“The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary.”     J.K.Rowling (author of Harry Potter)

PRODUCTION RULES

In preparation for writing, students should draw from their own personal knowledge and research information from a variety of sources including historical and  reference material, interviews, personal experiences, newspapers, academic journals, auto-biographies, films and television movies, or internet sources.

These researches are solely opportunities for learning. Plagiarism is not accepted and a disqualification act (for example: copying published information, submitting someone else’s
text as your own).

DESCRIPTION AND GUIDELINES

The contest is open to all Miami-Dade Elementary, Middle and High School students
in grades 3 – 12.

Writers may submit:
Elementary (grades 3 – 5):
One typed or hand-written story between 700 and 1,000 words
Middle (grades 6 – 8):
One hand-written or typed story between 1,000 and 3,000 words
High School (grades 9 – 12):
One typed story between 2,000 and 4,000 words

• There is no restriction on style.
• Each story must be the work of one student and not the collective work of two or more students.
• By submitting the manuscript, the applicant certifies that the story is original, authored solely by her/him and has never been published.
• The story cannot be plagiarized or infringe upon the rights of any third parties.
• The story will be written in English.
• The story must have a title.
• A 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner for each level will be selected as well as a
  Grand Prize per level.
• Cash prizes, creative writing workshops and numerous awards will be given to all winners.
• A celebration of the authors will include a book signing of the Grand Prizes published manuscripts.
• The story will be judged by professionals from the literary, educational and the art world
  on the following:
  o Creativity and originality
  o Composition and overall structure
  o Sentence construction and fluency

THEMES

Themes are exclusively FREE CHOICE.

REGISTRATION (Deadline Friday, May 31st, midnight)

SUBMISSION (Deadline Monday, August 19th, midnight)

You can submit your manuscript 3 different ways:

– By email in Word or pdf format at mystory@laplumecontest.com

– By mail to:
Miami Conservatory of Music
La Plume Young Writers’ Contest
2911 Grand Avenue, SUite 400A
Miami,  FL  33133

– In person at the Miami Conservatory of Music (same address as above).
Directions here.
Opening hours:
Monday – Thursday: 11AM – 7PM
Friday: 11AM – 4PM
Closed on Saturdays during the summer

Download a printer-friendly version of the La Plume flier.

Download a printer-friendly version of La Plume 2019 Contest Rules.

Go to SIGN-UP to apply online and download the 2019 forms.