin Writers invites Wisconsin writers 
who have works published in 2011 to submit them in the 
categories of book-length fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; 
short fiction and nonfiction; a set of five poems; outdoor 
writing; and children's literature. Winners of the Wisconsin 
Writers Award in each of the eight categories will receive 
$500 and a weeklong artist-residency with Shake Rag Alley 
Center for Arts and Crafts or Maplewood Lodge in Mineral Point, 
WI. The contests close January 31, 2012 (postmark deadline). 
Authors who enter must be current Wisconsin residents. 

CWW also sponsors an Essay Award for Young Writers (1,500-word 
maximum) for Wisconsin high school student writers; there is 
no entry fee, and the award is $250 this year. Members of the 
board will judge. Deadline for the student essay contest is 
January 31, 2012. 

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10.
NCLA WATER POETRY COMPETITION
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla/projects/competitions/poetrycomp/ 
---
£5 ENTRY FEE FOR UP TO 3 POEMS

Main Category:
1st Prize: £500
2nd Prize: £200
3rd prize: £100

North East Young Adult Category (free entry for up to three poems):
1st prize: £250. Five runners up will each receive £50.

Deadline January 13, 2012. We want you to think about water 
in all its aspects and submit poems to us which use it as a 
theme. This competition has two categories. The Main category 
is open to UK residents of any age; the North East Young Adult 
category is open to under 19 year olds resident in the North 
East of England. 




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Contact WritingKid (the Business Stuff)
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FundsforWriters/Writing Kid make no warranty as to the 
accuracy of the contests, awards, etc. but we do try to 
check them out in advance to the best of our ability. 

C. Hope Clark
Hope@FundsforWriters.com 
http://www.fundsforwriters.com 

Copyright 2000-2012, C. Hope Clark

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