This week: Prizes Edited by: spidey  
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Welcome to the Contests & Activities Newsletter. I'm spidey , and I'm your Editor this week!
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Prizes
Feedback from Annette  on my Newsletter last month got me thinking this week. One of the toughest parts of being a judge is choosing winners, because sometimes you want everyone to win! 
When it comes down to choosing a winner, sometimes you have to get picky, which is why I often break down my judging criteria into components, like theme, grammar, imagery, characterization, setting, etc. How successful do I think the writer was at each criteria? I can score each category and come up with a total to choose a winner that way.
Something that can help ease the difficulty in choosing one winner (and feeling like you're letting down hard-working writers by not choosing them) is to award every entry. If you have the gift points, you can offer a prize just for entering, or choose as many Honorable Mentions as you want (you're the one who makes the rules, after all)! 
Sometimes, though, an in-depth review can feel like a reward. From being on the site for a long time, one thing that seems to be in common with people who often enter contests is that members are looking for feedback on their craft. I feel like it's the main drive of this community, to seek constructive feedback.
I think it's a good idea to give a detailed review to every entry in a contest, if you're able, of course. In my experience, I've found that members truly appreciate it.
Some tips on detailed reviews:
 Mechanics. If you find any typos or grammar errors, point them out. It's easy to overlook things like that, especially on a computer screen. If there are too many to list, suggest that they go over the story again looking for errors/typos.
Overall feel. How does the writing make you feel? Let the writer know. You're looking at the writing as a contest judge and fellow writer, obviously, but try to put on your "reader hat" here and let them know what worked for you as a reader, too.
Prompt/theme. Does the piece follow the prompt/theme/rules of the contest. An important one, obviously!
Be kind. Point out what you felt was successful, too! If there are any lines you particularly liked, or characters or plot devices. Even if it's just the title or a character or place name! I find criticism is more well received if you also point out what worked for you, too.
Take care, and as always, keep on writing! 
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Feedback from my last newsletter "Contests & Activities Newsletter (June 26, 2024)" }, which discussed judging styles:
While I don't regularly judge anything, I've helped out a couple of times. I, too, am a fan of the well-constructed spreadsheet.
~ Merry_Mikey 
Go Team Spreadsheet!
If I run a contest, I am the only judge. Depending on the amount of stories to read, it might take me a couple of hours one afternoon or a few days to read and review all entries.
The hardest thing for me recently is to find a winner. What I mean by that is that I usually want to give everyone who followed the rules a prize. I find that I have to find minor nitpicks to eliminate entries to come up with a top three list.
That's one of the reasons why I don't offer contests in recent times. I prefer activities where people's participation is the goal.
~ Annette
Such a good point! I struggle with this, too. That's why I try to give as detailed of a review as I can. I know a lot of members are happy to receive in-depth reviews, so that's at least a consolation prize, giving my honest thoughts on their work.
Submit your feedback below!
How do you award participants? Do you review every entry? |
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Contests & Activities: July 24, 2024 Issue [#12652]
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