CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION

CLOSING DATE: 24TH JULY 2015

TODAY YOU WILL BE WRITING A MINI SAGA FOR YOUNG WRITERS ONCE UPON A TIME COMPETITION.

•Youcouldbepublished

•Youcouldwinabooktoken

•Youcouldwinacashprizeforyourschool

WHAT IS A MINI SAGA? •Aminisagaisastorytoldinupto100words

•Itmusthaveabeginning,middleandanend

•Itmustbeoriginal–youcanbeinspiredbyotherstoriesbutyourminisagamustbewritteninyourownwords

WHAT IS A STORY? •Tellyourteacheryourfavouritestories

•Yourteacherwillpickonestory

•Canyoutellyourteacherwhathappensinthestoryusingasfewwordsaspossible?

A STORY’S STRUCTURE PART 1 •Theplotisthemaineventsthathappeninthestory–you’vejusttoldyourteachertheplotofthestoryyou’vebeendiscussing

STORIES ALSO NEED:•Events–thesearesituationsoractionsthathappentomoveyourstoryalong,thiscouldbesomeonebeingkidnapped,analienvisiting,fallingoutwithafriend,meetingyourhero,goingonholidayetc

•Settings–thisiswheretheeventshappen,thiscouldbeinaforest,inspace,undertheseaorinyourclassroom.Inaminisaga,thereisusuallyonlyonesetting

•Characters–thesearethepeople/creaturesinyourstorythattheeventshappento

A STORY’S STRUCTURE PART 2 •Storiesalsoneed:

•Abeginning–action,dialogueordescriptiontoopenyourstory

•Amiddle–aneventtomovethestoryalong

•Aending–tieuplooseendsorendonacliff-hanger

Remember,aminisagaonlyhas100words,whichmeansyouonlyhaveoneortwosentenceseachforthebeginning,themiddleandtheend!

IDENTIFYING KEY EVENTS •Earlierinthelessonyoutoldyourteacherastory’splotinasfewwordsaspossible

•Nowit’stimetoseeif,asaclass,youcansummarisethestorydownto100words…

•Yourteacherwillmakenotesontheboard

•Onceyouhaveallthekeyeventsontheboard,youcanthenworktogethertowriteaclassminisaga.(Seeourtipsonthenextslidetohelpyou!)

TIPS• Bebrutal–cutoutanyunnecessarywords–doweneed toknowthebuildingwashighorthetreesweregreenorthat themaincharacterlikeseggsontoastforbreakfast? Ifit’snotcrucialedititout!

• Useellipses(…)tosuggesttension,excitement,mystery andsuspense

• Abbreviatewords–‘itis’becomes‘it’s’/‘youare’ becomes‘you’re’etc

• Counthyphenatedwordsasoneworde.g‘in-between’

• Createaclevertitlethathintsaboutyourstory e.g.“TheNotSoBigBadWolf”

EDITING•Yourteacherwillreadyourclassminisagatoyou

•Isthereanythingmissing?

•Isthereanythingyouwanttochange?

Movewords/linesaround,addinorremovewords,addinpunctuationandwhenyouarehappywithit,countthewords…ifit’sover100,seewhereyoucanabbreviateoreditwordsout.

Congratulations,you’vewrittenaminisaga!Nowit’stimetotrywritingyourown…

WRITING YOUR OWN MINI SAGA•Decideonatheme–yourteachermayprovidethisforyouoraskyoutouseourIdeaGeneratorortheideasonyourentryformtohelpyou

•Writeyourideasoutfirst,thenwriteyourminisaga

•Countthewords

•Onceyouareat100words,copyyourminisagaoutontotheOnceUponATimeentryform–onewordperboxplease!Remembertowriteyournameandageonyourentryformtoo.

FEEDBACK•Shareyourminisagawithafriend

•Theyneedtotellyouonethingtheylikeaboutitandsomethingtheythinkcouldmakeitbetter

•Youthengiveyourfriendyourfeedbackontheirwork

•Makeanyfinalchangestoyourminisaga

•Handitintoyourteacher!

WehopeyouhaveenjoyedwritingaMiniSagafor‘OnceUponaTime’today!

CLOSING DATE: 24TH JULY 2015WWW.YOUNGWRITERS.CO.UK