What I look for in a contest entry? A Judges Tale.
First a little BSP - A Member of the Council comes out in less than a month....squee!!!
Back to your regularly scheduled blog....
Be very, very quiet….
There’s a contest entry sneaking around here, and as the mighty hunter,
Elmer Fudd would say – Darn, you rascally rabbit….
Okay, I really don’t see myself as Elmer Fudd, but there is
something to be said for hunting down a good story in the midst of the contest
entries I judge each year.
I was contest coordinator for the Gateway to the Best
contest last year so I judged for every coordinator who asked for help. Favors to call in later, which I capitalized
on, believe me. This year, with selling five (maybe six) manuscripts, and three
releases, I've been slower to volunteer.
Not because I don’t love reading entries, I do. I just had to prioritize the five hours a day
I have after the day job and making dinner came in just above taking on more judging. (My husband is so pleased.)
So, now that I’m done with my entries, I thought New
Kids readers, might want to know what I look for as a judge. Remember, this is just me, so your mileage
may vary.
First, I read the score sheet. Do I give points (or take away) for a great
hook? A great first page? Conflict,
characterization, plot? First and
foremost, I follow the score sheet.
That should be obvious, but you’d be surprised at the number
of entries I read, that got low points because they didn’t review the sheet
before they sent the entry. I want to
give everyone full points on one section, writing or mechanics. If this isn’t your first rodeo, (ahem, entry)
you should have that piece polished to a Mr. Clean shine.
So, read your score sheets. One contest I judged asked if
the section ended on a hook. Easy fix, even if you aren’t planning on
submitting the full with the storm tearing apart the farmhouse and Little Nell
being swept away on her moped on page 30, for the sake of your judge, give me
the hook!
Number one rule of contests – follow the score sheet. That’s what the judge is tied to judge on,
even if they think your story is the best.
Number two? Give me a
great story. I’ve read so many entries
that I so hope will be published soon, because I’m still wondering what
happened to Little Nell.
And isn’t that what we all want from our readers? To leave them wanting more?
Tell me your judging stories. And if you haven’t judged a contest lately,
what are you waiting for?
Lynn
9 comments:
Hi Lynn,
I once judged a contest where half the score sheet was about the hero and his interaction with the heroine. Sadly, one entry never introduced the hero in 30 pages.
Congratulations on your upcoming release and your recent sales! You're really rocking!
Hi Mary! Thanks for the encouragement. I appreciate it.
I learned so much by judging, I think everyone who wants to write should judge at least once.
Hey Lynn,
I was a first time judge this year. Our chapter sponsored a fantastic judges training, Powerpoint presentation included. It really helped me prepare. The down-side is now I have a taste of these stories and I want to know how they end.
Hi Kristal! Sounds like your chapter really had a great session for judging. We did a judging training for our group and I hope it made people realize the advantages of judging.
I love reading all the stories!
Great post, Lynn. I judged a few contests this year. It is amazing the quality of entries you see--some of them are perfectly polished, and it is so easy to give a fabulous score, and so hard to say goodbye when the 25-30 pages end! Others, not so much. But I have learned a tremendous amount from judging, and would agree that every would-be writer should do it.
Marin, I learned so much about the craft of writing by judging, they should charge us... not. LOL
I've never judged a contest. What a big responsibility.
Theresa - Start slow - judge what you like. You'll make mistakes, but that's okay, you're learning to be a better judge. I promise, the process will improve your own writing. And a lot of contests have judging training, which helps.
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