When Emily Shinay of Scarborough switches from talking about herself to herself as a writer her nerves slip away. No more sentences that run out of breath halfway through. No more quick glances around the room. Gone is the slightly embarrassed teenager and born is Shinay the writer.

Last fall Shinay entered the statewide Journey into Writing contest, something she had been thinking about the year before. Although her short story was not one of the three winners, along with Cape Elizabeth’s Kinsey Tarbell, she placed in the final eight out of 214 applicants from 74 high schools covering all 16 counties.

“I was completely honored to be in such a great community of writers,” said Shinay. “Writing is so often such a solitary act.”

Writers Richard Russo, Linda Greenlaw and poet Wesley McNair judged Shinay’s piece of creative writing. Russo’s “Empire Falls” spent six months on the New York Times Bestseller list before HBO filmed the mini series version. Greenlaw’s “Hungry Ocean” stayed firmly placed on the Bestseller list for about the same time. McNair, besides six volumes of poetry, a slew of awards and fellowships, has also judged literary contests such as the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

Just that alone could intimidate a writer, not to mention the rest of their impressive lists of books, volumes of poetry and chart topping bestsellers. But not Shinay.

“I’m comfortable around other writers,” she said. “It all boils down to the same craft, but some are obviously more successful than others.”

Even reading up on the competition didn’t faze her. Before the ceremony in Hallowell she read the seven other entries, comparing her writing to her peers and deciding she could compete with the best.

“OK,” she thought. “My writing is not bad.” Though confident, she is far from arrogant, calling the three winning stories “absolutely amazing.”

Shinay did much more to prepare than just checking out what she was up against. After writing her story, she had to make it fit the word limit imposed on all the contestants.

“I had to trim it up,” said Shinay.

She spent an entire week painfully cutting away bits of her story until it was the right length. The story went through a total of 12 drafts before she was satisfied.

All together it took her a summer including an inspiring week at the Bates College creative writing workshop to make the piece ready for the contest.

“It was a fantastic experience,” said Shinay.

Creative writing has called attention to Shinay’s talents, but it is not the only genre she’s interested in.

Shinay is now the editor-in-chief of Scarborough High School’s newspaper, Storm Watch. The first year of the paper coincided with her first year of high school, so she joined on and found a new passion.

“I’m very interested in journalism and that aspect of the writing spectrum,” said Shinay.

Shinay’s editing capabilities extend to the yearbook where she looks forward to being a senior editor next year.

Besides two editing roles, her own creative writing and schoolwork, Shinay has begun the search for the right college and the right program.

“I’ll definitely be in the English field,” she said. Creative writing, journalism and teaching all sound like options she could love. There may be many choices out there, but Shinay feels far from overwhelmed.

“At least I have a basic path,” she said. “I’m open to anything that comes my way.”

Kinsey Tarbell

Like Shinay, Tarbell had a story in mind and spent agonizing hours cutting out portions she’d worked so hard on before sending it away to be judged and ranked.

“It was so hard to cut my story,” said Tarbell. “I felt like I was losing so much flavor, but apparently not.”

Tarbell didn’t end up placing with the final three, but is glad she participated and happy to have gotten so close. Up until she received the letter informing her that she’d made it to the top eight, Tarbell hardly thought about the contest.

“I was like, OK, I’ll never hear from them again,” said Tarbell about the day she entered. “And then the letter came. I had really forgotten about it until then.”

Tarbell may have forgotten about the contest after applying, but before she sent in her finished story she spent a month and a half selecting the right piece. She was torn between submitting a poem and the short story she wrote sophomore year.

One of the final three won for a poem Tarbell calls “incredible.” Tarbell both admired her and the other contestants.

“I have no idea how they picked the winners,” she said. “It must have been so hard. Everyone’s was amazing.”

Tarbell will be a senior next year and has already begun thinking about college. While she hopes to always write poetry and fiction on the side, writing as a major doesn’t seem to be where Tarbell is headed. Right now studying nutrition and continuing to swim competitively is how she envisions her college experience.

“I have always had a knack for creative writing,” she said. “But when it comes to essay writing that’s another story.”

For now she’ll continue writing creatively for herself and the school literary magazine “Bartleby,” swimming year round and singing in both the choir and her punk/rock band.

“I don’t like restrictions,” said Tarbell. “I like creating something out of dust and letting it shape itself.”

Emily Shinay was one of two young women selected from the Girls State program in Maine to attend Girls Nation.Kinsey Tarbell enjoys writing for the school literary magazine