The Angel Animals Network 2010 True Story Contest is now accepting submissions of true stories of animals helping children, parents, and families deal with difficult situations and circumstances. Animals featured can be dogs, cats, horses, gerbils, rabbits, ferrets, or any house pet or animal in nature. They can be family pets or therapy, assistance, or service animals.

The stories can be written by parents or guardians of children or by the children or teens themselves. Stories can also be written by adults who recall a special animal from childhood or teen years who helped them through a tough period.

This contest hopes to find real-life stories that demonstrate animals comforting and helping to heal children during everyday ups and downs or traumatic events such as divorce or other losses. The stories can depict how children and teens de-stress with animals while learning valuable life lessons.  The deadline is 15 September 2010. For more details visit Angel Animals.

Related posts:

1. Talking Animal Stories – Wind in the Willows MK II?
2. True Life Stories – market opportunity
3. Writing Fantasy Fiction

140 new films from 18 countries will be competing in 8 categories:  Long Form, International, Newcomer, Short Film, Documentary, Animation, Music Video and Broadcast Design. The Official Competition Screenings will be held at The Institute of Contemporary Arts in central London.  The Awards Ceremony will be held on Thursday 30th July 2009.

Enemy Lines will be screened on Thursday 23 July (6.30pm , Cinema 1; Saturday 25 July (9pm, Cinema 2) and Wednesday 29 July (9pm, Cinema 1). 

Other films to be screened at the festival include Sadie Frost’s Directorial Debut, Danny Boyles End Credit Sequence for Slumdog Millionaire, actors such as Michael Bryne (Gangs of New York), Juliet Stevenson (Bend It Like Beckham), Nick Nolte (Hotel Rwanda, 48 Hours), Connie Fischer (Sound Of Music), Russel Tovey (Being Human), Chris Hehir (Green Street), Danny Cunningham (24 Hour Party People), Jack O’Connell (This is England), comedians such as Adam Buxton Lulu McClatchy and Alexei Sayle, and music videos from McFly to Royskopp, Will Young to Goldfrapp, Coldplay and U2 and many more.

Having grown dramatically every year since its inauguration in 1998, this year’s festival runs over 10 days and offers a wide range of events including the Opening Night Premiere ‘The Calling’, BAFTA Short Filmmakers Market, seminars, panel discussions, guest screening programmes, receptions and exhibitions held in 15 different venues in Soho district.

All events and full booking details can be found on their website:  www.sohoshorts.com.

I’ll be going down for the Wednesday screening and will be meeting up with my director, Michael Steel. Please let me know if you’re going to any of the screenings.

Related posts:

1. Short Story Film Festival: ‘Enemy Lines’ in New York
2. SoCal Film Festival – semi-finalist
3. How to get your short film onto the festival circuit

So what are you waiting for? Get writing! If you need some tips on writing from life, check out this session in our free non-fiction writing course.

Related posts:

1. True animal stories contest
2. Non-fiction market opportunities
3. Talking Animal Stories – Wind in the Willows MK II?

‘Grown-up’ favourites

Most ‘grown up’ readers still list talking animal stories as their perennial favourites, particularly those with a sociological or religious sub-text such as Alice in Wonderland (1865), The Wind in the Willows (1908), Animal Farm (1945), The Chronicles of Narnia (1949 – 54), Watership Down (1972), Duncton Wood (1980) and the His Dark Materials series (1995 – 2000). A recent Book Trust poll in the United Kingdom, which asked adults to vote for their favourite children’s book of all time, has placed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in first place and Winnie The Pooh in fourth. And although it is not strictly a talking animal book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar munches its way into second. Other talking animal stories in the top 10 are The Gruffalo, The Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland. That’s 60% for those of you whose reading is better than your maths.

Do publishers listen when animals talk?

So is it true that publishers won’t look at talking animal stories? Not according to Laura Backes’ article Straight Talk About Talking Animals. While it may be difficult for new writers to get their talking animal friends through the door, she believes that if you knock loud enough, you might get in:

Twenty years ago “talking animal stories” were everywhere. Then, in the early 1990’s, many editors decided they didn’t want to see these books anymore. Of course, established authors like William Steig never stopped populating their stories with chatty mice or frogs, but beginning writers had trouble getting talking animal books past the slush pile. Now the tide has turned again, and it appears that every publisher has new picture books featuring animals with something to say.

