★ The ninth FABO Story competition for 2021 has finished and author Michele Powles has chosen a winner! Click here to read her report.
★ The final FABO Story competition for this year is a fun poetry competition. Enter now!
Click here to take a look at the schedule for this year’s competitions.
Pop-up Poetry Challenge
With Elena de Roo and Melinda Szymanik
Using any of the starters below, or one of the pictures as inspiration, write a poem no longer than 25 lines. (It can be as short as you want). It’s okay to be inspired by a picture and use one of the starters.
Have fun – there are no rules in poetry! Your poems don’t have to rhyme but they can if you want them to. They don’t have to tell a story or even make sense, unless you want them to. You can have long lines or lines that are just one word or something in the middle. You can even make up new words just because they sound good.
Read your poem out loud — listen to the words and the rhythm they make. How does your poem make you feel? What shape does your poem make on the page?
You have two weeks to write your poem, so there’s no need to rush! Take your time and send us the best poem you can write.
Send your poem to us by 7pm Friday October 1st (NZ time).
You can enter TWO poems (at most).
The winner of the competition will be announced on this website a few days after the competition closes.
Here are some poetry prompts to get you started on your poem – they could be the title, the first line, the last line or somewhere in the middle.
• The last polar bear
• Everything was melting
• I held the golden ticket
• The moon was a frown, upside down
• One cup of plain words
• I climbed until the sky turned inky blue
• It smelled of green
• As quiet as the tiniest whisper
• Like a shiny marble
• The boom of moon tubers*
(*You can change the spelling to “moon tubas” if you prefer).
You must:
1. EITHER use one of the poetry prompt lines somewhere in your poem,
2. OR write a poem using one of the pictures on this page as inspiration.
3. OR you can use BOTH a poetry prompt line and a picture to inspire you.
what will happen after the last competition closes?
Then we’ll be finished for the year.
Can the same author judge
again
I’m afraid we’ve almost finished the competitions for this year. Here is our schedule: https://fabostory.wordpress.com/2021-competition-schedule/
Hi, do you know roughly how many people we are up against?
It’s different for every competition. Sometimes there can be as few as 30 entries, and sometimes there can be as many as 150 entries. We never know how many we’ll get.
Will there be age group winners or just one?
Thanks
One winner gets a prize. If a judge selects an extra winner, they will also get a prize.
can you edit you story after its been submited
If you send through a revised version, the judge will look at the most recent version and discard the older one.
This is a Newzealand comp right?
Yes it is. You can enter if you live in Australia or New Zealand. (Check the ABOUT page for details https://fabostory.wordpress.com/about-fabo/ )
Are we allowed to change the story starter.
HI there. No, the story starter needs to stay as it is.
i didn’t mean to but i pressed on older comments and it restarted my whole story because i was just looking around and it happened so how do i get my story back???????
We recommend you write your story elsewhere, then copy it and paste it into the form.
can I end it like, “to be continued”?
A cliffhanger isn’t a satisfying ending for the reader because they want to know what comes next. You can finish your story any way you like, but our judges prefer satisfying endings, so you have a better chance of winning if you finish your story accordingly.
Hi there what are some good tips for first timers so that they get a good chance at winning
Hi there. If you go to the BLOG section of the website, you can look at all the past reports from the judges. Read the winning stories and the judges’ comments from a few of those past reports, and you will get a good idea of what the judges are looking for.
Can you use all caps in a part of a sentence if you need emphasis?
Yes
does it have to be that story
You must use the story starter.
Hi! How many people get a prize?
The winner gets a prize. If a judge selects an extra winner, they will also get a prize.
Dose my story have to be long
Your story can be as short as you like.
After this topic when will the next story starter be updated onto this website?
On Monday 23rd August.
hi im soooooo exited any advice
We’re glad you’re excited! We recommend you read the FAQs (https://fabostory.wordpress.com/faqs/) and some of the judges reports from previous competitions (https://fabostory.wordpress.com/writing-tips/)
Do we need to put in our first and last name in the competition?
You can put just your first name if you like. It’s up to you.
Do we need a title? and can we end in “This was all a dream”?
Hi there. You don’t need a title, and we prefer you not to end your story with ‘it was all a dream’, as it’s not a satisfying end to a story.
Do numbers count as words?
Yes they do.
I already did the story and pushed submit and the next day when i logged in and it has that stuff where i have to put my name down and everything like that, is it supposed to do that?
