Are you an aspiring novelist? Compulsive journaler? Is creative writing your favourite subject? Does not a weekend pass that you don’t think ‘that moment would have made a great short story’ ? If so, then you need to enter the Write Across Ontario competition.

This creative writing competition gives you three story starters, written by three very different authors: Ian Rankin, Joanna Skibsrud, and Miriam Toews. Take their beginning and create your own middle and end-following your inspiration to craft a 500 word story, no later than February 1, 2012. The stories will be judged by Authors at Harbourfront Centre and Open Book: Ontario.

One winner from each grade will be chosen, and the winners will receive $500 and the opportunity to have their work published online in the Open Book Magazine.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get your work out there, and receive feedback from professional writers. So stop wowing your creative writing teacher and enter! (Okay, keep wowing him or her, but do this while you’re at it!) Visit here for complete rules and regulations. litontour.com/write-across-ontario.