Concern Writing
Competition
Writing Tips
Writing Tips
Concern Active Citizenship
Concern Worldwide is a development organization that works in 25 countries with the
world’s poorest people to transform their lives. Concern also works with teachers and
students in Ireland and the USA on development issues highlighting the inequalities that
exist in the world and empowering people to become active citizens in the fight against
poverty and hunger. Through our debates program, annual writing competition, campaign
academy, Concern global classroom, workshops, volunteer programmes, campaigns and
educational resources, Concern’s active citizenship team deepens public awareness,
understanding and engagement in development issues.
Concern Writing Competition
In 2008, we launched the writing competition to mark the 40th anniversary of the
founding of Concern. Originally set up to give secondary students an opportunity to
research and write about global issues, the competition has since attracted over 2700
entries from 37 countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland, India, Japan, Niger,
Uganda, UK and the USA. Through the years our writers have envisioned the future of
a child born today in the developing world, reflected on how world hunger could be
eradicated, gained insight into living on less that $2 a day, envision the life of a child
labourer, analyzed affects of climate change, shared important lessons they learned
from the developing world and prepared speeches for the United Nations General
Assembly expressing their views of the Millennium Development Goals.
For this years’ topic and form check out www.concern.net/writingcompetition
“I am just a reporter, doing my job, reporting on what happens in the world but it
is also my job to enlighten people. We have to realise that there are many
lessons we can learn in life but one of the most important ones is that we are
one world, all brothers and sisters. No one is superior, whether it’s to do with
age, race, nationality or whether you have money or not. I am only a reporter,
but together we are a community of brothers and sisters. It’s up to you whether
you turn the next page of this newspaper and forget all about this article, but no
matter how many pages you turn, or newspapers you throw into the bin, poverty
isn’t something that can be gotten rid of that easily. You can’t forget about it and
hope for the best. Poverty is always going to be there whether you try and
forget about it or not.” Leah Geoghegan, Ireland, Dispatches from the Developing
World, Concern Writing Competition 2011 Jr. Passages
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Writing Tips
Writing Process
For this years’ topic and form check out www.concern.net/writingcompetition
Prewriting
Choose a topic and form
Choose a style
Choose a purpose & audience
Gather Ideas
Research (Page 11)
Free writing (Page 4)
Drafting
Put ideas down on paper
Write
Revising
Have a friend read your draft
Make major changes to the draft
See how your piece will measure up (Page 10)
Proofreading
Make minor changes
Correct errors in
Spelling
Grammar
Usage
Mechanics
Publishing
Share your writing
Submit your piece online
www.concern.net/writingcompetition
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Writing Tips
Free writing - Prewriting Strategy
You have the topic, you know you’re going to enter Concern Writing Competition this year,
what’s next? Are you stuck? Can you think of lots to say but don’t know how to say it? Do
you have writers’ block? Try free writing! Free writing resembles the warm up you might do
before going for a run. If you have an idea in the back of your head but just can’t quite pin it
down, this is the technique that will pull that idea out and transform it into a fully-grown one.
How do you use free writing? It’s very simple. Set a time for yourself. Try five to ten
minutes. Longer times may not be that productive since free writing is a “warm up” for
more focused writing. Begin to type or write about anything that comes into your head.
Don’t stop until the time is up. Write things down that seem to be related to the topic. The
point of free writing is flow, not correctness, not grammar, just flow. When time is up, look
over what you have written. Pick ideas and phrases you can use later. Feel free to change
topics or areas of focus, but try to follow the writing where it wants to go. Trust yourself
and your writing.
Free writing is writing with the critic button disengaged. Free writing may be focused or
unfocused. Unfocused free writing is looking into random thoughts in your mind just to see
what’s in there. If you discover a potential idea, you can pause to examine it more closely or
return to it later. Focused free writing involves writing about a particular topic as a means of
discovering what you already know or think about it. Write as fast as you can; the faster the
better. Don’t worry how messy it gets. The only rule to follow is to not stop writing! If you
can’t think of anything to say, write down that you can’t think of anything to say and maybe
why. Form no judgment about what you write. Just don’t stop writing.
The key to making free writing useful is to always go back and read what you have written.
It’s in the reading that you see the possibilities for further development. Many people find it
useful to read their free writing out loud when finished with it. Often the ear will pick up
some pattern or great idea that you hadn’t noticed, even as you wrote it. Make note of the
good ideas or words that stand out to you. You can generate successful free writing no
matter how little time you have or wherever you are.