Wind in the Willows MK II?

So if you can’t stop those little critters from populating your imagination, why not let them out? The Kenneth Grahame Society are launching a competition to find a sequel, prequel or related story to the classic The Wind in the Willows. Stories must be a homage, written in a similar style, to a length of 5,000 words – an average chapter in the original book. There are three prizes of £500, £150 and £100 and a selection of the best writing will be published in an anthology. Closing date is 30 June 2008. Watch out, Toad is back on the road!

Whilst on the subject of writing competitions, the Nestle’ Smarties Book Prize, one of the few leading awards that asks children to vote for their favourite books, is sadly coming to an end. It’s been running since 1985 and past winners have featured JK Rowling, Lauren Child, Anne Fine, Quentin Blake, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and Chris Riddell. What a lot they’d got!

You might also want to check out this list of some more children’s writing competitions. And if you’re looking for a little inspiration, have a look at my articles on:

• What makes a good children’s book?
• Writing for children: picture books

Related posts:

1. True animal stories contest
2. Children’s writing competitions
3. My First Poem competition

Writing as a hobby

Even if you have no interest in earning money from your writing and simply do it for pleasure, it’s good to try and get some of your work published. This will give you a deadline to work towards and the added incentive to develop your writing to the best it can be.

Writing competitions

Competitions are excellent ways to develop your writing. If you get somewhere, you will be greatly encouraged that someone else thinks you have some ability. Some competitions offer critiques as prizes, which are invaluable, and if you’re lucky, even if you don’t win, one of the judges might offer you some advice. Beware though, many of these competitions ask for an administration fee. You need to decide whether it’s a legitimate fee or just a money-making enterprise. I would be loathe to pay more than £5. Competitions also give you a deadline and a reason to finally finish that masterpiece you started three years ago!

The Vanity Trap

Beware of competitions that are simply fronts for vanity publishing projects. These are particularly rife in the poetry world, where all ‘winners’ are included in a special bound volume which you have to buy (albeit at a supposedly discounted rate). I must confess I once succumbed to this, believing my poem actually had some merit, only to discover that every poet in my newsroom had also been accepted – and some of their creations were pretty dire. Even worse, one of my colleagues who was short of cash, told the competition organisers that she was happy to have her poem included in the anthology but she couldn’t afford to buy one. Not surprisingly, her poem was suddenly excluded.

Poetry Competitions

Here are a selection of poetry competitions you may wish to enter.

• The Poetry Kit – an extensive list of international poetry competitions.
• Fellows’ Poetry Prize – £1000! Run by the English Association at the Univeristy of Leicester.
• International Haiku Competition – can you say it in three lines?
• International Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize – first prize £1,750 or $3,000 US.
• Women’s Weekly Fiction Series – accepting ongoing poetry submissions; £10 fee (they pay you!) Mark your submission for the ‘Poetry Page’.
• Plough Poetry Prize -
• Buxton Poetry Competition
• Writers’ News and Writing Magazine run poetry competitions all year round.

Short Story Competitions

• Save The Short Story – a comprehensive list of short story competitions and awards. The Save the Short Story Campaign is doing a stirling job raising the profile of the genre, and the website itself is well worth a visit.
• Writers’ News and Writing Magazine run short story competitions all year round.
• African Writers’ Prize – For writers who were born in Africa or with parents who are African or who are nationals of an African country and their writing reflects an African sensibility.
• Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition – first prize £5000, judged by Zadie Smith.

Exercise 32

 Go through the competitions listed about and choose one. Commit yourself to writing something to send off. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.

Writing commerically

After a bit of success in the competition world (or even without it if you’re brimming with confidence) you may want to actually earn a bit of money from your writing. But don’t be under the illusion that you will be able to live off the proceeds; most writers earn less than the designated British minimum wage – so don’t give up the day job yet!

Magazines that publish short stories

• The Short Story Website – an extensive list of magazines that publish short stories from the people behind Save the Short Story Campaign.

