@Zoe528 You too Zoe!!! 
@Lunarlitgend Iāll be hoping for all of us! Who knows? Maybe we will see each other at Nationals!
And I wish that I was good at story writing, which frankly, Iām not 
And thank you for clearing that up for me! I feel much more confident now about submitting my pieces 
@Zoe528 Good luck!!!
@glamourbiscuit I sure hope so!!!
LOL DUDE! I WISH I WAS GOOD AT POETRY!!! XD
Poets are so talented! Being able to write poetry is a gift Iāll never have! Youāre so blessed and skilled to be able to do it, dude!
And anytime!
@Lunarlitgend Youāre too kind! <3 Believe me, you have a gift as well! Being able to tell a whole story is hard for so many out there!
Does anyone know whether or not you should add a description to your pieces in the description box?
@glamoubiscuit LOL, I try
And thank you but Iāll admit, word count is a killer for me when it comes to short stories because Iām such an overwriter. XD
As for the description box, Iām definitely sure you have the option to use it, given that itās provided. I, personally, didnāt use the description box because I didnāt really know what to say about my piece, nor did I want to give a synopsis of it. I wanted the judges to read it and piece the plot together themselves. I probably shouldāve written something though, so I sort of regret it. But if you really want to say something about your poetry then you should go ahead and use it!
@Lunarlitgend And word counter can be a killer! Even on school assignments haha! But Iām sure even more so on short stories that your passionate about!
And thank you so much for giving more confidence in actually putting something in the description box! I think Iām going to write short sentences of extra information that could give them insight into the piece Iām super excited to submit all my poems!
@glamourbiscuit Oh yeah, absolutely!!!
And no problemo dude! But with or without descriptions your poems are given just as equal of a shot as every other submission
Hey guys! I got an email from YA saying that there are no restrictions for posts that have been submitted to social media!
Hi everyone! I was a YA finalist in short story a few years back. I can answer questions on the general submission process (for writing), the National YoungArts Week in Miami, and the Presidential Scholar of the Arts program; let me know if you guys have any!
Hi! Thanks for offering to answer questions. I was wondering if itās better to submit two short stories with similar themes or do they want to see more of a range?
oops am i supposed to tag @arrayloops
@arrayloops Thank you so much
wondering the same thing as @tourtiere
I personally think itās fine to submit two works that are thematically similar as long as they are different otherwise (in terms of execution like tone, style, etc.) What matters most is that youāre putting what you feel is your best work forward. My friend won with a series of poems that explored social justice through various facets, for example, whereas I pretty much only submitted magical realist stories. So it really depends.
@arrrayloops I already turned in my submissions in August but hearing your advice Iāve never felt more liberated and relieved. I did some serious range with my submissions, as in I submitted 2 short stories of mine completely different from one another in terms of execution. Completely different tone and style, and I did it to show my capabilities as a writer and to go out of my comfort zone. What relieved me the most was when you said you did Magical realism for one of your stories which is what I did for one of my stories too. The fact that a lot of the Finalist stories I watched were realistic fiction/seemed to be realistic fiction I saw it as a risk and was really nervous about doing something like that. But hearing from a Finalist about doing the same thing, that makes me feel so much better about my choice on writing it and the rest of my works! I truly appreciate the advice!!
Hi @arrayloops I was wondering, what is the whole process like during National Young Arts week during Miami?
@glamourbiscuit National YoungArts Week was amazing! Basically, you get to interact with all the other winners and go out every night to see a performance in another discipline (classical music, dance, theater, etc.) before performing yourself. You stay in a hotel, get to eat really fancy food, and take masterclasses with award-winning instructors and the national selection panelists. If youāre a senior, youāll be pulled aside at some point to interview for US Presidential Scholars. Overall, itās a really good experience to meet super talented people of your age and learn more about your craft.
@arrayloops Dude that sounds amazing! Were you part of the seniors to get interviewed for U.S Presidential Scholar? If so, what was it like?
@arrayloops Thank you so much for answering my question! That sounds amazing! At what point during the week do you receive the scholarships or awards? And how do the judges determine which prize level each award gets?
@Lunarlitgend
I was a junior when I attended YoungArts Week, so I wasnāt interviewed until the following year. It was a 30-minute video-based conversation with the same master panelists who selected my work, and we basically talked about the new pieces Iāve written since YoungArts (which I had to submit in November I think??) and how Iāve progressed as a writer.
@glamourbiscuit
You donāt find out how much money you get until around March, and honestly I donāt know how the judges determined who gets what prize. I think most Finalists get the Level 1 ($3000) award, and then they pick someone who gets Silver ($5000) and someone who gets Gold ($10000).