There is debate on whether it is better to free write on paper or on the computer. You
should use whichever medium you are more comfortable with. If you are going to use a
computer, turn off or dim your monitor so you can’t see what you’re writing, and therefore
can’t worry about your mistakes.
Don’t give up on free writing after one exercise. Many writers think that it’s boring, but
come to love it after a week. Free writing is like any other kind of activity: you will get better
at it. Eventually, the exercise will become liberating. Free writing can help to break even the
toughest writer’s block and is a terrific memory stimulator!
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Writing Tips
Free writing doesn’t suit you? Try these other great prewriting
techniques and prompts
1. List Ideas. Lists are a great way to gather material. The idea is to generate ideas.
Don’t worry if some ideas are better than others. And don’t worry too much about
getting the ideas in the right order.
2. Make a Web. You may have done this before. Put the main idea in the centre, and
make a “spoke” for each connected idea.
3. Make a Simple Time-line. I find this idea very helpful for writing stories. Jot down
when each important event happened. Now, where do you want to start the
writing? At the beginning of the timeline? In the middle? At the end?
4. Three by Three by Three. Give yourself three minutes to write three ideas on three
different topics. Great for generating ideas.
5. Write a story of exactly 100 words, no more, no less. Then cut the story down to
50 words. Can you do it in 25? 6?
6. Write a scene in dialogue-only first, then go back and fill in the action - but only
where it’s necessary to understand what’s going on.
7. Write the first sentence of a story today. Write the second sentence tomorrow.
Continue until you’ve finished the story. Don’t cheat, you can always edit later.
8. Write about your day from the point of view of your shoes. Then write about it again
from the point of view of your eyes or ears. Notice the difference?
Think outside the box
“I am offering my help. Please, Barack, help me to help our planet. If you decide
to help me, and if this change happens, I will no longer have so much unwanted
gunk passing through me every day. When people draw a breath from me, it will
be clean and will do them no harm. Nature as a whole will be much healthier
and more fruitful. This dream, if realised, could potentially prolong the lives of
many seriously endangered animals. It would save everyone money in the long
run; countries would no longer have to buy oil or coal. It would definitely create
a cleaner, less polluted environment for every living thing on planet earth, and, it
could help to avoid our planet’s ultimate downfall. You and I, Barack, together
we can. Yours Sincerely, The Air.” Niamh Burke, Ireland, Letter to President
Obama, Concern Writing Competition 2009 Sr. 1st place
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Writing Tips
Quick Tips
Style
Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound
genuine, therefore be yourself. Relax and have
confidence, believe in your own identity and your own
opinions. When choosing words and stringing them
together think of how they sound. Constantly use a
thesaurus to find the right word that sounds the best too.
“Nesrine is curled up on the floor of her dark hut,
the freezing sweat pouring down her face, her ivorywhite teeth clenched together with the unbearable
pain coursing through her. She reaches for the
table-top, trying to get up from her pitiful position
but she falls, defeated. She knows her child is
arriving. She screams, scared and all alone.” Gavin
Tucker, Ireland, Dispatches from the Developing
World, Concern Writing Competition 2011 Jr. 1st Place
Research and the subconscious mind
The Concern Writing Competition annually focuses on
development issues. Make sure you have the hard facts
to emphasise your argument or stance, please see the
list of development resources on page 11.
Always collect more material than you will use. Look for
material everywhere not just the obvious sources. Always
look for a way to convey your information in a narrative
form. Narrative is the oldest and most compelling
method of holding someone’s attention.
A writer is always at work. Stay alert to the currents
around you. Much of what you see and hear will come
back to you long afterwards through your subconscious
mind, just when your conscious mind, labouring to write,
needs it.
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Verbs: Verbs are the most
important of your tools. Use active
verbs unless there is no way to
get around using a passive verb.
Use precise verbs. Active verbs
push the sentence forward and
give it momentum. Active verbs
also enable us to visualize an
activity because they require a
pronoun (he) or a noun (the boy)
or a person (Ms Lawless) to put
them in motion. Verbs also carry
in their imaginary or in their sound
a suggestion of what they mean.
Adverbs: Most adverbs are
unnecessary. Strong verbs are
weakened by redundant adverbs.
Don’t use adverbs unless they do
necessary work.
