Tips from Author Deborah Morris

• Vivid Character(s). Please review the information from the Fall '96 Writing Contest about how to create strong and believable characters.

• Familiar Setting. Instead of writing a wild story about outer space aliens or not-yet-discovered life-forms under the sea, put on your detective hat and take a long, hard look around your own "back yard"-- which can be your house, your neighborhood, your school, or anyplace else where you spend a lot of time. Even when you're writing fiction, it has to be believable! Pretend that you're a stranger who's never seen your family, house, or school before, and start noticing things. You'll be surprised at how many interesting things you'll discover right in front of your eyes!

• Strong Plot. Think of your plot as the skeleton that gives shape to your story. Every good story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. It needs a main character (or sometimes two). It needs an antagonist, which is someone or something that threatens your main character. It needs a climax, a point where your main character is up against big problems. And it needs a resolution, where you tie up all the loose ends in your story and bring it to an end. If you skip any of those elements your story will "walk funny", because it's supported by a skeleton with missing parts!

• Problems to Overcome. This is actually a part of your plot, but it deserves some extra attention. Not all stories should be about Good Guys versus Bad Guys. Sometimes the "bad guy" isn't a guy at all: it's a storm (earthquake, tornado, etc.), a decision, or even a best friend. Overcoming the problem isn't always a matter of destroying the "bad guy" (or whatever); sometimes you have to get creative! Try to think of an interesting twist to make your story stand out from all the good guy/bad guy stories.

FIRST PLACE Entry by Jarrod H. Schaefer, Age 10 Jarrod will receive an award certificate, a $50 check, and an autographed Real Kids, Real Adventures book. LOST AND FOUND (an excerpt) Dudley is a great animal lover. I have one dog, one crazy girl dog. My mother is the kicker, though. She has eighteen cats. She has tabbys, brindle cats, Siamese cats, bobtail cats, black cats, calico cats and white cats. Mother is definitely a cat person. Dudley enjoys the cats. The cats seem to enjoy Dudley, so I guess they're even. The week began just great. Dudley arrived at my house about nine in the morning and Mother fixed us some hot cakes with butter and syrup for breakfast. Dudley got syrup all around his mouth and then made the mistake of picking up my orange cat Monkey Boy. He got so much orange hair around his mouth that he looked like he had a beard and mustache. Our next project, after we washed Dudley up, was to go to my cousin's house and play with her new batch of puppies. Dudley likes puppies. Dudley likes all kinds of animals. I like snakes. Mother won't let me have a snake, and the big ones in the pond are too deadly to play with. I want a boidae. A boidae is a contrictor. I guess I'll have to grow up and get married before I can have a snake. My luck will be that my wife won't like snakes either. (c)Copyright 1999 Jarrod H. Schaefer All Rights Reserved

SECOND PLACE Winner: Emily Newmeyer, Age 14   Story Title: "I Can Still Fly!" Emily will receive an award certificate and a $25 check.

THIRD PLACE Winner: Melissa Lamberton, Age 12   Story Title: "Storms of Life" Melissa will receive an award certificate and a $10 check.

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Review writing tips, winning submissions from previous contests:
• Write Your Own Adventure Contest
• Win Your Own Adventure Contest
• Short Story '97 Contest
• Fall '96 Writing Contest
• Summer '96 Writing Contest

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