Giveaway Day 12: Gotham Writers' Workshop

Stephanie here! I'm invading Shan's giveaway to share the winning entries from our writing prompt contest. Many, MANY thanks to the 33 students at John Adams Academy who helped judge and pick our winners!

First place, by M. P. Reed

        I would need a lot of luck to make it out of this alive.

  I tear through the woods. The world is silent save for the crunching of leaves under my slippers, and the shredding of my dress. I cry out as my head is jerked back. My numb hands fumble to find my hair caught in an unforgiving maple tree's fingers. Gritting my teeth, I tug free; picking up the remains of my wedding dress, I continue to run.

My heart pounds. My arms bleed. My legs burn.

  I trip on a gnarled root five paces on.

“Charlotte, where are you?” David's voice is sing song. He's right behind me. "Found you.”


  I scream.

The feedback: 16 kids selected this as their favorite. And with great details like "unforgiving maple tree's fingers" and the surprise of a wedding dress, it's easy to understand why!

Second place, by Megan S.

        I would need a lot of luck to make it out of this alive.
My stomach churned, and acid burned the back of my throat. I glanced down at the road and watched the vehicles zoom past each other at breakneck speeds. Swallowing, I closed my eyes.
I rubbed my hands against the ropes that bound them, trying to force my mind from the dizzying height. The skin on my wrists burned, but at least the pain was something else to think about.
A gunshot sounded, breaking my concentration
I grinned.
Death by torture was not my fate.
I rocked backwards and toppled over the side of the building.

At least, not that day.

The feedback: 9 kids selected this as their favorite. This opening, especially that last line, raises some great questions! We would definitely keep reading.

Third place, by Alexa M.

Jade would need a lot of luck to make it out of this alive.
She sprinted down the roof and leapt, tucking her knees beneath her, for a fantastic second, flying. Then she slammed and rolled into the next rooftop. Balancing on the rusty shingles, she checked her pocket. Keiko’s crystal? Still safe.
She glanced back. Yup, still after her, their blaring sirens and flashing lights broadcasting her theft to the entire city. Overhead, the whir of helicopter blades alerted anyone who missed the string of cop cars. Jade rolled her eyes. Stupid police. Why didn’t they give up already?
Isn’t it obvious? her alter ego whispered. This time, they can actually catch you.

The feedback: Written with such clarity and precision, we want to know if Jade gets out of this or if her alter ego is on to something.

Now I'll turn it over to Shannon for today's giveaway!

Hey all! On our last day of the giveaway, I'm offering a copy of Writing Fiction from Gotham Writers' Workshop, New York's acclaimed creative writing school. The writing exercises in this book were extremely helpful to me and I hope they'll offer some insight to one lucky winner!

This giveaway is for all writers in all countries. Please be sure to leave us the correct contact info so we can get in touch with you if you win. We will also update this post with the winner's name once they've been selected.


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