Writing Challenges:
Quick links on this page:
rules & submit - about the challenge - read some amazing writing
other young writer competitions
Welcome to the Amazing Young Writers Challenge. If you're aged 22 or younger, you can submit creative writing in any form, including stories, poetry, non-fiction, memoir, anecdotes, comic strips, scripts, artwork - absolutely anything you like. Show us what you can do with words!
Before submitting, please read the rules. Below the rules, you will find some more information about the challenge.
The rules are simple but please read them carefully:
Submissions are welcome from teachers, parents, guardians or the writers themselves. If you are submitting on behalf of your children / students, please let me know when you submit.
Any type of writing is accepted - there is absolutely no limitation, so please let your imagination run wild!
Every writer published via this writing challenge will receive a Certificate of Publication in jpeg format. The certificates look like this:
Amazing Young Writers Challenge 'Certificate of Publication'
I reply by email to every submission I receive, letting you know your story has been published. Your certificate will be attached to the email. If you don't hear from me, please check your spam folder. If there's nothing in spam, please email me and we'll find another way of delivering your certificate :-)
This challenge was launched in January 2021. So far, we've published 243 pieces of creative writing by amazing young writers.
The challenge is still open to submissions. I plan to run it for many years.
The Amazing Young Writers Challenge was launched after I was contacted by Mahvish Noman, an arts teacher at a school where 95% of the students are underprivileged children.
Mahvish asked me if I'd publish some poetry written by their students. After a bit of back and forth by email about the best way to do this, I decided to launch this challenge.
The primary aim of the challenge is to give young writers the opportunity to see their writing published and read by a global audience. I hope this will offer every young author that submits valuable experience and encouragement to keep writing and being creative throughout their lives.
The 100 word limit is educational. Having so few words to play with makes a writer consider every word they use carefully, meaning they learn the art of editing. Once learned, this skill can be applied to longer works, making them more engaging to read.
Anyone living in any country can submit to this challenge. I hope that means we are able to celebrate a diverse variety of voices from around the world via the challenge.
If you have any questions about the challenge, please contact me.
Due to the amount of submissions this challenge has received, the stories, poems and other pieces of creative writing are now published in batches of 100.
Here are links to the pages:
I list many other competitions, prizes and awards for young authors and students on my young writer competitions page.
Amizero IPM
Wow, this is great! How can I enter my work?
Chris Fielden
Thanks for your message, Amizero. You can either submit your writing as a comment, using the comment form above, or email it to me. Please read the rules on the page above and it explains how to submit. I'll look forward to receiving your work :-)
Daisy B
Hello! This sounds like such a great idea. I will definitely be submitting. I was just wondering whether these stories will be published in an anthology?
Also do you have any advice for young writers who want to become authors in the future?
Many thanks, Daisy
Chris Fielden
Hi Daisy. Thank you for your message :)
I don’t have any plans to publish these stories in an anthology. The challenge is online publishing only I'm afraid. I have published a lot of anthologies in the past, supporting a variety of charities, but it is too time consuming to publish books via every challenge I run. Sorry about that.
Regarding advice, there is loads of it in the 'Advice' section of my website, but here are two posts to get you started. The first is titled 7 Creative Writing Tips That No One Else Will Give You, by Dr Lynda Nash.
The second is a post I wrote, all about how I earn a living from writing.
I hope that is helpful. I'll look forward to receiving a submission from you for the challenge :)
Ayat H
I am very happy about being a young writer! I love entering different competitions and use as much imagination as I can. Hopefully this is the start to an amazing writing career!
Chris Fielden
That's great to hear, Ayat. I wish you the very best of luck with your writing in the future :)
Charlotte
Just wondering if I have to put in my school because I don't feel comfortable doing it thank you.
Chris Fielden
Hi Charlotte, thanks for your message. If you don't want the school / college / university name shared on the site, that's totally fine - I have just updated the rules to reflect this :)
Jayamangalam S
Can I submit my children's pictorial drawing book? Is there any separate category to submit this?
Chris Fielden
Hi Jayamangalam, thank you for your message. Yes, you can submit a picture book, as long as it is short. Please submit it and I'll take a look and see if it is something I can publish.
Tim S
Can you clarify the maximum age for the Amazing Young Writer's Challenge as in the blurb above, you have stated an age of up to 22 but in the comments section, in response to Thomas M, you've stated: "Hi Thomas. There is no age limit for the To Hull And Back Competition. And there are no age limits on any of the writing challenges, apart from the Amazing Young Writers Challenge which is for students up to the age of 18."
Has there been an age change?
Chris Fielden
Hi Tim. Thanks for your message, and sorry for the confusion.
When the challenge first launched, the age limit was 18. Since then, I've upped it to 22 to include university students. To be honest, I'm not overly strict on the age limit. If you're in fulltime education, I'd be happy to accept your submission.
In fact, with your comments in mind, I've just upped the age limit to 25 in the rules :)
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Tim S
Chris, thanks for the prompt reply.
It's not for me specifically as I am well beyond the age of entry. However, it will be useful for the students I teach to give them something to aim for.
Chris Fielden
No problem at all, thanks Tim. All the best.
Lyra F
This competition seems cool, can you use pictures? Also, how do you find out if you've won? Lyra :]
Chris Fielden
Hi Lyra, thanks for your message.
Yes, you can use pictures, but the fewer the better please! It's not a competition - the challenge simply gives you the opportunity to see your writing published and then you receive a certificate :)
Marie-Louise D
Hi Chris, I am just checking that the competition is still open? My 8 year old son is looking for a competition he can enter. Thanks.
Chris Fielden
Hi Marie-Louise, thanks for your message. Yes, the challenge is still open.
You can also find a lot of other comps for young writers on this list. I hope that helps :)
Shandyjord
I'm a Nigerian. Can I submit my writing?
Chris Fielden
Hi Shandyjord, thanks for your message.
Yes, you can submit. The challenge is open to anyone living anywhere in the world :-)
David W
Hi, I would like to submit a story in rhyme from one of the children in my class. It is over 100 words. I didn't know if you could help me out with where would be best to submit it. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Kind Regards, David W
Chris Fielden
Hi David, thanks for your message.
I list a lot of opportunities for young writers on my website, so hopefully you can find something useful there. This is the link and it includes details of both prose and poetry opportunities.
I hope that helps :-)
Leave your comments
Please use the form below to leave your comments. All comments will be reviewed so won't appear on the page instantly. I will not share your details with anyone else. Most recent comments appear at the bottom of the page, oldest at the top.