It’s time for #FallWritingFrenzy! This is a kidlit writing contest in its second year with autumn and Halloween-themed photo prompts. Full details are available by clicking here.

Inspired by Fall

The contest is inspired by the images of autumn, whether blazing landscapes, pumpkins, or Halloween fun. The images trigger memories of my many years living in upstate New York, where I enjoyed colorful autumn leaves, crisp air, cooler temperatures, and apple cider with fresh donuts.

The sights and smells of autumn will stay with me forever, and every September they rise up, even if the outside temperature in Florida is hovering in the upper 80s. I’ll be mining those memories as I prepare my entry for the #FallWritingFrenzy contest.

How the Contest Works

Contest organizers have provided 14 images as writing prompts. Images range from colorful landscape scenes, children in costumes, and vignette scenes complete with pumpkins. The photos are offered to generate ideas, and entrants are encouraged to respond to the images in whatever creative format works for them.

Contest Rules

• Format is flexible (poetry, fiction, mood piece) but should target a kidlit audience (any age from board book through young adult).
• Entries are allowed a maximum of 200 words.
• Only one entry per writer.
• Entries are submitted from October 1 through October 3, 2020 11:59 p.m. EST.
• Entries may be sentimental, sweet, powerful, funny, lyrical, scary, inspiring, or something completely surprising.

My #FallWritingFrenzy Entry

I looked through the 14 photos several times and considered my reaction to each image. Some felt warm and comforting, others were lovely but didn’t generate much creative reaction. The scary clown freaked me out. One image kept drawing me back (and it wasn’t the creepy clown).

Over a period of about two days I let my subconscious work through what I would create using that particular image as my inspiration. An idea came to me, almost fully formed as I was heading to the grocery store. The subconscious is an amazing thing!

The idea is growing and maturing in my head. Soon it will make its way to written words. Then comes the editing process to shape the words into a piece that stays under 200 words and conveys the story in my head. To put that in perspective, this post is over 450 words.

Stay tuned for more, because the resulting piece will be posted on this blog site sometime between October 1 and October 3.

Thank You to Organizers

A special thank you to Kaitlyn (@kaitlynleann17) and Lydia (@LydiaLukidis) for organizing this contest. The generous donors who are supporting this event are greatly appreciated.

Regardless of the outcome of the contest, reliving memories of autumn in New York are keeping this Florida writer cool this September!

In a previous post, I talked about Opportunities for Authors. This contest is an example of such a writing opportunity. The goal is to have fun!