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This week: The Round Ended When? Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Contests are fun to compete in and also to run but sometimes plans don't work. Life gets in the way and after a few weeks or even a month, we look back at a round and realize it hasn't been judged. Patience goes so far but after a while one may start to wonder, is the round ever going to be judged? This is a brief look at reasons why results get delayed in contests and some suggestions on how to handle a delayed round as the judge.
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Contests are fun. They take time and energy to run but in the end, well worth the effort. However, there are times that come up as a judge where distractions occur. I will have put up a round, closed the round at the right time then all of a sudden life sneaks my attention away. Before I know it, I see a white rabbit running down a dirt path saying: "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time for hello, goodbye. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late."
And it hits, the winners should have been announced weeks ago. Or in the case of a contest or two I've entered in the past months to a year ago. It happens. I have been late on weekly rounds before and I have never judged a round in a contest I closed. Each had their own reasons but I made effort to do something in return to make up for the problem, so have a few suggestions to make on this topic. But first, let's look at some reasons why a round might be late.
A few reasons judges are late:
1. sudden situations - these include funerals, sudden hospital trips, going into labor early, etc. They are situations that come up taking the time of the judge and it's time that needs to be spent away from the internet. Most are not predictable and take the precedence over a round but also they are short delays. Unless it involves a month long hospital visit (which can happen), most of the sudden delays shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks, though they can lead to another "reason."
2. forgot - yeah, while not as forgivable as other reasons, it is possible to forget one is judging a round especially for those that don't own the contest or in general there are different judges each round. Truth is we are all human, except the occasional robot, and we can forget a commitment from time to time. It can be connected to other reasons as distractions can influence one to forget.
3. team issues - this is for contests where it takes more than one judge. The problem with having more than one judge is that it relies on everyone in the group to do things in a timely manner. Also a disagreement can lead to a delay in picking winners if there isn't a set up format to fix when a winner isn't easy to pick. And if one disappears from the site then it's another problem because it takes time to realize they won't be giving their vote. Many things can come up with more than one judge is involved.
4. no longer on WDC - not as common but on occasion, someone will leave the site but not actually cancel their current account. So, for a while they will have a page still and that contest will show even though they do not return. It helps with those that show when they were last online because anyone can see if they stopped coming in months ago. This also has the hardest solution because it's just a "learn from the writing and move on" type of result unless they happen to ever come back.
Okay, so that is a few reasons why rounds are late here on WDC. But what does a judge do if they are late or never going to be able to judge a contest? Should a contestant speak up when a round hasn't been judged? If so how soon can one comment on a round? These answers vary slightly and depends on the type of contest and the length each round runs. However, here are a few suggestions for both judges and contestants as what to do when a round is late to be judged.
It's late, now what?:
1. update - This is for the judge. If something comes up and you have a spare moment, post a small update with an apology for the delay. Letting the contestants know you still remember, there is a reason the round isn't judged yet but that you will get to it as soon as you can is a good gesture to make. It shows you still are involved. If you can't post maybe email someone involved who can (especially in case of judges for contests they don't own). Keeping people up to date really helps to ease tension over rounds not judged.
2. polite reminders - Contestants and owners of contests can both do this. Send a polite question asking about a round if it hasn't been judged. However, if the contest ended 3 days ago and it's a month long contest or even week long, maybe give them a little more time. I say polite reminders because sending a nice email will get a much better response than will sending one out of anger, even if a round is over a month late. The more calm and professional the response, the better chance it will be well received as many of the judges will already feel bad for the delay.
3. apologize - Another for judges and contest owners. It's amazing what a simple apology will do when something isn't going as first planned. Even if the situation that caused the delay is one that was out of your control, a simple "I'm sorry for the delay" will do wonders. But don't just apologize and then go back to ignoring the round. Be working towards solving the problem and either announcing the winners or providing something to all who entered. But a quick apology during the delay might help ease some tension that occurs, especially if the delay is a long one.
4. consolation - Again contest judges and owners. This is a nice gesture to make, long delays in particular or for rounds that won't ever have a winner (the last one in particular). Offer something as a thank you for the contestants time and patience. On rounds where I'm a few weeks late, I always give gps from my own stash, not from any contest bank. In the case of the contest I closed without judging, I shared much more but I made sure to give everyone something for their time and effort made, along with an apology. While not a necessity, I think this is a good practice (though hopefully rounds aren't late often so it won't be used much) in order to make up for a late round.
The best case scenario is one where a round never gets judged late. Where each entry gets a review and the winners find the prizes in their email within a reasonable amount of time. However, life happens. Sometimes rounds get delayed and the issue becomes how to fix the situation. When it does happen, don't let it ruin the contest, just make the necessary steps to right the ship and keep going.
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There are a number of contests available on the site. These are just a few I found, and no it's not because of late judging. These are just contests that looked fun.
This is a fun tournament to both take part in and watch to see who advances each round. Limit of 32 participants, the future rounds will be ones to watch for with this one.
Soon will be the big bash, WDC is turning 13 and here is a poetry contest dedicated to the event. Has some amazing prizes for poets who take up the challenge in September.
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This is a fun one for people wanting to write more than the usual 5k max limit. Novelette is a contest that allows 7,500 to 17,500 words and the WDC birthday prompt has a fun twist in you design your own prompt to a degree. Go check it out and have fun.
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If you like throwing in plot twists, pick this contest. Asking for short stories with a twist, it provides a fun challenge and has a decent word count length from flash fiction short to decent length short story.
The haunted version of Writer's Cramp. The Daily Slice is a horror contest with a new prompt every day. Goal is to write a scary story in less than 1,000 words and in 24 hours.
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#1801607 by Not Available. |
A contest that does both poetry and short story, but not at the same time. The first half of the month is dedicated to poetry based off a prompt and the other half has prompts for short stories.
Here is a fun short story contest that gives you the first sentence, or part of the first sentence, and asks for you to write the rest. While dictated sentences can be a challenge, they can also start some great stories. Plus for those of us where the hard part is starting, this contest solves that by starting the story for us.
Another fun, prompt based idea. This contest asks you to take the prompt provided and let your muse run with it. Is also a monthly contest.
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#1525871 by Not Available. |
Something a bit different here as this contest focuses on descriptive writing. It requires describing the prompt within a flash fiction word count. I know I could use some practice with description and something like this contest might just be that thing to help.
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#1930221 by Not Available. |
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Another first newsletter (but I promise in the future I will have ones to share feedback in this section) so I don't have much to put here at this time.
Have you ever been late judging a contest? If so, how did you handle it?
When do you think a round should be considered unjudgeable and would a little prize for all help ease the frustration from a round judged late?
What do you think about late judging?
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Contests & Activities: August 21, 2013 Issue [#5845]
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