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Emma Wins 50-Word Writing Competition
Personal Excellence
Emma Wins 50-Word Writing Competition
As an aspiring young writer, Emma Vella (P7), knows a thing or two about writing stories. However, she had never tried writing a whole story in 50 words. Fortunately, the judges at the Scottish Book Trust loved her entry and crowned her the winner of their competition.
Each month, The Scottish Book Trust sets a prompt, and for the November competition the theme was ‘street food’. Emma explains how her teacher, Mrs Verrecchia, suggested that she entered. “I thought about street food at the Christmas market, and found words that rhymed.”
“I thought 50 words would be a lot… when you think of 50, you think of a big number. However, it turned out to be not that many words – three to four lines, in fact. I even had to change a bit to make it fit!”
When asked how she felt when she found out that she had won the competition, Emma replies “I was quite surprised; I was really happy and pleased.”
Like any self-respecting 11-year-old, Emma admires the work of J.K. Rowling. However, her reason is a little different: she appreciates how the author of Harry Potter can “take a fireplace and make it magic.”
Emma explains that she has been writing for a while, but realised that she really enjoyed it in Primary Six: “there was a writing session every Thursday, and we learnt how to ‘up-level’ sentences.” Up-levelling, Emma explains, is a tricky task: “you’ve got to make it better, but try not to overdo it.”
As for her future writing plans, Emma says her mum says she needs to keep practicing! “I find it really fun, but it can be time-consuming.” However, she cites Roald Dahl’s advice: “If you get stuck, you just need to sit and think.” We think that’s pretty sound advice.
Here’s Emma’s winning story:
As I walk past the busy streets and markets,
I see people throwing darts at targets,
But the things that catch my attention most,
Are the strange street foods that are much more exciting than toast,
Like crepes and sour sweets,
But my favourite street foods are the succulent meats.
You can read the other winning stories here
