Theme this year “Help!”
By Chad Winthrop
The Friends of the Palisades Library is holding a summer writing contest.
According to event organizers, the theme this year is “Help!”. Contest submissions will be judged based on creativity, originality, effort, plot and theme. Entries may be short stories, essays, non-fiction articles, scripts, monologues or poetry.
All entries must be submitted by September 8, 2021. Contestants must be residents of the city of Los Angeles or attend a school in the city of Los Angeles.
Misspelled words are acceptable for younger entrants. Entries which an adult has clearly written will be disqualified. The charm of many entries is in the creative mistakes of a beginning writer. In addition, contestants may not submit entries that have won prizes in other contests
Contestants are limited to one entry not to exceed three pages (double spaced only) typed in font size 12.
Entrants may write about anything that reflects the theme, but event orhainzers also provided the following prompts to help.
- The idea of HELP usually means you are writing about something going on between at least 2 characters: A helper, and one who is receiving help. The story is about how that works out. If “HELP!” is a shout, what is the trouble? What kind of help is needed? So, where are we? When did this happen? Who is the helper? Who needs help?
- Does the word HELP make you think of:
- Friends?
- Pets or wild animals?
- Magic?
- Community Service?
- Firefighters? Lifeguards?
- What about yourself – what about a time you were the helper?
- Write a sentence using the word help. If it is the first word it may look like this: “HELP!” How does that sound in your head? Quotation marks mean someone is saying the word. Who is that? A person? An animal? A robot?
- Experienced writers, try this challenge: write a story that we know is about HELP, but do not include that word at all.
Visit https://friendsofpalilibrary.org/contest for full list of rules and more information.
