  Contests & Activities
This week: Be a Gracious Contest Entry Reviewer Edited by: Annette  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
There was a day, last week or a decade ago, that you typed "writing" into your search engine. You wanted to show off some of your poems, short stories, or maybe even get feedback for a whole novel. You found Writing.com.
On this site, you found all that you searched for: Portfolio space, helpful reviewers, encouraging groups, style and grammar lessons from peers. Nothing prepared you for the amazing bounty of: Contests & Activities! |
| ASIN: B07B63CTKX |
Product Type: Kindle Store
|
Amazon's Price: $ 6.99
|
|
Be a Gracious Contest Entry Reviewer
Review like a reader, not like a professor.
So, you have a contest and there are several entries that fulfilled the basic requirements you gave them. They entered their story by or before the deadline. They gave you a word count. They followed your prompt.
Now, you have to decide which stories take the cake.
As a reviewer, you are always 100% entitled to your opinion. That is what reviewing is all about after all. It's to give a writer an opportunity to "see" their writing through the eyes of another person. This means that there is virtually no wrong way to review. As long as you read the whole piece and your comments show the writer that you gave the story some thought, your comments will be valuable for the writer.
Where does the gracious come in? I'm glad you asked.
On this site, which has writers of all skill levels and from all the different English speaking parts of the world, cut other writers some slack. If you know for a fact that something is worng (like that word) - by all means point it out. These things can get overseen easily and a reviewer does a writer a good service by pointing it out.
However, should you really penalize somebody for things like passive voice, or phrases and sentences that you wouldn't use? Or, worse, for writing in an English flavor or flavour that you don't favor?  Let writers keep their own voice. Allow the images that they create for you to come at you even if it means you have to look away from the screen because there was a glaring grammar or spelling mistake. Let the writer describe something in narration without needing to be shown everything. Stretch your imagination. But - also let the writer know when you absolutely don't connect with their story and you don't "see" anything.
Again, as a contest host, you are the king/queen of you contest. You can choose though to be hypercritical about everything to a point where a writer feels they'll never get it right because their voice, their style, their imagination doesn't fit yours. As long as a text doesn't offend you through its theme or excessive mistakes that make the writing appear sloppy, just give the story a chance. How well did it fit your prompt? How imaginative or amazing did they make it?
If you have a contest that regularly attracts several entries, then you really are a lucky host. This gives you a wide variety of stories to enjoy and award the best of them. Even those that don't blow you away were written by a writer with a fragile ego. No trophy - we can all handle that. Being told our writing is in need of some grammar and spelling fixes - every writer needs to go through that. Reading a review that zeroes in on one bad thing and nothing else, that's the stuff that'll make writers stop being writers. Don't be the reviewer or contest host who causes that.
Host on and review on. And write on too.
|
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1954444 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1954402 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1953926 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1936624 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1953104 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1817635 by Not Available. |
|
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
| ASIN: 1945043032 |
|
Amazon's Price: $ 13.94
|
|
| ASIN: B00KN0JEYA |
Product Type: Kindle Store
|
Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
|
|
To stop receiving this newsletter, click here for your newsletter subscription list. Simply uncheck the box next to any newsletter(s) you wish to cancel and then click to "Submit Changes". You can edit your subscriptions at any time.
|
Contests & Activities: October 23, 2013 Issue [#5920]
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
