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Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

08 February 2025

Posted by Susan L. Edser

Competitions

Ali Sparkes is a children’s author who leads writing sessions for Junior and Young Writers every Saturday morning at MAST Mayflower Studios. To learn more about her, visit her website: https://www.alisparkes.com and click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/ali-sparkes

Susan L. Edser, MA graduate in Creative Writing and Publishing and winner of Bournemouth University’s prestigious Vice Chancellor Award 2024, is Ali’s assistant and writes the weekly blog. To learn more about her, click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/susan-l-edser


Today, we explored the writers' experience of competitions, from losing to winning and everything in between. Ali shared some writing competitions coming up between now and March, and there was excitement over the prizes. To begin with, though, Fill-in Fun kicked the writers off, which focused on… you guessed it - competitions! 

The groups discussed their experiences of what they had won. The Junior Writers had a long list, such as winning ballet medals and belts in Karate. The Young Writers had won at debating, talent shows and… ur, Cluedo (Sue allowed this onto the list!). Then they named the things they entered but hadn’t won. Again, there were many things, from last week’s chocolate cake competition to a schoolhouse cup. Ali asked the writers about the benefits of losing. They wondered how Harry Potter’s life would be if he always won and concluded it would be boring. 

Ali set the main exercise to write about a win or loss and how they felt about it. The Junior Writers told stories about winning swimming awards and gymnastic performances. The Young Writers shared their pain of losing writing competitions and being crushed by their younger sister's win in Snakes and Ladders. George was skilled at portraying his excitement as being ‘electric for four hot months’. Others expressed confusion when a friend’s win meant their loss or how friends were jealous of their win. 

Finally, everyone was paired and challenged to write a conversation between two characters about one of them losing and the other winning a competition. The Junior Writers wrote from two different perspectives, with some ending with a compromise, but Zoya and Olivia ended dramatically: ‘We were never friends, but now we are enemies.’ The Young Writers told great stories between feuding friends, and we were also treated to several stories being acted out. 

The ’Writer of the Week’ award went to George and Ian from the Junior Writers for their excellent teamwork and coherent dialogue. Florence won the Young Writers award for using her own experiences, reflection, and vivid descriptions. Well done, George, Ian and Florence! 

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