Redlitzer Anthology Gala Awards Evening – Editor

As the editor of the Redlitzer Junior Anthology I spent a wonderful day with the ten finalists earlier this year, giving editorial feedback on their stories and workshopping strategies to lift their work to an even higher level. Mentors and judges, Louise Cusack and Marianne de Pierres, worked with small groups of writers to polish their manuscripts before re-submission. 

Tonight I will be presenting the Editor's Choice Awards (it was very difficult choosing) at the Gala Awards Evening at Victoria Point Library, when the Redlitzer Junior Anthology is launched.

Each year the Redland City Council has run the Redlitzer Anthology competition for adult and teen writers with fabulous prizes on offer from the city council and The Queensland Writers Centre, culminating with a published anthology of best stories.

In 2013 the competition was extended to junior writers under 13 as well. Ten talented young writers were selected from the many entries to spend a day workshopping their manuscripts for publication with published children's authors acting as mentors.

I do not know of another city or regional council that offers a better or more supportive opportunity for gifted young writers, and I'm so proud to be a part of it. Well done, Redlands, and congratulations to all the finalists.

My Top Ten Tips for Story Writing

Below you'll find some quotes by me as editor of the Junior Redlitzer Anthology 2014, published in the Redlands City Council's Redlands Magazine as well as my Top Ten Tips for Story Writing. 

"Think of a character, give them a challenge and delve into your imagination for ways to overcome it – you are now well on the way to becoming a junior Redlitzer finalist." 

"What young writers have to keep in mind firstly is that the Redlitzer is a short story competition. There is only so much that can be covered in 1000 words." 

"But we want a complete story from start to finish, not an essay. So make it active more than descriptive, jump straight in."

Angela, a former teacher, says the best way to start is simply put ideas down on paper "no matter how crazy."

"It's when you start firing your imagination that you start to get ideas that are original," she says. "And remember that as a short story it is just a snapshot in life - a very short timeframe."

Photo by Melanie Holtsman

My Top Ten Tips

1. Find inspiration for stories by: reading newspaper features; finding objects on the beach; childhood memories; old diaries; two randomly chosen nouns (like sausage/queen); using story starters (eg. http://www.literacyshed.com/the-story-starter-shed.html) etc...

2. Decide on who will be the main character of your story and keep the secondary characters to an absolute minimum of two or three. Give your character a name, something they love and something they have a fear or loathing of (eg. love of a family pet and... fear of heights.) 

3. Give your main character a problem, which they must solve or overcome - or at least struggle with within the 1000 words. (eg. the beloved family pet is stuck in a tree.... main character must overcome fear of heights to save it.)

4. Brainstorm/mindmap your main character's problem and possible outcomes. What does your character want more than anything? Think up crazy obstacles and solutions. Weird, funny, fantastical are all good.

5. You may plan your story first and then write it, or the other way around. Absolutely NO sub plot in a short story.

6. Keep your story within a short time frame. It is like a snapshot of the life of your character. 

7. Your first sentence is the hook. Jump right into the drama and action. Dialogue is also a good place to start, or thoughts. Introduce the main character's problem as soon as possible. Don't start with description.

8. The middle of your story should show your character trying to overcome their problem/ achieve their goal with obstacles in the way.

9. The resolution of your story may have a twist - short stories often do. Surprise your reader!

10. When editing, think about the tense, the point of view (ie. first person or third person) and grammar. Cut out all the bits that are telling or describing too much. Show your character's emotions through dialogue, thoughts and actions.

The Redlitzer Junior Anthology will be launched at a gala event on Saturday, October 18, 2014 at which the Editor’s Choice Award for the best story will be announced.

Redlitzer Junior Anthology 2014

I'm busy working on the final copyediting of the ten finalists' stories for the Redlitzer Junior Anthology 2014. As this year's editor I had the privilege of running a full-day writing and editing workshop with the finalists last month at the Victoria Point Library in Redlands City. With the help of judges and mentors, Louise Cusack and Marianne de Pierres, the junior writers worked on their rewrites in three small groups.

The day began with a warm-up exercise and editorial feedback on their stories. Overall the 10-14 year olds used consistent point of view, good opening hooks, strong endings/twists and imaginative world building. General weaknesses were paragraphing and the setting out of dialogue. I wonder whether schools are teaching paragraphing with an empty space between each. That's fine for websites, emails, letters and report writing, but creative writing and the publishing world require true paragraphing.

We then looked at Editing a Scene, working on a Scene Overview sheet after a reading of the first scene from my upcoming children's novel, Snap Magic. The junior writers had to fill in questions on characters, purpose, action, setting, sensory details and hooks in relation to their own story.

This was followed by Strengthening a Character. After showing the junior writers examples of my character profiles, they worked on their own, looking specifically at emotions, abilities, personality, physical attributes and mannerisms.

Finally, before they began their rewrites, we worked on Strengthening Plot and Structure. Using a Story Plan and Story Editing Checklist we read and discussed the parts of a story, the goals, obstacles and resolution.

Somewhere in between all this we also managed to fit in a huge cooked breakfast and lunch at the cafe next door!

Tomorrow I'll be putting up my Top Ten Tips for Story Writing (for junior writers). Tune in again!