I have had the pleasure of getting to know Beth Richards as a writer and an organizer during the past two years. She is the regional coordinator for Power of the Pen, and also writes for Findlay Living. A member of Sisters in Crime, she is also an aspiring novelist. Welcome to the blog, Beth! Judy

Let’s test your writing skills. Ready? I’m going to give you a prompt, something like, “Second chances-write about one you regret”. You will have 40 minutes to come up with a story. Not just any story, a really good story. And not only does your story have to be good, you’re going to have to write it in PEN. Keep in mind while you’re writing, your creation is going to be judged against 120 other authors who are writing from the very same prompt at the very same time. Done? Good, because now you’ve got a five minute break, and you’re going to start all over and do it again. And then a third time. Think you’re up to it?

If the task sounds challenging, it is! And loads of fun. Starting in a few weeks, almost 8000 Ohio middle school students will be taking on the challenge multiple times. Unique to Ohio, Power of the Pen began 21 years ago as a small, regional competition and has blossomed into interscholastic writing tournaments across the state.

Freelance writer and reporter Lorraine B. Merrill, Founder and Executive Director of Power of the Pen, was also an English teacher for many years. She realized that throughout the nation, almost every school had a football team, a basketball team, a wrestling team and wondered “Why not a writing team?”

Her inspiration has grown into a season of writing events for some of the best young writers in Ohio. Unlike most other sports, the writing “season” lasts almost the entire school year. From September to May, students spend lunch breaks, recess and time after school practicing. Syntax is drilled. Originality and description are taken apart and applied. Teammates read, support and critique each other.

It’s also the only school sport that, once they learn “how to play,” participants can set their imaginations free. The program combines creative and impromptu writing with competition and yields meaningful recognition and the pursuit of excellence in the craft. Instead of running with a ball, they run with an idea.

It’s not easy. September ushers in weekly practices. District competitions start in December, Regionals in February and culminates with the prestigious two-day State Finals at the end of May. One lucky student wins a scholarship at the end. Not many middle school sports offer up that!

Stephen King recently wrote in the Washington Post about the “writing life”. He mentions that movies only depict the drinking and carousing side of writers, never the working side. Because to watch us, basically the “writing life” is just sitting on our rumps (King chose more colorful words, of course). He described a recent writing day in the park while babysitting his dog and said “People walked past, and no one gasped, ‘Oh, look! That man is caught in the cosmic godhead fire of the writing life!’”

Watching a tournament isn’t very exciting. It’s actually almost spooky-quiet. There are no touchdowns, no last minute goals or triumphant homeruns. The real excitement comes during the award ceremony 6 hours after the tournament begins.

Judy Clemens has graciously volunteered as a Best of Round Judge and been a guest speaker at our Regional Competition the past two years. Her inspirational words have had an auditorium full of 12 and 13 year-olds sitting on the edge of their seats one minute and laughing the next, no small feat.

Judy has experienced firsthand the exhilaration of the students as they come forward to receive recognition, sometimes running down the aisle to the podium, as their teammates yell and cheer them on. They beam as they hold their trophies and medallions. She’s read their words (lots of them!) and can appreciate how the program challenges young authors to embrace the art of creative expression through writing.

As more and more schools have opted to “leave no child behind” while incorporating federally mandated testing, English programs have been slashed. Writing as a whole has suffered, which is not just a shame, it’s a tragedy. Programs like Power of the Pen provide a missing link in fundamental curriculum.

Each tournament season, Power of the Pen is the catalyst for more than 25,000 pieces of student writing that would not have existed without the program. Many young writers have gone on to pursue writing as a career, my own daughter one of them.

As for the writing life, King added “There is indeed a half-wild beast that lives in the thickets of each writer’s imagination. It gorges on a half-cooked stew of suppositions, superstitions and half-finished stories. It’s drawn by the stink of the image-making stills writers paint in their heads”

Power of the Pen is a canvas on which young writers can paint. As Ms. Merrill describes it, the program helps students discover that language has all types of dimensions in life. It encourages students to develop style and voice in their writing.

But possibly the greatest strength of Power of the Pen is the chance it provides for students to open up about themselves and about life. One young author likened the experience to “putting your soul on paper”.

Only other writers can appreciate the true significance of what she means.

If you have questions for Beth about Power of the Pen, you can write to her at erichards@woh.rr.com.