There is a Contest Revolution Afoot

There is a Contest Revolution Afoot!
Are You Ready for the Call to Arms?
By
Becci Clayton, 2000 HODRW Contest Chair

My friends, revolution is in the air! (Think old-time revival preacher here with a heavy southern accent shaking his fists.) I say unto you that the time has come to shift those paradigms and think outside those boxes. The rumblings are true. The days of the old, "tell-them- everything-they've-done wrong" contests are a dyin' away. There's a new kind of contest in town and it's mighty powerful. Do you hear the battle cry?

If you've ever had the judge from hell or felt like your contest entry was used as a launching pad, you know what I'm talking about. Somehow, a judge or judges managed to roast every mistake a writer could possibly make and you even made a few more by the time they were finished. Well, for you battle-scarred friends, I'm here to tell you there is a better contest and it's time to lead the revolution against the "critique style" contests.

Writing contests are big money makers. However, with so many for writers to chose from, how do we create something that sets ours apart, you ask? How do we grow our contest market?

We shift the contest paradigm. To do that, let's start with what a contest is not. It is not a critique service. There are hundreds of volunteer critique groups and probably just a many businesses we can have critique our work. Either can explain in more detail than imaginable, every possible thing wrong with our work. Personally, I am quite good at beating myself up about my own writing. So, why should I pay a perfect stranger in a contest to remove any doubt I had about my lack of writing skills, and confirm it in writing no less, when I have a sister-in-law who will do it for free? Exactly! It's a waste of my money.

If no one likes receiving harsh comments, why do so many judges think making negative remarks on an entry is acceptable? Perhaps they believe we will work harder if they give us comments like, "Your writing is bland," or "No heroine would put real cream in her coffee in this day and age." Oh, yes. I can see where that helps a lot with craft.

NOT.

I say it's time to lead the contest revolt. But how, you ask? How do we stop the contest madness? What makes a good contest and encourages a writer to enter our contest again even if she or he didn't win or place?

(Enter the revivalist again.) Why, I say unto you my friends, there is contest salvation and it's called the judge's feedback.

Let me emphasize that again: f-e-e-d-b-a-c-k, not critique.

A contest shouldn't be about what's wrong. It should be about what's RIGHT. Emphasize a story's strengths. Help the writer see what they've done right, then make SUGGESTIONS, not comments, about how to improve weaknesses. Notice I said suggestions about weaknesses not detail what's wrong. As a judge we should know enough to see what's wrong but then we have the responsibility to encourage what's good while adding suggestions about how to correct the problem. Show them by giving an example. Don't tell them what's wrong. Everyone has heard "show don't tell". That applies even more when we are judging!

I can't emphasize enough how critical it is to phrase our comments in the form of questions. Make suggestions like, "What if?" or "How about?" or "Would it work better if?" This helps the writer evaluate their writing and not our comments. See the difference? Challenge them by asking questions. We are only good judges when we challenge a writer to think about their craft. Telling a writer in detail how many mistakes were made will never encourage better writing and it certainly won't generate return entrants. As judges, we want to encourage better craft--NOT emphasize faults. Isn't that truly what a contest is about--judging the craft of a writer?

Lastly but probably most importantly, always find something positive to say. As an editor, I've read and judged many "nicely formatted" manuscripts. Even when the writer had difficulty putting two coherent sentences together, I always found something to encourage. Especially when an entry is overflowing with craft suggestions, the writer needs to know they did something good. But then again, don't we all?

(Enter once again our revivalist.) And so, I say unto my friends, there be not a day nor an hour that we shouldn't get the word out to our judges and drum it into our contest committee's every waking thought. It's time to shift that contest paradigm as we rethink and improve our score sheets for the next contest year. It's time to take up that call to arms and answer the battle cry for a better contest. Vow that thee shalt emphasize strengths, make suggestions to improve weaknesses, phrase f-e-e-d-b-a-c-k as questions and our fellow writers by encouraging them to be better writers.

And this, I say unto you my friends...is how you grow our contest market.