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We received some fantastic entries for our Get a Squiggle On competition and the readers had their work cut out whittling down 400 scripts to just 16 that got through to our second round masterclass - which took place last week.

An anxious group of 16 writers arrived at the masterclass in London, not knowing what to expect, and having travelled from all over the UK - there was a real sense of regional representation in the room as we had writers from West Yorkshire to Scotland, Northern Ireland to Liverpool and surprisingly two writers from Herefordshire (there must be something in the water).

The day kick started with an introduction from Kate Rowland, Creative Director, New Writing and Head of Writersroom, followed by the writers having to pitch their script ideas in 30 seconds. They were all original and very imaginative ideas that had distinctive characters rooted in identifiable places - we had The Birthdayling Things, Mr Sings Magic Library, Alien Nursery, Police Dog Academy, 10 Clowning Street, Aunty Alert, Elf Stacker, Goats on a Boat, Grandad Bill and his Garden Shed, In Bed with Granny's Leg, Mani & Mongoose, Potty Towers, Queenie, Roki the Robot, Scooters, and The Swashbuckles.

Michael De Souza and Genevieve Webster, creators of Rastamouse and judges on the competition, delivered a brilliant high energy session which I think everyone agreed was the highlight of the day. As the genesis of Rastamouse was from a children's story book, Genevieve and Michael began with a reading of the first title in the series, 'Rastamouse and the crucial plan' which was published to wide critical acclaim in 2003. To bring the world of Mouseland to life Micheal selected a few writers to play the characters, and to immerse them further in to their roles he helped them emulate a Caribbean accent and even do a reggae style rap, which was hugely entertaining and a masterclass first...Irie man!

Everyone then watched a recent episode of the much-loved animated series and Micheal and Genevieve talked to the group about how it all began and shared their pearls of wisdom. They both agreed that the hardest part of writing is when you don't have a sounding board and this is what they found is the biggest advantage of working together. But the burning question was how did they create such an iconic character that is loved by all ages?

What was important to them was a shared family experience that an older and younger sibling could watch together. Music is a big part of the show and the rap element is what is most enjoyed by all no matter what the age - the strong theme of redemption in each episode they find has a positive influence on older children. Genevieve advised that when writing for pre-school, writers should not limit themselves too much as children can take in more then we may think. Michael echoed this and mentioned that as Rastamouse is written largely in rhyme children can get a gist of what is happening even though they may not fully understand particular words etc. They talked about the transition from book to script, which was really exciting for them, but they discovered very quickly how important dialogue was. They also gave an insight in to the way their script writing process works - for them firstly it's important to think about the story, then the treatment and writing a scene by scene synopsis. The first bit is always the hardest they admitted as the story is crucial, once the treatment works the next bit they find the fun part of the process as it is about building the dialogue around the treatment.

Now that the writer's nerves had subsided after such an enjoyable session, the next part of the day involved working in groups brainstorming ideas - they were given the Olympic Games as a starting point for generating ideas for a new CBeebies show. We had some great ideas surface which funnily enough all had a recurring theme of animals! Titles included Mr Fields, Animal Olympic Village, Olympigs and Animal Allstars.

Barry Quinn, Development producer from CBeebies, provided some perspective on all things CBeebies and the day ended with Paul Ashton, Ö÷²¥´óÐã writersroom's development producer, doing a session on the Pre-School perfect 4 based on the charming and imaginative, Charlie and Lola. This was an evaluation on the animated show and why it was hugely successful. Paul discussed:

- What the show is about in terms of the world and tone.
- The characters - they are vivid, immediate and focused and the relationship between Charlie and Lola feels real, instantly recognisable and universal.
- The story - It hits the ground running and presents mission/aim/conflict with a clear beginning, middle and end.
- The form/style - it's 10 mins - tight and simple.

So that's the recipe for an enjoyable and successful masterclass - pitch, act, throw in some rapping, team work, give insight, and discuss!

Although the writers may have arrived feeling nervous they certainly left feeling positive and inspired. Now it is a waiting game for the 16 as only 8 writers will get through to the week long writers residency, where they will spend an intensive week developing their work with the CBeebies team.

All judges will be meeting on the 19th September to deliberate and decide the winners, so this may be 3 long hours of arguing, shouting, disagreeing and then agreeing to disagree, or complete consensus and harmony (one can hope!).

Keep an eye out on the blog for details of the winners and their scripts. Best of luck to all the writers!

Find out more about the Get a Squiggle On new writing competition.

Catch up on the latest episodes of Rastamouse on Ö÷²¥´óÐã iPlayer