Ready to Write - High School Ready Writing Contest

Ready to Write Handbook

Ready to Write by former UIL Academic Director, Bobby Hawthorne, is a no-nonsense handbook for serious UIL Ready Writing high school contestants and coaches! Packed with sound advice and useful tips, Ready to Write shows how a professional writer approaches and digests a high school Ready Writing prompt and organizes notes to develop the 1st, 2nd, and final drafts. Gain a clear picture of what constitutes good and bad writing in the eyes of most judges through practical (and occasionally humorous!) writing samples and commentary. Hawthorne illustrates how he edits his own writing and addresses the use of jargon, slang, clichés, redundancy, verb and noun agreement, and even how to be yourself when writing. Get this insiders look at how to produce a winning essay and a compelling piece that can earn the respect and votes of the judges!

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About our Journalism Author

A popular instructor at journalism workshops and seminars for high school students nationwide, Bobby Hawthorne has been published in every national scholastic press association periodical. He is the author of "The Radical Write," a textbook on reporting and writing for student publications that is used nationwide. He is also the author of "Longhorn Football: An Illustrated History," and "Home Field," both published by the University of Texas Press. He has also written numerous handbooks and manuals on writing-related topics including "Game On: Reporting and Writing Sports for Student Media." In 2005, he retired from the University Interscholastic League, an organization that coordinates extracurricular activities for all Texas public schools where he served as director of academics and director of journalism. In 2009, he wrote, designed and produced a 200-page history of the UIL as part of its centennial anniversary. For several years, he wrote journalism and current events contest materials for Hexco. He is a regular columnist for Texas School Business magazine, published by the Texas Association of School Administrators.

Hawthorne has won awards from associations you have never heard of, including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Gold Key and James Paschal Awards; the National Scholastic Press Association's Pioneer Award; and the Interscholastic League Press Conference's Edith Fox King Award, given for distinguished service to Texas scholastic journalism. In 1991, he was named a lifetime member by the Texas Association of Journalism Educators, and in 2000, he received TAJE's Trailblazer Award. In 2007, he received from the CSPA its Charles R. O'Malley Award for Overall Excellence in Teaching, an honor that recognizes "a sustained record of outstanding teaching." In November 2007, he received the Carl Towley Award, the Journalism Education Association's highest honor. Hawthorne is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin (BJ 1975, MA 1985) and continues to live in Austin.