Three things I love: 1. Writing. 2. Halloween. 3. A friendly challenge. Wrap them all together and what do you get? The #FallWritingFrenzy! Of all the kidlit resources I’ve discovered through twitter, the myriad so-easy-to-join community-building events has been the most unexpected surprise.
I found out about the #FallWritingFrenzy this year on the final day to submit, and the thrill of sneaking away from my family for 30 minutes to jot down a quick story was the perfect jolt of adrenaline and creativity to turn a ho-hum day into a feeling-productive one.
In case you’re new to the contest, the rules are simple: write a max-200-word kidlit story inspired by one of 15 Fall photos provided by the organizers, author and artist Lydia Lukidis, and author and agent Kaitlyn Sanchez. Thanks to them both for this fun challenge!
I chose this stunning skeleton:
And I wrote the following story, entitled…
I never meant to be a skeleton. It was an accident.
It all started when Danny dared me up the tree behind our house but didn't say which one. I thought he meant the rotting one? It was an accident.
And of course I never meant to tell my mom but it was my turn to set the table and I couldn't not say ow at least a little bit. It was an accident.
I was going to be a zombie cause a full body cast would be the coolest so my mom bought lots of bandages last month to make my costume but it turns out I don’t really like having a cast, even just on my arm. So the zombie idea...it was an accident.
Pick a costume; stick to it. That’s the house rule. But have you ever seen an x-ray of a bone? I promise I’ll never change ideas again. It was an accident.
Pretty cool accident, right?
