The Carmel Clay Public Library (CCPL) is currently accepting entries for the third annual The Guilded Leaf Writing Contest. Entry forms and stories will be due Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Young Adult (YA) desk.

The contest is open to any high school student in Carmel and accepts all forms of writing, including fiction, nonfiction, essays and short stories. The first place winner will receive a certificate, a $100 gift card and two tickets to The Guilded Leaf Book & Author Luncheon. YA Services Manager Hope Baugh said that there are other reasons to enter in the contest besides winning “fame and fortune.”

“I think it’s fun to enter writing contests simply because it’s fun to write,” Baugh said. “The contest spurs you to “face the page” (or the computer screen or whatever) and do the work necessary to develop, revise, and polish a piece of writing.”

Senior Justin Groot, who won The Guilded Leaf Writing Contest the past two times, is submitting a story this year as well.

“My advice to anyone interested in writing fiction is to get involved in as many different contests and events as possible. You can’t underestimate the value of good short story practice, and that’s one thing I know this contest provides,” Groot said.

More information can be found at http://www.carmel.lib.in.us/ya/wc/wcg2009.pdf.