Time for a Writing Reality TV Show by Tamsin Cooke

At the moment, life is rather uncertain and difficult. Therefore I decided to have a little fun with my post this month. And so I imagined a writing reality TV programme/game show.  Please note - I don't intend this to be real.

Imagine ten children’s authors – picture book to young adult - battling it out to reign supreme!!! 

Ten authors would stand at an individual high desk in a semi-circle. ( 2 metre spaces between them of course!) Laptops, coffee and cake on each station. The gameshow host would stand at the front between two - YES two, not just one - spinning wheels. (No expense spared in this production!)

On the left spinning wheel would be the categories: Picture book, Early readers, Middle Grade, Teen and Young Adult.

And on the right spinning wheel would be the following: Horror, poetry, fantasy, historic, fairytale, romance, realistic, science fiction and graphic novel.

Can you see where this is going?

The host spins the left wheel. The audience, leans forward, clasping their knees in anticipation. An age range is chosen. The host spins the right wheel and the genre is selected. Then the authors have SIXTY MINUTES to create either a full story or extract. For picture books, early readers and graphic novels, illustrators could be brought in. 

The hour is up. The authors must read their work aloud and the illustrators show their masterpieces.  Three judges give their responses to the stories. Then the phonelines are open. Twenty-four hours for the public to judge their favourite story. 

The next day, the results are in. The tension is palpable. Starting from the top, the winner of the round is announced. The author whose story got the most votes is given a pen with a spinning wheel on the clicky bit. The audience goes wild.

The rest of the authors find out if they are safe or not. Finally the gameshow host names the bottom two. To stay in, these authors must complete a challenge. The winner moves onto the next round, while the loser is eliminated.

Challenges for the bottom two include: 

• Together they create a story, taking turns to say one word at a time. Any hesitation or ums – they lose!
• They’re given a topic and have one minute to say a story aloud. The best one wins.
• They become a character from the story they just wrote. Interviewed by the judges, the most authentic character wins.
• They  fight a tiger and the one not to die, wins.

Then it would be round two with nine authors. This would play out until the final week when only two contestants remain. It would be the ...

No spinning wheels are needed here. The two finalists get to choose their own genre AND intended age range. The audience can hardly contain themselves. 

There's a big golden envelope which the host slowly rips opens to reveal the topic of today's story. The authors have SIXTY MINUTES to create a masterpiece. Illustrators can be brought in if required.

When the hour is up, they read out the stories.  This time the vote is split 50/50 between the public and the judges. OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!

The next day, the winner is revealed. Their prize: a publishing deal AND a sculpture of a spinning wheel for the mantlepiece. Oh yes!!!

I'm still trying to work out what can happen while the authors are writing to make it a teensy bit more interesting for the audience. Any ideas, please leave in the comments below. I might even send you a pen with a spinning top as a thank you. Or you could become a contestant!!!!

Tamsin Cooke

Author of The Scarlet Files Series and Stunt Double Series

Website: tamsincooke.co.uk
Twitter: @TamsinCooke1