The second FABO Story competition for 2020 is here! Author Maureen Crisp has posted a story starter and it’s up to you to finish the story.
Important Note: As the first FABO competition was originally advertised as closing on April 10, Melinda is still accepting entries. If you have written a story for that competition but not yet submitted it, you can use the form on this page. The winners of the first competition will be announced on SATURDAY APRIL 11th.
Instructions
1. Read the story starter and continue the story.
2. Your story should be no more than 500 words (not including the story starter).
3. You have a week to write your story, so there’s no need to rush! Take your time and send us the best story you can write.
4. Send your story to us by 7pm Saturday April 11th.
5. The winner of the competition will be announced on this website a few days after the competition closes.
6. Every week there will be a new competition and a children’s author will post a new story starter for you.
7. The competition is open to kids aged 13 and under.
8. The winner will receive a Puffin book of their choice* and their story published on the Penguin NZ website!
*book must be $25 or under, book must be in stock, book will be delivered post lockdown.
Maureen’s Story Starter
It was a dark and stormy night, so Rona made sure her torch worked before she stepped off the deck into the long wet grass.
‘It isn’t fair,’ she grumbled. Why did she have to check on the chickens?
Ever since last week’s explosion her mother hadn’t trusted her brother to do anything. Rona squelched through puddles, her gumboots making a squish suck sound until she found the path.
She flicked the torch around, the light was feeble in the gloom of the back yard. Wind whipped the branches so they clattered and crunched into each other making a brawl of sound. Rona’s hair was now getting plastered to her face with the torrents of rain.
‘I give up.’ Any chicken still outside the coop was going to be as brainless as her brother. She turned to head back to the house. The crack of lightening lit up the back yard. In the flash Rona saw the veggie garden, the washing line and a stray penguin.
Thunder rolled and faded. The dark gloom raced back into the yard. Rona stood frozen staring into the dark. She was looking right at a mountain of trouble for someone.
‘It’s not fair,’ she muttered as she went forward knowing that she was all that stood between her family and chaos. ‘Why me?’ …
this is so cool
IKR im at school right now and it like so amazing i just did a story it was so amazing
fabo is amazing!!!!
YAS
hi I like this
i do too.
me too it is o cool
Fabo story is so much fun I look forward to writing a story every week.
I love this website i haven’t used it yet but will do on the weekend
Same here!!!
This is awesome. Fabo is the best.
I KNOW RIGHT!!!!
very true
i have finished hope i win 😃
awesome
me too!
this is awesome
I do love fabo, but the ‘Lost in the PE shed vortex’ stories are getting a bit boring to me. I feel like if there were some more story starters in there it would make fabo more likeable and enjoyable.
Other than that though, an excellent and creative website.
I agree. I am a teacher and some of my Year Students are keen to get involved in FAbo but are waiting for a different story starters. I prefered the old system of a different genre/context each fortnight. Waiting with anticipation….
Hi Megan
Thanks for your feedback and support. I’m sorry to hear your students aren’t especially enamoured by the current version of FABO. It’s certainly something we’re going to promptly consider. Each year the team tosses around several ideas/concepts trying to find one we are inspired by and can all agree on. It’s often a bit of a challenge, I must say! Naturally some ideas will appeal to kids more than others, but it’s all largely guesswork with no guarantees.
We’re currently reassessing this year’s concept, so please stay tuned!
Best wishes,
Kyle on behalf of the FABO team
I got confused because I didn’t know they were a series so I wrote a completely irrelevant story :l
i really enjoyed this
Love Fabo! Good luck to all👍
Thanks u too
I love fabo story.Mt teacher first introduced this website to me last week and I tried my best . But I think that i wrote more that 500 words at first I thought 500 words was going to be difficult but I did m best
So cool I love it
This is so amazing! I have entered four times and I’m loving being able to write every week. Thanks for creating Fabo Story!
I did it for my first time EVER IN MY LIFE!!!!I DID IT!I DID IT!I entered the competition and my story is awesome[to me]!And I told my teacher how before he told the people who he wanted to in the competition I wrote and crazy ending that I will finish on Microsoft word[or google slides!]!
cool
nice story. very scary and and mysterious.
It’s realy laggy on any device I go on but that was a good story.
Thanks u too
This is a good website to use
This is a very awesome way to share different ideas for storys.
cool
I like fabo story because you get to type and write
so fun!
I just started FAbo and love it. Its my first story.
It’s so sad that this is the last Fabo story competition for 2018! I hope that the story starters come back early next year!
so sad. fabo isn’t coming back till next year.
it’s good!
I like the challenges that the story starters give you!
This was so much fun!
This is the most coolest website I have ever been on. Thank you so much to who ever made it!
Hi
I love fabo writing it has so many great story starters
its so cool
I love this
I used this site and found it worked really well!This is awesome!I hope more people who like writing stories find out about this site!
Definitely recommend it!
COOL
cool
YAY
I hope i win!
I love Fabo story’s soooooo much!!!!
I love having fabo
I like it
such a good story starter
Lot’s of fun to do! I am a student, and got introduced to Fabo by my teacher. I’m very glad I did too, because every week I challenge myself to a story! Though a few are tough, I manage. I enjoy seeing the results too, and reading the winning stories!
That’s awesome. Doing this every week will improve your writing, and stretch your imagination!
Sorry I only read this now. I really appreciate you replying to me. I love the funny and original ideas that the authors give you. (Thank you too Corrector, I read a lot of books and even wrote a whole play script for my school, therefore I learnt to write properly. If that makes sense.)
Good punctuation and grammar! Well done!
That’s really cool!
First time using this. love it so much!
🙂
Hello Ava! Yeah, this Fabo story thing is so cool! I introduced it to my teacher, so now we are going to do this as a class. I really want to continue this, as i enjoy it a LOT, and intend to continue it until I get too old.
Same!
Wow, i love writing so this is amazing
Yeah, I know! can believe that the last two times my story has been mentioned! In the last one, my unicorn-goats, and the one before that, my dog-eating one was a strong contender! Thank you Fabo for giving me even more motivation to write. I really love this
Do you not do FABO story starters in term 4?
I’m afraid we don’t do FABO in term 4, but enjoy this last story starter for 2019 and we hope you’ll join us again next year.
I am SOOOOOOOOO stoked! Thank you for making me a runner up, you’ve made my day! Do you not do Fabo in term 4?
Congratulations! I’m afraid we don’t do FABO in term 4, but enjoy this last story starter for 2019 and we hope you’ll join us again next year.
soooo sad i want fabo term 4
same ): don’t know what i’ll do while i wait for the next one. when does Fabo start back up again?
Being the best writer in my class, there is a slight chance that I may win.
I hope you get a runnerup Sarah! (i want 1st, and i’m a good writer as well, so you got competition. Well, technically I’ve never won, so some people may be better and more likely to win, but….) Anyone know when Fabo starts again?
It was my first time in fabo i think i am going to do a lot stories and i love love fabo!