Advice Request

This person has entered the Scholastic Art & Writing Competition and wants advice on how to proceed with their submission.

Answered Submission

Hello,

As a fellow Scholastic participant, I know it can be a bit nerve wracking, but you got this! Participation has no losses and only wins. And you would only regret if you don’t participate. You have nothing to lose, so go ahead and submit your work to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

I have been entering the Scholastic Art & Writing competition for years and the best advice I can give you is:

1) Review your work and have others look at it. Please go back and look at your work. Edit and revise it. Make sure it is the best it can be before entering it in the contest. Have someone you really trust? Your mom? Dad? Teacher? Friend? Or any other person in your life? Have them critique your work and offer feedback.

If you don't really have anyone in your life that you feel comfortable sharing your work with, then ask around online. I can assure you that many people on Wattpad and/or other social media will love to read your work and give feedback. Find a writers community online and stick with it!

Above all, remember: Quality > Quantity

Don't worry about how many pieces you submit. I advise you to just submit your very best work into the competition if you want to get anywhere.

2) Look over the competition guidelines and galleries.

Explore their website { https://www.artandwriting.org/ }. I recommend looking at the FAQ's, categories, and galleries of past entries that won national level awards. You can find the galleries here: { https://www.artandwriting.org/gallery/ }. Look for a common theme within the works. What did the jurors like?

Additionally, while you're at it, check out their YouTube channel { https://youtube.com/user/ScholasticGoldKey }. They post helpful videos about how to submit to the competition. This includes a Q&A with the jurors and I highly recommend you to check that out. They give great tips for first-timers and beginners.

3) Review the judging rubric.

A few months ago, I found this pdf in their blog { https://newsroom.artandwriting.org/2021/10/01/the-scholastic-awards-writing-rubric-what-is-it-and-how-can-it-improve-your-writing/ } . It's a past judging rubric that they go off of for judging written works. It's extremely helpful and I recommend taking a look at it. Basically, the pieces are judged on: originality, technical skill, and emergence of a personal voice or vision.

4) Don't procrastinate.

I cannot stress this enough: DON'T PROCRASTINATE! Each region has a different deadline (region deadlines vary, but start at December 1), so find your region deadline and keep it in mind. Write it down on a piece of paper. Set reminders on your phone. The deadline comes up fast and nobody, and I mean nobody wants to do anything last minute. Take it from someone who has rushed to submit to a contest a mere thirty minutes before it closed: don't do it!

All in all though, I hope you have found these tips helpful. Again, as you said, this is a very prestigious contest. From my estimate, only around 15% of hundreds of entries get an award in the regionals. The stakes are even higher for the nationals. So, don't feel too disappointed if you don't get anywhere this year. You'll be able to enter this competition all throughout your high school career, so there's always next year.

If you have more specific Scholastic Art & Writing Awards questions, then I suggest contacting the Scholastic competition (contact information found on their website). They are really helpful, nice, and should respond to your message decently fast (within a few days).

I hope this helps and good luck! I can't wait to see your name within the winners list! Please contact us again if you need more advice!

Best,

The Advice Column Team