Judging Contests

Judging Contests

by Joyce Mullan

None of the judges attending the workshop on April 17th fit into the JUDGE FROM HEAVEN nor the JUDGE FROM HELL categories. What a relief.

The judge from heaven is not necessarily what she seems, telling us how perfect our writing is without backing that up with appropriate scores, without explanation.

The judge from hell is EXACTLY what she seems: egotistical, opinionated, but most of all MEAN-SPIRITED. The one who can strike away our dreams with the slash of a pen, and have us vow to never put fingers on a keyboard again.

Those of us in-between are the judges who can help make THE HEART OF DENVER's first writers' contests memorable - the forerunner of many more. We can do that by reputation. A reputation for being professional, for being fair. For identifying strengths and weaknesses in such a way that the writer's ego remains intact, while her/his writing skills evolve.

THAT KIND OF REPUTATION MUST BE EARNED.

Bear in mind some of the reasons unpublished writers enter contests:

Their entry might place, or win, and that information can be used as a writing credit when querying.
Maybe the final judge is an editor and might want to look at the completed manuscript.
Chapter contests often prove a valuable practice-ground for entering RWA's Golden Heart.
The writer might be shy, apprehensive about showing her/his writing to people s/he knows.
S/he might live in a remote area without access to critique groups.

Whatever the reasons, writers expect fair and realistic input about their work. That's where we, as judges, can help them meet their expectations. How can we accomplish that? Forgive me if the following is obvious. It bears repeating.

Read the rules.
Know the targeted markets.
Read the manuscript through before scoring it.
Read it again, pencil in hand.
Stop and think. Does this rank as average, good, very good, special?
Does my total score fit my overall impression? If no, can I be fair enough to make appropriate changes?

If the pages look good and the font is readable, if it's double-spaced, approximately 250 words to a page, don't take out a ruler and measure one inch margins. Don't sweat it.

On the other hand, if the pages are in condensed type - an obvious attempt to squeeze in more than specified - mark off. Use your common sense. Do the same if there are typographical errors and misspellings scattered throughout, but not for two or three. The same goes for careless editing and glaring grammatical problems.

The judges' tip sheets tell you what to look for. You won't be writing separate critique sheets, so write comments in the space provided on the score sheets, and on the pages if you feel so inclined. I always do. Indicate areas which need attention but also say something nice - good visuals, excellent characterization, I like your word choices - whatever moves you.

Remember, there may be paranormal elements in any of the categories. If you cannot be fair in your judging, contact the contest coordinator upon receipt and explain your bias. She'll pass the entry to someone else.

We have three contests:

ASPEN GOLD - to inspire, motivate, and reward published writers for excellence in romantic fiction. The book may be in hard-back, soft-back, or, in the case of e-pubs, pages.

THE MOLLY - to inspire, motivate, and reward unpublished writers for excellence in romantic fiction.

THE UNSINKABLE, for the heroine in THE MOLLY who displays spunk, imagination/creativity, memorability and unsinkability.

Thank you if you have volunteered to judge in THE HEART OF DENVER's first ever contest. We couldn't do it without you!

YOU can make sure that although only one writer will win in each category, no-one will be a loser.