Entries open for 500 Words 2016
Chris Evans reveals the brand new location for the 500 Words final and opens entries for 2016's competition.
Tune in today as Chris launches 500 Words 2016, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 2's writing competition for children aged 5-13.
In the show he'll also be revealing an incredibly exciting brand new judge and the super special location for the Final.
With nearly half a million entries since it first launched in 2011, 500 WORDS is one of the world's most successful story-writing competitions for children. This year's competition opens in today's show and closes for entries at 7pm on the Thursday 25 February 2016.
The winners will have their story read live on air by superstar celebrities to the Breakfast Show's nearly 10 million listeners ... previous names have included the likes Sir Kenneth Branagh and Benedict Cumberbatch. Not only will the winners rub shoulders with the some of the world's biggest celebrities and fantastic pop-stars who will be performing at the Final, they'll also meet Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall, who's a supporter of our competition and hosted the 2015 final at St James's Palace.
For further inspiration, helpful hints and tips, and to enter, visit www.bbc.co.uk/500words. And teachers and librarians can also sign up on the site to help judge the thousands of entries!
Last on
More episodes
Clip
-
![]()
A Guide To The Globe
Duration: 01:40
Music Played
-
![]()
Queen
Don't Stop Me Now
- Jazz.
- Island.
- 12.
-
![]()
LunchMoney Lewis
Ain't Too Cool
- (CD Single).
- Columbia.
- 001.
-
![]()
Tears for Fears
Head Over Heels
- Rule The World: The Greatest Hits.
- Virgin EMI Records.
- 5.
-
![]()
R.E.M.
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
- R.E.M. - Automatic For The People.
- Warner Bros.
-
![]()
Lily Allen
Smile
- (CD Single).
- Regal.
-
![]()
KT Tunstall
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
- (CD Single).
- Relentless Records.
-
![]()
Jamie Lawson
Cold In Ohio
- (CD Single).
- Atlantic.
- 003.
-
![]()
Stevie Wonder
He's Misstra Know-It-All
-
![]()
Lorde
Royals
- Pure Heroine.
- Republic.
-
![]()
The Beatles
Something
- The Beatles - 1.
- Apple.
- 024.
-
![]()
Thomas Rhett
Crash And Burn
- Tangled Up.
- The Valory Music Co.
- 1.
-
![]()
AC/DC
Back In Black
- Back In Black.
- Epic.
- 6.
-
![]()
Strawberry Switchblade
Since Yesterday
- Strawberry Switchblade.
- Warner Bros.
-
![]()
CeeLo Green
Music To My Soul
- (CD Single).
- Warner Bros.
-
![]()
Harry Belafonte
Jump In The Line
- The Best Of.
- Camden.
- 16.
-
![]()
Paul Carrack
Keep On Lovin' You
- Soul Shadows.
- Carrack-UK.
- 001.
-
![]()
Will Young
Love Revolution
- (CD Single).
- Island.
- 001.
-
![]()
Michael Bublé
Haven't Met You Yet
- Crazy Love.
- Reprise.
- 1.
-
![]()
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Nowhere To Run
- Motown - The Hits Collection Vol.2.
- Motown.
-
![]()
The Shirelles
Will You Love Me Tomorrow
-
![]()
Dire Straits
Romeo and Juliet
- The No.1 Love Album (Various Artists.
- Polygram Tv.
-
![]()
Sam Hunt
Take Your Time
- (CD Single).
- MCA Nashville.
- 015.
-
![]()
Junior Senior
Move Your Feet
- Smash Hits Chart Summer 2003.
- EMI/Virgin/Universal Music.
-
![]()
Youssou Ndour & Neneh Cherry
7 Seconds
- Love - 38 All Time Love Classics.
- Polygram Tv.
-
![]()
Guns N’ Roses
Sweet Child O' Mine
- The Hits Album 10 (Various Artists).
- Hits Album.
-
![]()
Reuben James Richards
A.S.A.P.
- (CD Single).
- Jigsaw.
-
![]()
Shakespears Sister
Stay
- Now 1992 (Various Artists).
- Now.
-
![]()
Super Furry Animals
Juxtaposed With U
- (CD Single).
- Sony.
Pause For Thought
Art Historian, Dr Jim Harris
This week, as we’re launching the 500 Words Competition I’ve been thinking about writing.Ìý Not just these 387 words, telling a story, trying to say something about what it means, but all stories - myths and legends, heroes, adventures, love and sadness - the stories of being human.
Ìý
My own stories were never great.Ìý My go-to ending, ‘and then I woke up and found it was all a dream’ turned out to be less original than I thought, and as I got older and started writing for work I still struggled.Ìý Once, I got writer’s block and couldn’t write anything at all, so my wise teacher, Pat, locked me in her office and told me just to write something, anything, and that she’d read whatever I wrote.
Ìý
So I got busy and I just wrote, and I soon remembered that writing is isn’t about knowing the ending before you start, or the beautifully turned phrase appearing immediately, or the killer plot twist, the brilliant argument, glistening like a jewel in the first draft.
Ìý
It’s about starting with a single word or idea and working with it, seeing where it takes you. It’s about using whatever’s around you, maybe something surprising or unexpected, or letting your imagination take you far away, somewhere else entirely.
Ìý
Where that single word or idea comes from is another thing.Ìý My friend Anthony Wilson is a poet and he wrote a poem called, appropriately enough, ‘A Pause for Thought’, about those moments when we can stop and think, like a
…pause outside a tunnel:
‘the time with nothing to show the world
except the weight of thoughts we did not know
as ‘thoughts’ but impressions we might one
day push into use’.
Ìý
The Bible is full of stories, and full of writers. David, who wrote songs, once found himself on the run, holed up in a cave, an unintended pause but full of ‘thoughts…impressions he might one day push into use’.Ìý So he wrote Psalm 57, an astonishing journey in just 200 words, through fear and anger, to confidence and exultation.
Ìý
If you take a look at it, you might be reminded that great writing doesn’t need to be long, or complicated, or have a cast of thousands.Ìý A great story doesn’t have to be War and Peace.Ìý It can be 500 words.
Broadcast
- Mon 18 Jan 2016 06:30Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 2
Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2
After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.
500 Words
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.