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What do Truman Capote, Frances Farmer, Joyce Maynard, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Carol Oates, Sylvia Plath, and Robert Redford
have in common? They received Scholastic Contest awards as teenagers for their creative work.
The National Scholastic Writing Awards were launched by the founder of Scholastic Inc. in the 1920s as a way to reward students’ creative work, grades 7 – 12, and to recognize excellence in teaching. To date, more than 12 million teenagers have participated in the nation’s most prestigious writing and arts awards program for talented students.
Download the 2009 Missouri Writing Region Contest information here.
2010 WRITING CONTEST CATEGORIES AND LENGTH LIMITS
DRAMATIC SCRIPT: An original radio, television, film, or one-act stage play script. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grade): 5 to 50 pages; Group 2 (9-12th Grade): 5 to 60 pages.
GENERAL WRITING PORTFOLIO: PORTFOLIOS ARE OPEN ONLY TO STUDENTS GRADUATING IN 2010. A body of the best three to eight works that demonstrates a high level of achievement in originality, technical skill and personal voice. General writing portfolios consist of writing from any category or combination of categories. Portfolios are required to include a table of contents, writer’s statement and letter of recommendation. Length Limits: Up to 50 pages, not including table of contents or writer’s statement.
HUMOR: A satire, parody or humorous anecdote in any form/genre. Special Instructions: Any manuscript where humor is the key element should be submitted in this category, including humorous dramatic scripts, poetry, short or short short stories, personal essays, or journalism works. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grade): 600 – 3,000 words; Group 2 (9-12th Grade): 600 – 3,000 words.
JOURNALISM: Articles for newspapers, newsletters, yearbooks, magazines, websites including feature stories, biographical works, opinion pieces, position papers, editorial reviews (movies, books, plays, etc.), and sports reviews. Special Instructions: Sources must be acknowledged. Footnotes/works cited are not considered part of the word count. Research papers and literary analysis are not generally accepted. Manuscript must follow all formatting guidelines, and not contain images, graphs or other visuals. Do not submit articles in “newspaper format.” Do not submit works that heavily quote already published works. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grade): 400 – 2,000 words; Group 2 (9-12th Grade): 500 – 3,000 words.
NONFICTION PORTFOLIO: PORTFOLIOS ARE OPEN ONLY TO STUDENTS GRADUATING IN 2009. A body of the best three to eight works that demonstrate a high level of achievement in originality, technical skill and personal voice. Nonfiction portfolios consist of Journalism, Personal Essay/Memoir, Humor and other nonfiction work. Portfolios are required to include a table of contents, writer’s statement and letter of recommendation. Length Limits: Up to 50 pages, not including table of contents or writer’s statement.
PERSONAL ESSAY/MEMOIR: Self-revelatory work dealing with individual experience and reflection. Special Instructions: Nonfiction work only. Fictional essays should be submitted in the Short Story or Short Short Story categories. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grades): 500 – 2,000 words; Group 2 (9-12th Grades): 750 – 3,000 words.
POETRY: May include prose poetry, free verse, structured poetry (sonnets, haikus, sestinas, tankas, cinquians, villanelles, etc.), song lyrics, and spoken word. Students may submit more than one submission in the poetry category. Students are encouraged to submit poetry collections that are cohesive rather than individual poems. Do not repeat poems if you are submitting more than one collection. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grades): 20 – 100 lines; Group 2 (9-12th Grades): 30 – 200 lines.
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY: Stories or narratives that incorporate imaginary elements. Science Fiction explores the potential effects of real or imagined science and technology on society or individuals. Fantasy creates its own universe using imaginary or supernatural elements. Special Instructions: Characters should not be based on already published works from books, movies, comics, etc. Any manuscript where science fiction/fantasy is the key element should be submitted in this category, including dramatic scripts, poetry, short stories or short short stories. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grades): 1,300 – 3,000 words; Group 2 (9-12th Grades): 1,300 – 3,000 words.
SHORT STORY: A tightly crafted fictional narrative. Special Instructions: Please note word length limits for Short Story compared to Short Short Story. Short Stories where humor or science fiction/fantasy are key elements should be submitted in those respective categories. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grades): 1,300 – 3,000 words; Group 2 (9-12th Grades): 1,300 – 3,000 words.
SHORT SHORT STORY: A highly focused story concerning one central idea, conflict or situation. Special Instructions: Please note word length limits for Short Story compared to Short Short Story. Short Short Stories where humor or science fiction/fantasy are key elements should be submitted in those respective categories. Length Limits: Group 1 (7-8th Grades): 600 – 1,300 words; Group 2 (9-12th Grades): 600 – 1,300 words.
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