High School Writing Contest Aims To Inspire

Once upon a time there was a young girl who knew she wanted to write books when she grew up. Looking back years later, when she was an adult, she wouldn't be able to recall what had first triggered her love of writing. All she knew was that it seemed to have always been a part of who she was. And it was a love that knew no bounds – short stories, plays, poems… Eventually, in high school, she added yearbook stories. In college, newspaper articles became part of her repertoire. And as an adult, she channeled her writing fever by day with press releases and website copy. But she never abandoned her first love: fiction.

That little girl was me.   Is it you too?  Do you know anyone like that? (If so, stay tuned!  We have a treat for you.)

I was lucky; my high school offered a creative writing class that truly nurtured my passion. While I don't remember a lot of what I wrote for that class – with the exception of a horribly amateurish play about a bunch of high school students stuck on a bus with a stinky bathroom – but I still remember the teacher. His name was Mr. Mariani and I can still picture him in front of the class, his eyes closed, his hands waving in the air as he talked to us about writing. There's no question he nurtured my love of writing – and encouraged me to continue writing, telling me I was talented – at a critical venture.

Beyond my love of writing, I also love to read—so getting involved with the Gaithersburg Book Festival last year was a no-brainer for me. One of my day-of assignments during our first Festival in May was to introduce one of our young adult authors. I was disappointed to see the turnout for her talk. She could have provided great inspiration for aspiring young writers, yet there were few in the audience despite the commercial success of her book. I knew we needed to do something more to engage our teen readers this year and expose them to the amazing opportunities that the Book Festival had to offer.

So when we began planning for the 2011 Festival, we brainstormed how to engage more students in the Festival. The answer we landed on? A short story contest for high school students.

Since I had recently participated in the NPR Three-Minute Fiction contest, coming up with our guidelines, such as limiting submissions to 1,000 words or fewer and providing a required opening line, was easy—especially since it was a format I'd played with before in other contests. (And imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?)

Even better, we were able to engage one of our favorite authors, Sarah Pekkanen, who participated in the 2010 Festival and will also be presenting for us in 2011. She provided us with so many good potential opening lines that we couldn't settle on just one. So instead, we're letting students choose from three. (How great is that? They can figure out which line speaks to them the most vs. feeling constrained by having only one opening line to use.)

The three lines:

• In my entire life, I've fibbed dozens of times – usually to be polite or to get out of attending some mind-numbing social event – but I've only told one really big lie…
• "Don't open the box," my father always told me…
• When I left my parents' house for good, I took five things with me…

Our finalists—up to 10—will get to read their stories at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 21, 2011, at the Gaithersburg City Hall grounds. And after they're done reading, we'll announce the winner, who will receive a $100 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble, provided by the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus. The winner will be notified at the Festival.

Other details:

• Submission deadline: January 31, 2011, at 5 p.m. ET
• Submission method: electronically as a Word document to writingcontest@gaithersburgbookfestival.org

To my knowledge, opportunities like this weren't available when I was in high school. (If they had been, I know Mr. Mariani would have been all over it!) But I wish there had been, and not just because of the potential prizes.

For the finalists and winner, it's another accolade for a college application.

But even better, for any aspiring writer of any age, it's a great challenge. Telling a complete short story in 1,000 words or fewer is not easy. For those who haven't tried it, I dare you to try it with one of our lines above – even if you're too old or too young to actually enter the contest—just for the fun of it!

For further information and the complete rules and regs about this great opportunity, go to the contest website.

Oh, and more thing, tell every high school student you know about the contest… whether they're a budding author or not!

And for more information about the Gaithersburg Book Festival, go to our website, connect with us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter (@GburgBookFest).

Robin Ferrier is the communications manager at the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus and the chair of the Public Relations Committee for the Gaithersburg Book Festival.