CREATIVE WRITING

Last updated:  8/10/03

• ENTRIES.     As many as THREE students from EACH GRADE LEVEL (grades 1 and 2) may be entered in the Creative Writing District Contest from each school.  Designated adults representing each school will select contestants to represent the campus at the District Meet based on their abilities and interest in writing, as well as other  factors, which  are  decided  upon by each school.  Each grade level is judged separately in contest.

• NATURE OF THE CONTEST.  Contestants are given a writing prompt page with five captioned pictures. The students  select from the captioned images and create an original story based on their selections. The stories must talk about at least one of the pictured items, but it is not required that all items on the prompt page be included.  

• WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CONTEST.     The contest director will announce the time and place that contestants and one adult should report for viewing of the stories and evaluations before awards are presented. Contestants are then given five or six sheets of lined contest writing paper.  (The paper master sheet is included in the District Director materials, to be reproduced as needed.)  The director and assistant(s) will assist students in writing their grade levels and student ID numbers on every page of their writing in the spaces provided.  The contest director will then distribute prompts.  The director will read aloud the titles of each of the prompts and the instructions on the prompt page to contestants.  No other discussion about the prompts will be permitted.  Contestants have 30 minutes to write their stories.  The director may give a 10-minute warning before time is expired.

• PREPARATION FOR CONTEST.     Read and follow all instructions provided in the “Information Pertaining to All Contests” section of the PSIA Academic Handbook.  Observe and practice with students all rules and procedures delineated in the “Instructions to the Contestant” and in the “Checklist for Contest Directors” and the”“Checklist for Graders.”  Preparation for the Creative Writing Contest may include review of the material in the current edition of the Ready Writing and Creative Writing Handbook, in which sample prompts and state winning stories are published.  In addition, this resource provides information about appropriate, constructive comments to write to students on their evaluation forms.  Some of these include:
    Very creative.  Excellent use of dialogue.
    Makes me smile. You might make your
    story longer by adding more detail about...

Any writing program that is used in the classroom will help prepare students for Creative Writing. Training students to effectively use the writing time will be helpful.  For example, they may want to plan a beginning, middle, and end for their stories before they begin to write.  The contest has no minimum word length, and the emphasis in evaluation will be on creativity and interest.   A sample of the creative writing individual evaluation sheet is included in the PSIA Academic Handbook.  Prompt pages from previous year's contests are included in the Study Materials Booklets, available on the Study Materials Order Form.

• RATING THE COMPOSITIONS.     Judges of this contest will be judging on the basis of Interest and Creativity (60%); Organization (30%); and Correctness of Style (10%). Without marking on the papers, a panel of 3 judges should attach the evaluation sheet to the front of the contestant’s story and each make comments while taking turns reading it.  It is recommended that a skimming and elimination process be used first if more than 16 stories are to be evaluated.  ALL stories must receive an evaluation. The top 10 stories should be ranked and rankings indicated on the Contest Roster.  Judges are to reach a consensus on the papers ranked first through tenth.  There can be no ties in this contest.   

• PUBLISHING GOLD MEDAL PAPERS.     State Creative Writing first place papers are considered for publication every two years in the Ready Writing and Creative Writing Handbook for Elementary and Middle Schools.   Unless otherwise notified of objection by the parent, gold medal papers from the 2003 and 2004 state tournaments may be published in the 2004 edition of this handbook.
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Staff Support
Patricia Walters, Ed.D:  Executive Director
Phone: (817) 416-9504
Fax: (817) 416-9576
E-mail: psia@flash.net