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!

Judge for SWWJ John Walter Trophy Short Story Competition

I am delighted to announce that I have been asked by the Society of Women Writers and Journalists to be the judge for this year's John Walter Trophy Short Story Competition.

Let me tell you a little about the SWWJ. It was founded in 1894 by newspaper proprietor Joseph Snell Wood, and is the UK's longest-established society for professional women writers. It has since become an international association affiliated to women's associations worldwide. Victoria Wood is its president and Sir Tim Rice and Simon Brett are among the patrons.

Viv Brown (who writes as Vivien Hampshire and who kindly suggested me as a judge) has been a member for ten years and is on the council. She has written an excellent blogpost about the SWWJ here. She says that the society is always looking to welcome new writers of all ages who might be novelists, journalists, playwrights, poets, article writers and writers of non-fiction books.

It's not the first time that I've judged a short story competition. Last year, the Chiltern Writers Group kindly asked me to judge their annual competition and I enjoyed it so much I was more than happy to say yes to this new request from the SWWJ.

I've already started to think what I shall be looking for once the stories start coming in but my mind is open to any genre, emotion and style. Without giving too much away, I will just say that the winning entries will need to entertain me but also move me in some way - be it through hope, sadness, joyfulness, humour or tragedy. 

Good luck to all the entrants!

In other news, I have had my first response to my #PitchCB submission. You can read last week's updated post here.  

Also, I'm very excited that my new serial, Life at Babcock House, will be starting in the September 5th issue of the The People's Friend. I was thrilled with the response to my first serial, Charlotte's War and am hoping readers will like this one just as much.

Finally, if you'd like to find out more about the SWWJ, the contact details are below:

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