Once upon a time, there was a child who loved stories. Afternoons spent at the library, surrounded by books, were some of the best afternoons spent. On one afternoon in November, a librarian approached the child and asked, “Have you ever written a story?” The child responded with a look of awe as an idea took form in their mind. This month, the Aurora Public Library District (APLD) is giving children the opportunity to tell their stories. Young people in grades 3 through 8 are invited to submit stories to our Young Authors Short Story Contest to celebrate National Novel Writing Month.
National Novel Writing Month (known as NaNoWriMo) is a nationally-recognized initiative that encourages aspiring writers to compose the rough draft of a novel during the month of November. It has helped bring forth works such as Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. This community-powered, nonprofit website is volunteer run and used as a teaching tool in thousands of classrooms year-round. In 2021, over 90,000 students and educators participated in NaNoWriMo programs (https://nanowrimo.org/about-nano).
Library staff members were inspired by NaNoWriMo school programs to create this year’s Young Authors Short Story Contest. Anyone living within the Aurora Public Library District service area may enter one original story of up to 1500 words in the contest. Submissions are being accepted now until Wednesday, Nov. 30 through Email, in-person, or mail. APLD staff members will judge the stories on creativity, style, and voice. Entries will be divided into two categories for judging: Grades 3 – 5 and Grades 6 – 8. The winners will be announced Friday, Dec. 16. Winning authors will receive a bag full of fun prizes and their stories will be published on our website so that all of Aurora will be able to read what these young students have to say. “We see so many kids coming into the library, enjoying stories that other people write,” said Library assistant, Stefanie Caterer. “We are hoping that students will gain confidence as they realize that they can do it, too! They have a voice, and that voice is valuable.”
If your young author needs inspiration to develop a voice, look no further than the shelves of the library. Studying old fables and collections of fairy tales is a fantastic way to learn classic story structure. We have a new library database, Scholastic Teachables, that includes learning resources for creative writing, descriptive writing, narrative writing, and elaboration to help students take their ideas and turn them into a full-blown story for the contest.
Find more information about our Young Authors Short Story Contest at www.aurorapubliclibrary.org/short-story-contest. Entry forms are available for download on the website or at any children’s desk. We can’t wait to hear what the young people of Aurora have to say!