This week: Judging Process 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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{/u}Judging Process{/u}
I'm really interested in others' processes when they judge a contest. I try to take it very seriously, and I have a process that I tend to follow.
 Scoring system. I often create a spreadsheet with a row for each entry. I rate it in several categories, such as grammar, characterization, imagery, theme, etc. Those will definitely change for different types of contests, such as poetry vs short stories, fiction vs. non-fiction, or short story vs novel. It can be a good way to distinguish between entries.
I try to review in the mornings when my mind is the most focused. I know not everyone is a morning person! It's good to know when your mind will be clearest and to set aside some quiet time to focus entirely on the task at hand.
Review! I can't suggest this often enough. Review all entries to your contest! You can try to judge based on your "feeling" or gut-reaction to a story, but you should at least attempt to write out what you liked and didn't like about each entry, so that you know you're devoting time and effort into each entry.
Rank your entries (whether you're using a rating/scoring system or not) and then go back and compare them before you make your final decision.
For me, it's mostly important that I put in a good amount of effort and thought into my judging responsibilities. I'm not saying everyone should do it the way I do, but I think it's a good idea to analyze your own process. 
So please let me know below what your process is like!
As always, keep on writing!
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My last newsletter, ("Contests & Activities Newsletter (July 31, 2019)" ), and it discussed judging contests. Here is some feedback from last week's Newsletter readers:
Awe... Thank you so very much for adding my " Chatterbox Group" to your newsletters! It really does mean a lot [e:heart} ~ Sunny 
You're quite welcome!
Thank you for including my activity! ~ queenkissy
You're very welcome!
Hi Spidey, This newsletter couldn't have come at a more appropriate time for me. I am a first-time judge at | |  | Invalid Item
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and I am about to make my final selection for the awards. I know the forms, I have researched, studied, and documented {xlink:http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/forums/forum/23-explore-the-craft-of-writing-poetry/} my findings extensively over several years. That is the easy part.
I am about to judge 14 poems prompted by an obscure Thai form. I read all of them several times and have sent reviews on each. So many times I have read, "it was so hard to judge" when a judge is announcing the winners, and now that I'm in their shoes, I see how hard it is. Thankfully, I do have help from the retiring judge of the forum, but she is leaving it up to me to make the final decision. I have read all of the poems out loud several times. Technically most of the entries are spot on with the elements of the frame as described.
One has one too many syllables in one line but probably transmits the most powerful emotion. Another, one of the more skillfully written poems, misses a connection to the history of the form. I've always gone by the ideal that the content comes first, the form or manner of delivery of the content second. Don't sacrifice meaning or clarity for a rhyme. But this is a forms challenge, I know I'm being picky but ranking these poems above poems that technically hit all of the marks is my quandary and I have until midnight, WDC time to decide.
So kudos to all of the judges out there.
~~Tinker ~ Tinker 
Awesome! Your feedback inspired my newsletter this month, too! I hope you enjoyed your first time judging, and I hope you continue!
What is your judging process like? |
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Contests & Activities: August 28, 2019 Issue [#9729]
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