Friday, August 29, 2008

FieldReport

This isn't necessarily related to reading books, so it is in a way off-topic. But this may be of interest to bloggers who love to write about themselves, their lives, and their experiences in a fun and creative way. Creative nonfiction, true-life stories. FieldReport is a site that "is a contest, big enough to get a lot of people involved. On the inside it's a community of writers and readers dedicated to great storytelling and to breaking down walls of human isolation." You can write "FieldReports" on just about anything, and be entered to win in monthly and yearly contests. There are--from what I can tell--twenty-one categories of contests. You can read more about the contests and the site here.

I like the mix of categories, this is a place that anyone could find a place to fit in, to belong which is just cool.

I think parents would find this a great place to share about their lives--their tips, their experiences, the joys and woes of life with babies, children, and teens. And the fact that money could be involved, well, that's just a cool bonus!!!

For anyone who loves telling stories--librarians, teachers, parents, grandparents, etc--this may just prove something worth looking into. I think many common day experiences could be written up in such a way that they prove entertaining and enjoyable for others to read. Going along with the "write what you know" philosophy.

Even if you don't have dreams of your writing winning the big prize, or of even participating in the writing aspect at all--you might find it fun to be a reviewer for the site and rank the FieldReports others write. Especially if you have that social aspect or curiosity that makes sites like YouTube and Yahoo Answers "fun" for you. (For that matter, I bet some of these reports read like blog entries. And reading blogs surely is addictive.)

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent advice. I'm always on the hunt for great children's books and have recently discovered Bayard and their series of StoryBoxBooks, AdventureBoxBooks and DiscoveryBoxBooks (which has a special focus on teeth!) They have work by acclaimed children's books illustrator Helen Oxenbury appearing in the Storybox series for September. In addition to this, they also have some great activities for rainy days: http://www.storyboxbooks.com/potatoprinting.php, http://www.adventureboxbooks.com/macaroni-picture-frames.php, http://www.discoveryboxbooks.com/skittles.php Enjoy!