If you submitted it, then we have your story. The form will reset if you leave the webpage.
If your story is 550 words exactly, will it still get read? Thanks
Yes it will.
can we get other prizes that aren’t books?
Kia Ora Fabo Story
I love this competition, and it was a great boredom-buster in lockdown. I looked forward to the end of every week because of this.I’m so glad Fabo is still going strong!
Thanks for everything!
-Livvo
Thank you for your comment, Livvo. We’re glad to hear you’ve been enjoying the competitions! 🙂
If i don’t put my story in paragraphs will they give me lower marks on my work?
We recommend doing things that help the reader enjoy and understand the story. Paragraphs definitely help.
Hi there will you still read our story if it’s got 520 words our will you not?
Hi there. Yes, the judge will read your story. Only stories over 550 words will be disqualified.
Hi, are there any NZ website to enter storyline’s without a story starter for kids?
Hi there. All the other writing competitions we know about are on the ‘Other Writing Competitions’ page. The link is at the top of this website.
Do emojis count as words?
We prefer you don’t use too many emojis in your story. We won’t count them as words if you only use one or two.
Are Emojis allowed?
You can use emojis if you want to, but the story needs to stand in its own right without them. If something in the story is scary, you still need to show the fear in your writing, rather than just putting a scared emoji.
can we end up wining books :>)
Often the mystery prize will be a book. The prize is donated by the author judging the competition, so it’s up to them what the prize will be.
Hi there how many more words are we allowed more that 500?
We prefer your story to be 500 words or less (not including the story starter). Stories over 550 words will be disqualified.
Cool thank you. By the way I love Fabo
how many words under 500 are we allowed
There is no minimum word length for your story, but a very short story of just a few sentences is unlikely to win. Have a look at past winners for a good indication of how long your story should be.
how do you look at other winners stories?
Click on the ‘Blog’ link at the top of this website and read the judges’ reports from previous competitions. The winner’s story for the competition is at the bottom of each report.
Hello, I was wondering when the results for ‘Adventure on Stewart Island’ come out?
Cheers!
Hi there. Kathy is reading the entries and will post the results sometime this week.
Hello. When we write the ending of the story, does the story have to finish or can we leave the story at a cliffhanger?
Hi there. Stories need endings, and our judges prefer to read a finished story without a cliffhanger.
Hi, How many people enter FABO each year?
HI there. I’m sorry, we’ve never counted. There are usually around ten competitions each year and entry numbers vary for each one. Usually we might get anywhere between around 30 to 150 entries for each competition.
LOVE FABOSTORY
Hi, I love Fabo sooo much… especially in lockdown
Can I enter more than one??
Hi there. We’re happy you enjoy entering, but please enter each competition only once. Check the FAQ section of the website if you need more information about FABO rules.
Great, thank you so much!
nice job kids
Thanks for all the work you’ve put into fabostory! I really like doing the writing competitions!!
WRITING COMPS ARE SOOOO COOL!
Why do fabo competitions start in May? Why don’t they star in January, at the beginning of the year?
Oh i see a lot of people have already asked when its starting 2021. But idk what term 2 is. Could you explain?
This year term 2 will start in May.
ok Thanks
where i live and many other places, there are 4 school terms for around 10 weeks. so by saying term 2 ur basically saying the second term of the school year
When will competitions start in 2021?
Usually term two (early May), but we will confirm the date next year.
When next year will the stories start again?
They usually start at the beginning of term 2
thanks
Hi. Will there be any more contests for the year? Stories, poems, anything?
Hi there. The FABO Competitions are finished for this year. We’ll be back next year.
Hi. Could the Poetry Prompts be the title of our poem? Thanks.
Yes it can.
I entered two – does that mean that they both have an equal chance of getting some mention?
Yes
Hi for the story prompts do we use the words in our story or do we just hint it?
You can EITHER use one of the poetry prompt lines somewhere in your poem, OR write a poem using one of the pictures as inspiration INSTEAD of one of the poetry prompt lines.
Thanks
Hi, was wondering if it was okay if I added a word or two into the prompts.
Hi there. Please use the prompts as they are, without adding words.
Can you submit more that one poem/story?
The judges have decided you can enter two poems if you want to. No more than two though, please.
I love to write stories and I just saw that “my life as a roach” was the last one of the year! What other writing competitions can I do? Thank you
Check the ‘Other Writing Competitions’ menu link at the top of our website.