Adjectives: Most adjectives are
also unnecessary. Make your
adjectives do work that needs to
be done “He looked at the grey
sky and the dark clouds”
Little Qualifiers: Prune out the
small words that qualify how you
feel and how you think or what
you saw: a bit, a little, sort of, kind
of, rather, quite, in a sense. Be
confident: don’t be a bit
confused, be confused, Sort of
tired, you’re tired! Readers want a
writer who believes in themselves
and what they are saying. Don’t
diminish that belief. Don’t be kind
of bold. Be bold.
Mood Changers: Learn to alert
the reader as soon as possible to
any change in mood from the
previous sentence: But, yet,
however, nevertheless, still,
instead, thus, therefore,
meanwhile, now, later, today,
subsequently
Writing Tips
Show your thought process
“So often, we discuss the “developing” world in terms of what they can learn
from wealthier, more industrialized, more technologically advanced places, or
the “developed” world, as we call it. Perhaps, in some ways, the developed
world is actually at a disadvantage, moving further away from a natural state and
the enjoyment of the simple things in life. The old adage “less is more” would
seem to be true of life in the developing world, the biggest lessons to be
learned from them; To be happy with what you have, to utilize creativity and
ingenuity, and to be present in the moment. Incidentally, all lessons stemming
from their being poorer, less industrialized, and less technologically advanced.”
Sarah Maguire, Ireland, Dispatches from the Developing World, Concern Writing
Competition 2011 College Shortlisted.
Structure
Give as much thought to your last sentence as your first. Bring the story full circle to strike
at the end of a note that was sounded at the beginning. Readers want to know that they
are on a journey. Does your lead sentence/paragraph work? Does it capture attention?
Provide hard details that tell the reader why the piece was written and why they ought to
read it.
You can use a quotation to start or end your story. You can start by using a remark that is
so far from left field that nobody could see it coming. Find some remark that has a sense
of finality or that is funny, or that adds an unexpected closing detail. Surprise is the most
refreshing element in nonfiction writing.
“Close your eyes and count to six. A child in the developing world has just
died.” Caoimhe Ni Chorcora, Ireland, Mr Secretary General, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Concern Writing Competition, 2010 Senior Shortlisted.
Continue to build: every paragraph should amplify the one that precedes it. Take special
care with the last sentence of every paragraph - it is a critical springboard to the next
paragraph. Make the reader smile and you have them for at least another paragraph.
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Writing Tips
Rewriting and Editing
“There are wars going on in every corner of the world and innocent children are
killed. Landmines are left behind after conflicts, hospitals are destroyed by
warring parties, health agents are forced to abandon their health centres, and
many children are orphaned. Children in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia know
what I mean….How do we hope to reduce child mortality when our actions are
a hindrance to this objective?” Ndifor Elves Funnui Zinder, Niger, Letter to
President Obama, Concern Writing Competition 2009 Adult 1st place
Rewriting is the essence of writing well. Your
first version will still not initially say what you
want it to say, or as well as you could. It will not
be clear, logical, verbose, clunky, pretentious,
full of clutter, clichés, lack rhythm or just be
boring. Writing is an evolving process not a
finished product. Reshape, tighten and refine
the raw material of your first draft. Keep putting
yourself in the reader’s place. Is there
something that should have been told earlier in
the sentence that you put at the end? Is it
obvious when you shift mood, tense, subject,
tone emphasis? Alter the sequence, tighten the
flow, and sharpen the point.
Revision/Rewriting
Editing
Energy
Fluency
Style
Fine details: bring
out the thesaurus
Re-sequence
Spelling/Capital
Letters
Add a section
Grammar
Prune/Cut
Punctuation
Emphasis
Paragraphing
“Above all do not be afraid to experiment with what you have written…
Remember, it is not sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in
need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among
the best writers.” William Strunk Jr. and. B. White, The Elements of Style
Read your article aloud from beginning to end, always remembering where you have left
the reader in the previous sentence. Watch the connecting links, watch where you might
confuse or lose the reader. Have you told them the same thing twice or forgotten
something they needed to know? What you must do is make an arrangement- one that
holds together from start to finish and that moves with economy and warmth.
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Writing Tips
Put brackets around every component that isn’t doing the useful work
• Unnecessary preposition appended to a verb
• Adjective that states a known fact
• An adverb that carries the same meaning as the verb
• Little qualifiers that weaken any sentence they inhabit
• Phrases that don’t mean anything like ‘in a sense’
The quickest fix
Often a difficult problem in a sentence can be solved by simply getting rid of it. Ask
yourself if you need it at all. Remove it and watch the afflicted sentence spring to life
and breathe normally. It’s the quickest cure and often the best.
