How to Organize a Writing Competition in Your School

In celebration of the upcoming World Book Day on April 23, 2015, we’ve compiled some ideas and resources for educators, parents and young readers. Below is a suggested activity. Find other ideas here.

How to Organize a Writing Competition in Your School

First, define the scope of the competition. For example, is it open to a particular grade level, a particular class or is it open to all students in the school? What is the minimum or maximum length of a submission (e.g. the word count)?

Define the writing theme. Do you give them a topic or do they the freedom to choose their own direction? Here are some ideas for particular topics:

Why is World Book Day important (which could involve some research)?
Could we live without books?
A creative book review
A short story told in the first person
A fantasy story
A poem
A Haiku

Define the judging criteria and select a jury. Some schools might invite the students involved in the school book club to serve on the jury. In other cases, having teachers and staff adjudicate the submissions might be more appropriate.

Define the prize or award associated with the competition. Sometimes public acknowledgement is sufficient. Some stories could be published in the school newsletter or the community newsletter. A book prize might also be appropriate. Wordfest might be able to help out by providing books to award.*

Optional: one approach might be to contact local businesses to sponsor your competition and donate giveaways.

Clearly define the submission process. If it must be typed or hand written, who collects the submissions and how are they collected (e.g. by email or drop box location in the school)?

Finally, announce the competition, the key dates, the submission criteria, any prizes and the general rules of the competition. The jury then selects a winner, makes the announcement and celebrates.

Optional: a second-round of the competition could challenge students to adapt the winning story from the first round for younger grades, by hosting a an illustration competition.

Happy writing!

One age-appropriate book from Wordfest can be donated to the first 10 schools who request it. email youth@wordfest.com for more information.