NATIONAL WRITING DAY LAUNCHES 24-WORD CHALLENGE INVITING YOUNG PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR STORIES
First Story, the charity behind National Writing Day, is today launching a new 24-word story challenge to mark the annual nationwide celebration of the pleasure and power of writing and words which takes place this year on 24th June. Together with its National Writing Day partners, a coalition of leading literacy organisations and publishers and a host of the nation’s much loved children’s authors including Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, Malorie Blackman and Frank Cottrell Boyce, First Story is challenging everyone – and especially young people – to come together to share their experiences.
As the nation emerges from lockdown, and the extreme experiences of the past few months are still keenly felt, the power of words to give voice and agency to our stories couldn’t be more pertinent. While some students have returned to school, many are still at home; classrooms and school playgrounds remain quiet and we’re not hearing much about our altered world.
This is why National Writing Day is leading the charge with a simple writing call to action: a challenge to everyone to write just 24 words, in 7 minutes, starting with the prompt ‘One day...’ and to share their work on social media using the hashtag #247challenge. The challenge is intended as a moment of unity, of freedom and – most importantly – of fun where students, teachers – and anyone who wants to be involved – can enjoy writing together and take a moment to express themselves.
From today, First Story and its National Writing Day partners including National Literacy Trust, National Poetry Day and Centre for Literacy in Primary Education will be issuing the challenge through teachers, parents and the media with an example template posted to social media and to schools for people to complete the challenge by writing their story onto a piece of paper, taking a photo, then sharing online and nominating three people to take up the challenge too. On National Writing Day itself, the #247challenge will be led by much loved children’s authors including First Story writers Dean Atta, Cecilia Knapp and Francesca Beard and National Writing Day ambassadors Cressida Cowell, Mark Haddon, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Jackie Kay, Laura Dockrill and many more who will be issuing the challenge and sharing their own 24/7 pieces to kick-start the day.
Children’s Laureate and bestselling author of How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell said:
”I’m delighted to take part in National Writing Day this year. When we’ve been leading such restricted lives, writing is a way to take ourselves and our readers to new worlds. We’re all innately creative, and National Writing Day is a day for us all to use the power of words and imagination to say something which speaks out to others.”
CEO of First Story, Antonia Byatt said: “We know many schools face very real challenges when they return with their students having lost out on months of face-to-face education. Young people living in the most challenging circumstances will be the worst affected. It’s so important those students are armed with the skills they need for their futures. Writing for pleasure builds the confidence that is the corner stone of life-long learning.”
Author and Founder of First story, William Fiennes, said:
”First Story has always tried to say to young people: You have a voice, and your voice has value. With National Writing Day, we’ve been trying to spread that word more widely, and celebrate the amazing rich variousness of our country’s voices. Creative writing - a poem, a story, a script, a letter, a song - is for everyone, not just a select few. If ten years of First Story has shown me anything, it’s that writing can be not just a source of pleasure but a source of power. Especially now, when we’ve all been so confined - when you write, you can go anywhere.”
While the National Writing Day #247challenge is open to people of all ages, it is particularly looking to showcase work by young people whose voices have been underrepresented during the crisis or whose lives and education have been significantly disrupted by the pandemic. The best examples of writing using hashtag #247challenge will be showcased in an online exhibition and archived by National Writing Day partner, the British Library, as part of a project to record a snapshot of people’s thoughts and experiences during COVID-19.
In the run-up to National Writing Day, First Story have released weekly #writefromhome video tutorials with leading writers to inspire young people to get started with writing. This will culminate on National Writing Day with a new tutorial from First Story co-founder William Fiennes, bestselling author of The Snow Geese and The Music Room.
Notes to Editors
To complete the #247challenge on 24th June:
1. Write a 24-word story on a piece of paper (or record on video) starting with ‘One day…’ If you have a printer, you can print a #247challenge template and write your story on it and post a photo to social media: Instagram Stories template Print template Twitter template Facebook template
2. Take a photo of your story or take a photo of yourself with your writing
3. Share online using hashtag #247challenge and @writeday on 24th June
4. Tag three friends who might be interested in taking part in the challenge too!
About National Writing Day
Founded by First Story, National Writing Day is an annual celebration of the pleasure and power of writing creatively, inspiring people of all ages and abilities to try writing for fun and self-expression. First Story partners with some of the leading literacy organisations and publishers in England, to create a National Writing Day programme dedicated to schools. Led by First Story, National Writing Day is a coalition of literacy charities and publishers all working to celebrate the power of writing. The partners are First Story, Arvon Foundation, ALCS, Authorfy, Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, British Library, Drivers Youth Trust, English and Media Centre, Hachette, National Literacy Trust, National Poetry Day and Penguin Random House. firststory.org.uk/writeday
About First Story
William Fiennes and Katie Waldegrave met in 2007, when Katie was a teacher at a state secondary and William was the Writer-in-Residence at a fee-paying school. Together they developed a plan to bring William’s writing expertise into Katie’s under-resourced school. Based on the success of this pilot project, a year later the pair founded First Story. They set out to provide high-quality creative writing opportunities for young people in schools in low-income communities, to employ the best UK writing talent, and to equip teachers. More than a decade later, our mission remains the same, and we’re changing more lives through writing than ever. firststory.org.uk