Paragraphs
Writing is visual-it catches the eye before it has a chance to catch the brain.
Paragraphing is a subtle but important element in writing. It is a road map telling your
reader how you have organized your ideas. Each paragraph has its own integrity of
content and structure.
The period
Keep a sentence short and to the point. Don’t express two dissimilar thoughts. Make
sure the sentence is under control from beginning to end, in syntax and punctuation,
so that the reader knows where they are at every step of the winding trial.
The Exclamation Point!
Don’t use it unless you must to achieve a certain effect. Construct your sentences so
that the order of words will put the emphasis where you want it. Resist using an ! to
notify the reader that you are making a joke or being ironic. Humour is best achieved
by understatement and there is nothing subtle about an !
The semicolon ;
The semicolon brings the reader if not to a halt at least to a pause. So use it with
discretion. Rely instead on a period and the dash
The dash The dash can be used in two ways, to amplify or justify in the second part of the
sentence a thought you stated in the first part or use two dashes, which set apart a
parenthetical thought within a longer sentence or use one dash when an explanatory
detail that might otherwise have required a separate sentence is neatly dispatched
along the way.
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Writing Tips
Concern Creative Writing
Competition Marking Scheme
Does it meet the
following criteria?
Specific factors to
consider:
Clarity of
Purpose
Does the writer stick
to their chosen topic?
Does the entry have a
point? Is the entry in
the appropriate form?
Relevance, focus, originality,
freshness, clear aim,
understanding of subject
/30
Coherence of
Delivery
Did the writer
sufficiently develop
the points they were
making over their
entire entry?
Continuity of argument,
sequencing, management
of ideas, use of
references/quotes/sources,
use of examples (it’s ok to
use factual/real examples
or fictional
stories/characters)
/30
Efficiency of
language
Did the writer
communicate in a
way that was clear,
effective and
engaging?
Accurate vocabulary,
syntax, sentence patterns,
paragraph structure,
appropriate punctuation,
use of lively interesting
phrasing, energy, style,
fluency
/30
Proper spelling, grammar
and sentence structure
(NB: some entries may be
using British/Irish spelling
and some may be using
American spelling)
/10
Accuracy of
mechanics
TOTAL
10
Mark
Marks should be
awarded under
the following
headings
/100
Writing Tips
Know the Facts on
Development Issues
www.developmenteducation.ie
Broad range of materials exploring a variety of
development issues and topics.
www.guardian.co.uk/global-development
The Guardian’s news, comment and analysis
of global development; comprised of videos,
podcasts, data, blogs, interviews, web picks
and debates.
www.alertnet.org
Is a news website run by Reuters which
focuses on global issues and emergencies.
www.newint.org
With over 30 years of publishing under its
belt, the New Internationalist is renowned for
its radical, campaigning stance on a range of
world issues, from the cynical marketing of
baby milk to human rights in Burma.
www.undp.org
UN’s global development network.
www.worldbank.org
The World Bank is a vital source of financial
and technical assistance to developing
countries around the world.
www.cyberschoolbus.un.org
UN site loaded with information, country data,
issue briefings and activities.
www.socialwatch.org
International Social Watch, background
information, reports on a range of issues,
tables, graphs, interactive maps etc.
www.pambazuka.org
News-based site from South Africa. Weekly
updates on human rights, conflict, health,
environment, social welfare, development,
and other topics in Africa.
www.civicus.org
An international alliance for citizen
participation, great toolkits and resources.
www.concern.net
Concern’s stance on topic development issues.
www.unhcr.org
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, up to
date details on all UN member countries, key
topics, issues, international human rights law and
international human rights bodies.
www.hrw.org
Human Rights Watch. Huge database of reports
and resources on human rights around the world.
www.madre.org
Women’s rights network, great for issue-based
research.
www.oneworld.net
Brings together the latest news and views from
over 1,600 organizations promoting human rights
awareness and fighting poverty worldwide
www.un.org/millenniumgoals
The eight Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) form a blueprint agreed to by all the
world’s countries and all the world’s leading
development institutions.
www.globalissues.org
This web site looks into global issues that affect
everyone and aims to show how most issues are
inter-related.
www.crin.org
CRIN empowers the global child rights
community through the exchange of information
and the promotion of children’s rights. There are
14,540 resources on the site.
www.ilo.org/ipec
Resources and statistics on child labour.
www.eldis.org
Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, topic
guides, country profiles and recent news on
almost every development topic.
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Concern Writing Competition over the years
www.concern.net/writingcompetition
[email protected]
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