My Tao of Judging Contests

How I Grade & Why

Possibly one of the most complicated and debated issues among Writing.Com members, the whys & wherefores of judging and reviewing is a subjective one.  We all labor to produce creative pieces that are personally expressive and unique, the processes taken to judge them are no less individual.  Every pair of eyes has a differing focus, every set of scales a slightly different unit of measure.  My particular priorities on judging contest entries here at The Weekly Quickie are as follows....



TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY:  Technical proficiency refers to the fundamentals of writing.  Grammar and spelling are the heavyweight champions of technical proficiency and a writer that enters any sort of writing contest should have both a functional understanding of grammatical rules and access to a dictionary.  Our contest-- aside from certain special exceptions-- has an 869 word limit and allows writers almost 7 full days to imagine, draft, and edit those 869 words.  I am looking for the best version of a story that can be reasonably expected within the contest parameters.  Mistakes like typos can happen to anyone as easily as formatting and/ or spacing errors.  However a combination of punctuation errors, grammatical faux pas and spelling errors is generally indicative of sloppy work.  We do not disqualify for sloppy work but it does count significantly in my overall appraisal of any story.  Never underestimate the value of a final reread and edit.  When judging, technical proficiency accounts for 20% of my rating of an entry.  


EROTIC EROTICA:  This is an Erotica contest and the sex, the settings, the characters, and the language should all be sexy and sensual.  I prefer a hot story but a simmering one can win.  While I do not have an expectation that every entry has to adhere to my personal kinks and sexual orientation, I do expect that the featured sexuality is convincing, creative and well-visualized.  This is so important I need to repeat it a few times: well-visualized, well-visualized, well-visualized!  Salacious is a good thing!  Carry us through and make the event an experience for your audience (and Me!)  The erotic impact of a story accounts for 35% of my rating of an entry.


NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE:  How do you tell a story?  Whatever your style is, that style is intrinsic to my perception and rating.  I am looking for descriptive flairs, effective use of dialogue, well-visualized characters and a consistent plot.  Anyone can string words together but how you do it is what distinguishes your story from others and makes your story worth the read.  When judging, narrative technique accounts for 10% of my rating of an entry.


ADDRESSING The PROMPT & FOLLOWING The RULES:  This is a very important pair of points.  The format of this contest allows each judge to come up with a new prompt for the round they are judging.  We do this to keep the contest fresh and to challenge our entrants to tackle something they may never have tried on their own.  The prompts range from vague to specific, simple to complex and are chosen for more than just a superficial inclusion.  I expect entries to be new, written for the specific round and to incorporate the prompt throughout, it should never be previously written work modified to fit.  How well the prompt is addressed and utilized accounts for 35% of my rating of an entry.  The Weekly Quickie has a very plainly stated list of rules which are rules and not suggestions.  Non-compliance with contest rules is grounds for disqualification of an entry (and none of us wants that!) so please read the list and follow it.  Simple!


And at the end of this, I try to summarize the variables involved, quantify my impressions and then decide which story hit closest to the mark.  Amazingly, for "just" 869 words this is a fairly involved process.  I understand as a writer and competitor that 869 words can be more difficult to execute than a novel but I refuse to allow 869 words to be an excuse for not covering the bases.  Even though it is a very short story, it should be approached with the attention to detail required of much longer fiction.

Get writing! 


The Weekly Quickie has recently received criticism over our judging and reviewing practices.  This contest affords the judges-- within reason-- a margin of freedom and individuality on how we run our rounds.  When I judge a round, a review will be included with the winning entries.  Any non-winning entries can also receive a review if you email me a request.  This step is a time/ energy-conserving measure for me and nothing more, requested reviews will be sent to the authors within 8-10 days.  I am also available to answer any writing-related questions  you may have.