Short Stories - What I look for as a competition judge

I am pleased to be in this month's Writers Forum magazine talking to Helen M Walters about what I look for when judging short story competitions.

Over the last couple of years, I have been judge for the Chiltern Writers short story competition and also been adjudicator for the SWWJ John Walter Salver Competition (you can read about my afternoon at the award ceremony here.) 

I shall be judging another short story competition later this year. This time, it is the Rosemary Robb Ghost Story Competition for the Nottingham Writers Club. I'm very excited about this as I have written a few ghost stories myself. In fact, it was a post on this blog, about one I'd just had  published in Take a Break fiction Feast, which prompted their prose secretary, Carol Bevitt, to think of me as their judge.You can read the post on my ghost story here.

The thing about writing competitions is they are pretty subjective - what attracts one judge to an entry might leave another cold. Even so, there are a few simple things that can be done to ensure your entry isn't instantly put on the 'no' pile whoever the judge is e.g. make sure your story is professionally presented and has been checked for spelling and grammar errors and, above all, follow the competition rules to the letter. 

Other than that, you can only write something you love and keep your fingers crossed that the judge will too! 

Now of course if you want to know how I judge, the best thing would be to read the whole interview in the magazine but I thought I'd make a short list, here on my blog, of the things I like and dislike in a short story competition entry.

• Write a story, not just a scene (however beautiful)
• Avoid a weak ending
• Balance narrative and dialogue
• Make the story fit the theme
• Whatever question is set up at the beginning of the story, make sure it is answered at the end
• Make me care about the characters
• Avoid cliches
• Avoid too many adjectives/adverbs
• I don't want to be 'aware' of the writer and their techniques
• Don't presume that as I write a lot of romance for magazines that this is what I look for (I enjoy a variety of writing)

and finally:

• Make me feel something (this can be sorrow, happiness, amusement, surprise... anything!) as the ultimate prize will be given to the story that a day (or even a few days) after reading will still be in my head. 

So there you have it - how to get the competitive edge in a nutshell. Just remember, the judge of the writing competition you have entered will have their own set of likes and dislikes.

For anyone thinking of entering competitions, you can do no better than popping over to Patsy Collin's blog, where she regularly posts the latest ones to try... good luck!