Write a book in a day

What do you get when a TV games show host, an opera singer and a scarecrow enter an army base but are then lost in a theme park?

A 4000 word story called ScareCrow! On Friday 27 July, a team of ten Year 9 boys participated in the Write a Book in a Day competition, along with teams from Years 7, 8, 10 and 11. This national team writing competition requires a team of writers to produce a 4000 – 5000 word book based on a unique set of parameters: two human characters, one non-human character, a setting and an issue. The students only receive these parameters at the start of the day and the book must be completely finished on that day so the pressure is on, but all the boys greatly enjoyed the challenge.

The competition provides some great lessons in creative writing, deadlines and teamwork but importantly, it also raises funds for children’s cancer research. Organised by The Kids’ Cancer Project, the competition last year raised over $200,000 through entry fees and team sponsorship and they hope to increase that amount this year. If you would like to sponsor the Year 9 team, please go to https://www.writeabookinaday.com/teams/sjc-year-9.

ScareCrow was written by Cameron Ainsworth, Ned Dalton, Isaac Dermody, Harvey Keady, Luca Manfredi, Dylan McCann, Archibald Miller, Eamon O’Shanassy, Luca Panuccioand Edward Scarf. All the Joeys books will be available to read on iLearn after the competition closes on 31 August. The school has achieved success in the past with several state and national awards so we wish our teams well in their literary endeavours!