I was recently asked to be a judge for a short story competition. Despite my full-blown imposter syndrome, I accepted the invitation as part of my ‘doing something differently in 2024’ mantra. Having entered several competitions over the years, I was keen to see the other side.
Let me start by saying that there are some great writers out there. Even the stories that weren’t in the running for the top 5 were still entertaining and swept me up in their storylines. It’s terrible to admit, but after a while you begin looking for a reason to take people out of the running. The easiest reason is poor editing.
There were at least three stories where the authors must not have re-read them prior to hitting send. Don’t get me wrong, my grammar and spelling are not great and I do not consider myself an expert in such things, but you should not have a typo in your first sentence. Most of the other errors were clearly the result of changes in sentence structure where words had been added, but others forgotten to be removed. I do it all the time when I am editing, which is why you need to do the final read-through. Print it out if you need to. I see errors much more easily on the printed page than a digital one.
The stories in the top half of the pack either had fantastic characters or were so beautifully written that you got lost in them. When you forget that you are meant to be judging the story because you are so caught up in finding out what happens next, you know that goes on the contender pile.
Interestingly, it was only when we got to the point of having to read a story for the second and third time that I really became aware of the saggy middle bits. When you feel like you need to rush through a bit to get to the next good bit, that’s probably a hint that it needs to be trimmed.
I think everyone will love the winner, it had it all; great characterisation, an engaging story, beautifully written and excellent pacing that fit the length perfectly. I also learned how important it is to turn in the most polished manuscript you can. When there is almost nothing between stories, the typos and formatting may just be enough to take you out of the running.
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