<p>So.. you register online and then you submit via snail mail?</p>
<p>okay so i have this memoir essay written. and i ‘planned’ on revising it over the BREAK…but, well…the break is official over and as usual, i ‘forgot’ to do what i had planned to accomplish. <em>smacks head</em></p>
<p>i think the final draft is due monday for me…and today is wednesday. at first i thought i could just hold if off and submit it for next yr’s competition.
BUT, now that i come to think of it, i prolly wouldn’t even ‘need’ it next yr around this time. b/c i’ll prolly have already sent in my college apps. i also want to do early action just to improve my chances…</p>
<p>so i should cram it in now and give it a shot right? considerin next yr’s competition would be completely useless for me anyway and i really want to do this. lol even tho i’m far from being the best writer in class.</p>
<p>any inputs guys???</p>
<p>Can you find some time in the next few days to revise it?</p>
<p>I think you should do it this year. It won’t hurt, and you’ll probably have other things to submit next year.</p>
<p>P.S., and this is just me: I don’t think you should be doing competitions like this just because it looks good on college apps. If you’re passionate about writing, write and submit it to competitions. But I hate it when kids do things like this just for the sake of doing it; it only gives the judges more work and takes time and effort away from the judging of those who really want it.</p>
<p>@hamsi2004: You need to download the writing instructions from Scholastic’s site. The explain everything.</p>
<p>@PaperHat: Yep.</p>
<p>@teenage_cliche: I don’t know. I agree and disagree, I suppose. Agreed, we should write for the sake of writing and not specifically to win some competition. But also–and perhaps this is just me–it sometimes feels like writing/humanities kids get screwed over in the “awards” category for college admissions, simply because there are many, many science and math awards on the national level but relatively few (non-essay) writing ones. It’s easier to prove your passion for science or math by conducting research or entering contests, but it’s hard to convey “I love to write, I spend a lot of my free time writing, and what’s more, I’m GOOD at it!” without being recognized by an organization like Scholastic.</p>
<p>^I understand that, I suppose. I guess it just bothers me when people are like “I’m only doing this for college”, which is what the poster in question implied.</p>
<p>BTW, though, I’ve found a good dozen non-essay creative writing competitions (most of them aren’t too well-known, and, hence, not as competitive) and plan to enter most of them. I can PM someone with a few if they’re interested.</p>
<p>^^^ Yes, please! :)</p>
<p>Can you PM me, too? Thanks.</p>
<p>Which writing competitions? I’m looking for other ones that are not scams. Like most of them are :X</p>
<p>Me too? I’ve looked everywhere and all I’ve found is Scholastic and the Claremont Review!</p>
<p>We should write for the sake of writing, yes.</p>
<p>But why would one enter competitions for any other reason but recognition (from colleges, in most cases)? It’s an entirely different animal.</p>
<p>Mflevity’s very right about math/science versus humanities competitions.</p>
<p>this is my first year…</p>
<p>I’m submitting one short-short story; quite proud of it actually. How competitive is it; how many people win the silver and gold keys stuff?</p>
<p>I submitted a personal essay for Region-at-Large. How competitive/difficult is it to just get the lowest honor?</p>
<p>I just finished putting the last touches on my two writings, a journalism piece and a personal essay. I do have one question, we are only supposed to send one copy of each manuscript, correct?</p>
<p>I’m sending 3 things.
My first time sending things in; I’m slightly confident.</p>
<p>The process is kind of confusing though–so many specifics especially if you’re sending in more than one piece. And my teacher is kind of spacey so she wouldn’t be able to help. Hmm.</p>
<p>Only one copy of the work, but 2 copies of each submission sheet.</p>
<p>God, last year you had to also include a CD of your work, which was so annoying…</p>
<p>I requested and received a deadline extension because it would be just too hectic for me to get signatures from my teacher and organize all the neccessary material in time [my first time entering Scholastic] @<a href="mailto:@">@</a>.
Are there any other poets here? It seems like many are submitting short stories and such</p>
<p>This is bull. The contest sorted me into RAL when I entered my zip code, but I just searched and found that I actually have a region for my state, MN, and the deadline is two days from now–it has to be <em>in</em> by then, not just submitted. What should I do? Help, PLEASE.</p>
<p>^Poet in the house! I’m primarily a poet, though I occasionally do more prose-y-poetry (vignettes and the like), and rarely personal essays.</p>
<p>southeasttitan:
I suggest you email them about that. They can probably fix that technical error. You focus on getting together your submissions and whatnot.</p>
<p>Plus, is it in by that date or postmarked?</p>