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Winning 500 Words was EPIC! It was a day I will never forget. Ever. I met so many people that I admire. It gave me so many special memories.

Sofia Zambuto, Gold Winner, 5-9 age category 2015

I have so many fantastic memories of that morning. I bounced on my bed a lot for days afterwards.

Sofia

The strange thing is, I had tried to enter my story the year before but I missed the deadline by about 20 seconds! 20 seconds!! It was horrible. I was so upset. All that time and effort wasted. Well, that’s what I thought. Looking back, I don’t think I would have even been a finalist this year if I hadn’t made my story better after missing the deadline. Anyway, even if it had won the first time, I wouldn’t have got the chance to go to St James’ Palace or meet the Duchess of Cornwall.

Very early that morning a coach (not the Cinderella type) took us to the palace. It felt a bit like Christmas morning. We were taken to this huge, beautiful pink and gold room. Delicious things to eat were served on silver trays and all the finalists just mingled excitedly with the judges and celebrities. I was too excited to eat much but my Mum tried everything.

I shot over to Malorie Blackman as soon as I saw her. Malorie’s writing is incredible. I actually chatted to her. That alone was awesome and I didn’t even know that I was a winner then. She was so friendly and encouraging. Just like I thought she’d be.

When Sir Kenneth called out my name I was stunned. Things like this don’t really happen in real life-but that day it did to me. My story was read aloud by a real-life knight, Sir Kenneth Branagh. So cool. I remember that my Mum could barely speak.

The Duchess presented me with a gold medal and my story printed in a book. Beyond cool! She was really nice, by the way. I had to stop myself from jumping up and down when she told me that she loved my story.

I met so many talented people. I saw how a radio show is made and was part of it. I watched the Vamps sing and Will Young listened to my story and then he even made a joke about it. Francesca Simon and Charlie Higson told me what they liked about my story. I was beaming. It all made me feel like a real author. I think that was one of the best things about winning. I knew that brilliant writers had read my story and thought it was good. They liked my idea and I love thinking up ideas so it meant so much to me.

It was inspiring. I’m not exaggerating. I have so many fantastic memories of that morning. I bounced on my bed a lot for days afterwards. I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop writing down my ideas.

If you’ve got an idea for a story but are not sure if you should go for it, you should. Don’t miss the deadline. Because you never know..

By Sofia Zambuto