By Tammie Fickas
It’s contest season at ACFW – First Impressions just finished up, while Genesis and the Carol Awards are open for submissions. Contests are a great way to hone our craft and get your work noticed. Across the nation, each year, organizations sponsor writing contests, and thousands of writers put their work to the test.
Have you ever thought about what it takes to organize a contest? There are so many things to keep in mind and manage – receiving and processing entries, enlisting enough judges, compiling results, and if feedback is given, ensuring everything ends up where it should. Having participated in hosting a contest on a small scale, I can imagine what it takes to run the ACFW contests.
Most organizations use volunteers to manage their contests and as judges. Volunteering to help judge can be a nerve-wracking but rewarding activity. Each group will have specific criteria and sometimes different needs for different competitions. They may want certain industry professionals such as editors or agents, while another may want you to be a published author. If you’re interested, checking out the organization’s site for more details is an excellent place to start. Offering to judge is a great way to give back to the organization and help other writers succeed.
Besides the criteria mentioned above, do you have what it takes to be a judge?
One of the most important things is to have a willing heart. Judging a contest is about fairly evaluating the work. It’s not something to take lightly. Willingness to volunteer with the desire to help is the first step.
The next thing you need is an openness to a variety of stories. Not every story you read will be your cup of tea. A contest really isn’t about whether you liked the story itself. As a judge, you will be focusing on whether it’s written well enough to hold your attention, whether the characters are well developed, and if the writing moved the plot forward. Indeed, a book can score high in a contest even if you don’t like the story.
A contest volunteer must also understand the basics of grammar. Part of being an award-winning story is being well written. As writers, the nuts and bolts are part of our job. An error or two may happen, but it’s not ready if they’re consistent throughout a manuscript. Multiple errors will detract from a great story, and you need to be prepared to identify them but not nitpick.
Finally, a judge needs to hold confidentiality. With the rise of social media, it’s very tempting to post about your activities. Most contests are done without the participants knowing who has read and scored their work. Sometimes this is the hardest part, especially if you find a submission you love.
Contests are an integral part of being the best at our craft, whether we’re just starting out or have published multiple books. The web is full of different ways to participate in them. Being a judge can be just as rewarding as being a participant.
Do you have what it takes to judge a writing contest? - Tammie Fickas #ACFWBlogs #writetip #critiques #ACFWCommunity Click To Tweet
Tammie Fickas loves Jesus, her kitty Wilson, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest. She believes your dreams are important to God and He can fulfill them in unexpected ways. Tammie writes to inspire women to dream big, fear less, and live now. To connect with Tammie, follow her on Facebook.