Short stories can leave a lasting impression on young readers long after the last word on the page is read. With much success after our first Nature Writing Contest, Big Universe is excited to announced its Short Story Competition. So what steps can you take to help your students create some terrific short story entries? We’ve listed a helpful few tips that we hope will encourage your students to create books that will make a lasting impression.
Memorable Titles
While the bulk of creativity goes into the story, students should also remember the importance of a strong title. A title can be that initial thing that catches the eye of a contest judge. It might be just unique enough to arouse curiosity. This is not to say that students should come up with unique titles that have little or nothing to do with their short story. It’s important that a title reflect the story as a whole.
One example of an eye-catching title is Attack of the Bully Bug. At first glance, one can gather the story is about bullying, but with a bug involved, it won’t be your average bully.
A Strong Beginning
As they say in publishing, you need to hook the reader right from the beginning. Careful consideration should be given to the beginning of a short story. The quality of the writing should stand out from the first line. It’s 
important to remember that a short story is really a snapshot of time. There shouldn’t be much need for back-story to get your story moving. Encourage your students to plunge the reader straight into the action.
The opening paragraph sets the tone and pace for your short story. From the very beginning of Sassafras, we see the main character skunk is hiding, but we don’t know why. Then through early dialogue the reader learns he doesn’t want to come out and play because he’s afraid of what others will think of his smell. Right away the reader gets to know this main character and understands his dilemma.
A Memorable Main Character
Students should take the time to create a strong main character. This character can be anything from a boy or girl to a dolphin or lizard. The field is wide open for students to use their imagination and come up with a character that readers will enjoy. The common thread between strong main characters is that they have something the reader can relate to. For example, in Wings of Change, the main character is a caterpillar named Anew who happens to be afraid of change. Along with learning the life cycle of the caterpillar to the butterfly, children can relate to Anew’s fear of not wanting to change because he likes himself just the way he is.
Story Structure
A good story has a beginning, middle, and end. Even with limited words, short stories need to have an ending. A reader does not want to be left wondering what happened. To end a short story, there needs to be some sort of conflict resolution. A character has a problem and then solves it–the end. Simple, right? If it was simple, everyone would be an author. Crafting a story takes time and involves a good deal of pre-planning. One way of doing this story planning is through the use of a story map to brainstorm ideas. This type of brainstorming allows students of all ages to plan out the events and details of their stories.
Book Design
With the many unique features in the WRITE section of Big Universe, your students can bring their story to life. Students can animate their text and create different background that are eye-catching to young readers. The use of pictures can also help tell your story. Younger students may not yet have a strong vocabulary for storytelling, and pictures can be a integral part of telling their tale.
Attention to Detail
So the story is finished and the work is done. Not so fast! Any writer will tell you that editing and revising a story can be the most complex part of the writing process. It’s important that students go back and check for spelling and grammar mistakes. Have they used the correct punctuation throughout the story? As a reading and writing tutor, I use this part of the writing process to have students look up words when they aren’t sure use of the correct spelling. Teaching a child to their resources whether it be a dictionary or the computer to look up the correct spelling, teaches a lot more than just the spelling of one word. It teaches children that when they don’t know the correct answer, the best thing to do is look it up!
We are very excited to kick off our Short Story Competition and look forward to many exciting, intriguing, touching, adventurous, and/or funny entries from your students. We also invite your to review the winners of our past Nature Writing Contest.
Additional Reading:
Build Confidence and Skills Through Writing Contests
