There are just two days left to apply for the Creative Youth Collective Scholarship, and I wanted to share a quick note in response to a few questions we’ve been hearing.
The most common questions have revolved around fit. How advanced does a writer need to be? What if a writing sample isn’t polished yet? What if a student has never publicly shared their work before?
Here’s our take:
A short, in-progress writing sample is completely fine—we’re much more interested in the ideas and voice than polish.
We warmly welcome applications from writers at any stage of their journey. What we’re looking for is ambition, passion for writing, and a desire to grow as a writer. If you’ve already perfected your craft—is that even possible?—you wouldn’t need to work with us, would you?
All this to say: we hope uncertainty or inexperience won’t hold anyone back from applying. The CYC is designed to meet writers where they are and help them take the next step, in a setting that is both supportive and collaborative. And we like to have some fun while we’re at it!
If you know a young writer who would benefit from this scholarship, we’d be very grateful if you could forward this email directly to them today.
The application form is here.
More information about the scholarship is here.
We’re looking forward to reading applications next week!
Happy almost spring,
Kathryn