Sunday 20 March 2016

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!

20 comments:

  1. Good advice here, Wendy, for entering any short story competitions. Congrats on WF mention too :)

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    1. I thought some of these would resonate with you as well, Tracy, having judged competitions yourself.

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  2. Wonderful advice, Wendy and congratulations on being featured in WF too. xxx

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  3. Such good advice. More than 50% of the short stories I've ever read in anthologies, etc, are not stories but 'sketches', with no proper outcome. Stories have a beginning, a middle and and end - preferably with a satisfying twist!

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    1. Absolutely. If it's not a story, it will go straight to my 'no' pile.

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  4. Thanks for the mention, Wendy!

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  5. Congrats on your magazine interview, Wendy-will look out for it! And great advice, from 'someone who knows'! Would love to master the art of short story writing (and novel writing too!), it is difficult and novel writing seems to come more naturally to me.

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    1. I've written both and have to say the shirt stories have been easier.

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    2. ... and the 'short' stories too!

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  6. Thanks for the mention, Wendy.

    I'm always grateful that writers are willing to judge competitions and give some feedback- I know how helpful it is for the writers themselves; if you don't know you're going wrong you can't improve, and it's good to know when you're getting something right too.

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    1. Judging is fun - it makes a change from having my own stories scrutinised by editors :-)

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  7. Such a helpful post, Wendy - I've bookmarked it as a 'keeper'! And many congratulations on your piece in Writers' Forum. :-)

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    1. That's great to hear, Rae - thank you 😊

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  8. Excellent advice, Wendy - hope your WF piece is widely read by those entering competitions!

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  9. A very useful post, Wendy, with lots of helpful advice. Thank you.

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  10. I am a recent subscriber to Writers Forum and think it offers great opportunities for those wanting to enter competitions. There is a free one for subscribers. I also love the poetry section. Thanks for the pointers which are very helpful.

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  11. Oh what fun it is judging writing competitions. I'm sure Carol's club will not let anything like this get through to you Wendy...

    My former writing group received an entry with a note attached, it said;
    'In the rules it says 1500 words. I've sent my 2000 word story, if you like it, feel free to edit it down.'

    Yes really.

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