Northern New York City Scholastic Regional - SCORED

For the second year in a row I scored the Scholastic/Alliance for Young Artists and Writers regional competition. Rather than host the event at Fairfield (and organize a team of adjudicators), I followed Rob Roy's lead at Writopia and traveled to Hartsdale New York to read through portfolios and flash fiction. The experience was wonderful, especially meeting joke writers for the David Letterman Show, young adult novelists, and a couple of comedians - the other judges. It made for a humorous time, even if I didn't see the quality of writing that I've seen from students in the past (instead, we all discussed the self-centered nature of writers who loved to brag about their exceptional accomplishments. One woman said, "This is like reading an anthology of writing from kids who grow up with helicopter parents and tiger moms. These kids think they are remarkable when they barely meet average."

The lack of clever, short fiction made me crave the Tweets @VeryShortStory and the brilliant tales told in 140 characters or less. I wanted to send students who submitted their flash fiction to the author, sean hill's site to learn more poignant craft. I will leave with a few of the very short stories on that site, but first I want to acknowledge that the quality of writing I experienced with Brown School composers far surpasses what I've read the last couple of years. Why? I think it was because of the quirky nature of the mission, but also because the State of Kentucky created a community of young writers at the time.

* Years later, sitting alone in his mansion, with no one to hold him, it finally hit him. "This is what she meant."

*"I want you to know, you're the only thing that ever mattered to me," I said. "I know," whispered the bottle of Jack Daniels.

* Gina finally had kids. For once, she felt complete, but after two days she released them, letting them return to their families.

* As my body expired, my soul was set adrift looking for a new vessel. When I drifted into a statue, I knew I might be here a while.

and one more 

* Leaping from the cliff, my life flashed before my eyes, including previews from the upcoming episodes I would miss out on.