KalliKids Short Story Competition Information

 How the competition works

• The theme of the competition is 'Shine'.
• All adaptations of the theme are welcome - the more imaginative the better!
• Stories should be between 500 - 600 words.
• The dead line for the entries is on the 8th of June 2015.
• All stories, once reviewed by the KalliKids team, will be published on the KalliKids website. 
• The KalliKids team will read through all the entrants and shortlist three stories from each age category to send on to Joanna Rees, who will then select her favourite in each category. 
• The winning authors will be presented with their story in both hardcopy and e-book format. 
• Joanna Rees will run a creative-writing session at each school with the highest number of entries in each year group/category.

Terms and Conditions

1. All entrants must be UK residents.
   
2. All parents or guardians who submit their child's entry must be 18 years old or over.
3. Stories must be written in English.
4. KalliKids and Joanna Rees have the right to use each story submitted and the photo of each child online in any context (the KalliKids website, other websites, social media or elsewhere), in audio in any context (including radio and broadcasting), in printed format (whether in book, newspapers, flyers or any other printed format) and in any other way.
   
5. The judging decisions of Joanna Rees and KalliKids are final.
   
6. There is no substitute cash or other prize.

Handy Tips for Parents

Encouraging children to write a story can not only boost their self-confidence and imagination, but also support their literacy skills.

Here are some helpful tips to get your children started.

• Where is the story going to take place? It could be somewhere real or made up. City, town or countryside. Maybe even a planet or outer space.
• When is it taking place? Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, in 20/40/100 years.
• What is going to happen? Remember this can change once the story is being written but it is helpful to have a basic plan which centres around: a beginning, then what, next and finally.
• Characters. Who are the people/characters in the book? What do they look like? How should readersfeel about them? are they liked/disliked?
• Fabulous words. Throwing in a few fabulous words always creates a good story. They dont have to be long or short.
• Opening lines. Make the very first sentence of the story amazing. Try making it mysterious, shocking, funny, full of alliteration.
• Proof read. Once the story has been written, has your child checked it for mistakes, gaps etc.
• Last but not least, have fun. Enjoy and be proud of the story and that will 'Shine' through.