Submission Guidelines for Best Midwestern High School Writing 2015 Winners

Do you love to write? Are you passionate about expressing yourself through words and language? Are you excited about creating written works that speak to others? You’re not alone!

While there is a lot of criticism directed at the communication skills of today’s teenagers—with many of these so-called deficiencies attributed to increased exposure to the media and the use of technology—we believe that students today are just as passionate, creative, and talented as ever. And they are writing—perhaps more than ever before. One problem with the role of technology in modern society is that it is too easy for individual voices to be drowned out. We want to encourage and recognize excellence in young writers—and help them to maximize their talents.

What is the best writing you’ve ever done? What are you writing that deserves to be recognized?

Guidelines

  • Open to students in grades nine through 12 in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio.
  • Students will be divided into two age categories: 9-10 grades and 11-12 grades.
  • Within the two age categories, there will be three genre areas for submission: creative, non-fiction and journalism.
  • One entry per student per category is allowed for a maximum of three entries.
  • Papers can be submitted that were written as early as fall 2013, provided the student is still in high school by the submission deadline. However, any manuscript may only be submitted to the Best Midwestern High School Writing Competition once.
  • Each submission must be accompanied by a teacher recommendation. Each teacher may nominate as many as two students per class.
  • Submission deadline: Jan. 16, 2015.
  • Maximum length: 2,500 words

Genre definitions

The writing celebration will offer recognition of submissions in three categories: creative, non-fiction and journalism. These are defined as follows:

Creative

Creative works include those involving personal expression, artistic creativity and imagination. Examples of the genre include works of fiction such as short stories and creative non-fiction such as personal essays, which use many of the same literary and artistic devices as fiction and poetry. Typically creative pieces would come as a result of English class assignments with a focus on the fiction or personal essay genres.

Non-fiction

Non-fiction works include expository, analytical, persuasive and technical writing, which generally seeks to inform, explain, clarify or create deeper understanding of a topic within a given academic subject. Rather than emphasizing the emotional, creative and imaginative processes of the writer, non-fiction focuses on logic and reliance on facts, arguments and rhetoric. Typically non-fiction pieces would come as a result of assignments from social studies, science, physical education, art, music, health science or other non-writing disciplines.

Journalism

Works of journalism would typically be those written for the school newspaper or yearbook. These might include personal profiles, event reporting or topical investigations of current community issues.

Prizes

Category I: Ninth and tenth grades

The prizes listed below are given to the first, second and third place contestants in each of the writing categories: creative, non-fiction and journalistic.

  • First place: $500 and publication in ScholarWorks.
  • Second place: $250 and publication in ScholarWorks.
  • Third place: $100 and publication in ScholarWorks.
Category II: Eleventh and twelfth grades

The prizes listed below are given to the first, second and third place contestants in each of the writing categories: creative, non-fiction and journalistic.

  • First place: $500 and publication in ScholarWorks.
  • Second place: $250 and publication in ScholarWorks.
  • Third place: $100 and publication in ScholarWorks.