Bad Writing Hall of Shame 2024

19th century novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, famous for such lines as "It was a dark and stormy night…," was such a terrible writer that San José University started an annual contest to see who could write opening sentences even worse than his. Overlake does the same each year! Faculty vote on two types of entry: the bad opening line, and the accidentally-great opening line. Here is the Hall of Shame for 2024:

Bad Writing Contest Winner

She looked at me as if I had just flushed her goldfish down the toilet, and I realized I had just flushed her goldfish down the toilet.        —Diya M., 8th                                              

Second Place

It was the type of Tuesday where you’d either get breakfast in bed or the world would end, and it was already lunchtime.                 —Diya M., 8th   

Third Place

As I turned the corner, I saw a man, his face as hollow as a Lifesaver candy hole.   —Evelyn, 6th 

Honorable Mentions

I loved how the cat felt cold and stiff.                                          —Zoe, 5th 

The red light shone like my mother’s eyes after I got a bad grade.                 —Sophie M. 6th

Accidentally Great Sentence Winners: Tie 

Is arson illegal if it’s an accident?                               —Reid, 7th

The box was big—but not big enough to hold a body.            —Elizabeth, 6th

Second Place

And there I was, plummeting from the sky with a jammed parachute.                 —Isabel, 8th