“Write every day.”
That is the advice any award-winning author gives to aspiring writers. The continuous practice helps build essential storytelling skills and establishes a daily routine to fuel creativity.
TCCL’s annual Young People’s Creative Writing contest provides an opportunity for authors to express and exercise their imagination. The contest is geared much like a publisher works. You are given a deadline, parameters and encouraged to submit your best story.
Entries for the 2018 contest are being accepted Feb. 1-March 3. The contest is free to enter and open to ages 10-18 for those who live in Tulsa County, attend school in Tulsa County or have a nonresident library card.
There are three age divisions: 10-12, 13-15 and 16-18. Participants may enter one manuscript per category. Within each age division, there are five categories:
· Short Story – each entry no more than 1,500 words.
· Informal Essay – a short composition on a topic of issue giving your opinion or recounting a personal experience. Limited to 1,500 words.
· Poetry – one poem, no more than 300 words.
· Short Play – no more than six characters, no more than three locations, no more than 10 pages. Limited to five to 10 minutes in length.
· Comix– entry must be complete in and of itself, and not a fragment of a larger work. No more than eight pages. Work can be with or without words, in black and white or color, and fiction or nonfiction. Computer-generated images are acceptable as long as they are original works (no clip art). Use 8 ½” by 11” paper and submit as flat work, not as a booklet.
Within each age division and category, cash prizes are awarded in the following amounts: $100 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place.
All entrants will receive an invitation to the awards program, which will be held on Friday, May 4, 7 p.m. at Hardesty Regional Library’s Connor’s Cove, 8316 E. 93rd St. Pam Munoz Ryan, winner of the 2018 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature, will be the featured speaker and will present the awards.
Entry forms with rules and regulations are available at all TCCL locations or on the library’s teen website, http://teens.tulsalibrary.org/YPCWC. For more information, call your local library or the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323.
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