Magazines that publish poetry

• The Poetry Kit – thanks to this fabulous resource listing magazines from around the world that publish poetry, I have no need to re-invent the wheel.

Further courses

If this course gave you a taste for writing and you would like a bit more input, why not sign up for one of these courses below:

• Email College – offers free writing courses delivered to your in-box.
• The Arvon Foundation – highly respected residential short courses based in the UK.
• The Open University – offer short 10 week correspondence courses, mostly completed online. You will have the benefit of being able to communicate with other students in online conferences and workshops.

Book Resources

Don’t forget to check out the Crafty Writer Bookshop for writing guides. Market reviews such as the Writer's Market and Writers' and Artists' Yearbook also have short story and poetry courses and competition info.

Well, that brings us to the end of our journey together (sniff!). I hope you’ve enjoyed this creative writing course as much as I have. It’s been a delight getting to know some of you and I hope you will continue to visit. Please drop me a line if you would like an in-depth critique of your work. But if you don’t have any cash right now, don’t worry, there’ll always be free info and friendship at the Crafty Writer. Adieu!

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1. Free Creative Writing course
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First Prize

Spencer Perkins, Age 3

My name is Spencer and I go to preschool
My best friend is Abbie who is really cool
I watch Robots on TV
Playing with water is lots of fun for me
Pudding I just love to eat
And sometimes a lolly pop for a treat
Blue is a colour I like a lot
A beautiful bike is the best present I ever got
My favourite person is Mummy who is a gem
So this, my first poem, is just for them!

Spencer’s poem received top honours because of its use of alliteration. He may not realise that’s what he’s done, but it suggests a writer with an instinctive feel for words. His picture of the ‘Beautiful Bike’ suggests that Spencer is currently in his Blue Period.

Second Prize

Alicia Simpson, Age 3

My name is Alicia and I go to preschool
My best friend is Emily who is really cool
I watch Sky Plus on TV
Playing dressy up is lots of fun for me
Mince and dumplings I just love to eat
And sometimes sweeties for a treat
Yellow is a colour I like a lot
Purple dog is the best present I ever got
My favourite person is Reece who is a gem
So this, my first poem, is just for them!

Alicia was a close second because of her choice of visually striking images and quirky phrases. You can see more of Alicia’s colourful self-expression in her picture of ‘Sweeties’.

Third Prize

Sophie Trattles, Age 4

My name is Sophie and I go to preschool
My best friend is Sarah who is really cool
I watch CBeebies on TV
Playing with dolls is lots of fun for me
Bananas I just love to eat
And sometimes yoghurts for a treat
Purple is a colour I like a lot
An expensive telephone is the best present I ever got
My favourite person is Jane who is a gem
So this, my first poem, is just for them!

Sophie received third prize because of her wide vocabulary (and healthy eating choices!). If this had been an art competition her fabulous picture of ‘Jane’ would have won first place.

Congratulations to Forward Press, Westerhope Village Nursery and the parents of all the children who entered for developing a love of words at such an early age. For more on my recommendations for good children’s books go to my article on Picture Books, How to Choose a Good Children’s Book and the picture book section of my Bookshop. You may also want to help HIV / Aids orphans in Africa by buying my book for 7 – 9 year-olds, Donovon’s Rainbow.

Related posts:

1. Talking Animal Stories – Wind in the Willows MK II?
2. Poetry: Tolstoy in Love
3. Writing for children: Picture books

‘Amateur’ (not sure if this means unpublished) children’s writers can enter the Academy of Children’s Writers competition. Any age. Any genre. Closing date 31 March 2008.

Short stories or books up to 1,000 words are wanted for the Writers’ Advice Centre Children’s Story Competition. Any age. Must be suitable for current market. Closing date: 31 August 2008.

If you’re looking for a bit of inspiration you may want to check out my free articles on writing for children: what makes a good children’s book, picture books, sex and romance, mysteries and thrillers. Or have a look at my children’s book Donovon’s Rainbow, which is available as a free download.

Related posts:

1. Writing for children: sex, love and romance
2. Writing for children: Picture books
3. Writing for children: mysteries and thrillers