FOR White Gum Valley student Lei Mealor, writing is more than just words.
12 year old Lei was announced as a finalist in the Scribblers Festival Golden Pen Awards and said her entry was a short story following the theme of discovery.
“My first instinct was to write about an inanimate object like a key,” she said.
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READ NOW“Then I thought about writing something different so I wrote about emotions.
“The story is about a girl who thought her world was ending when her dad passed away, she discovered lots of object which had happy memories she had forgotten about, she discovered her happiness and became happy again.”
Lei said her story idea was inspired by a friend who lost both her parents.
“When I was little I used to throw tantrums about random small things,” she said.
“I had a friend who lost her mum and dad but she still smiled and she was still happy.”
The young writer said she had no words when she found out she was a finalist and will attend a masterclass with UK author Philip Ardagh.
“I was literally lost for words, I was so excited I couldn’t really believe it,” she said.
“The masterclass will be a great experience even meeting authors is amazing, let along learning from one.
“I am looking forward to learning about his own view of writing in general and any tips and tricks to help me improve.
“I’ve been writing ever since I can remember I really want to be an author and travel around the world.”
The Scribblers Festival will take place in Claremont from Wednesday May 8 to Sunday May 12.