By E. L. Tenenbaum
Over the last while, I’ve done a few turns as a first-round judge for a few writing competitions, most recently for short stories. Usually, entries must undergo more than one round of judging, by more than one judge, before winners can be chosen. Across the board, almost all writing competitions juggle the same issue of too much to read in too short a time. For competitions that guarantee feedback, the crunch is even more pressing.
Unsurprisingly, submissions must be very, very good to stand out from the many. However, even the greatest of stories representing the best of writing must still adhere to the guidelines of the competition, or there’s a good chance they’re disqualified by the first round.
These words may seem simple enough, but experience shows that certain rules are sometimes overlooked by writers, and no matter how good the writing, it works against them, even more than an errant mistake in spelling or grammar. By the way, this doesn’t only hold true for writing competitions, but almost all places with guidelines for pitches and submissions.
Please don’t overlook guidelines, so your work gets a chance to be seen as it should. Besides, where relevant, your time and money shouldn’t be wasted either.
Before submitting, doublecheck:
1. Formatting requirements
Competitions usually have requirements in regard to font, spacing, and margins. Remember, because judges are going through many submissions, these sorts of details get easier to spot right off the bat. Requirements aren’t arbitrary, but there to help streamline the reading and judging process. Most are also pretty standard, so don’t disqualify your submission for something as simple as the wrong font.
2. Word count
Word counts are probably one of the biggest struggles for writers, especially for competitions with inflexible limits. As above, judges usually have a feel for how long is too long, so don’t cheat the word count. Remember, there are a lot of submissions, so the word count is not just a challenge of a writer’s skill, but also a way to make sure entries can be judged in time.
3. Genre
If entries are categorized by genre, and you choose to submit under a particular genre, make sure your entry fits the genre! While some genres are broad in range, and some writing falls under more than one, make sure your writing fits the genre you’ve selected. Entries are automatically disqualified from the outset not for writing, formatting, or even quality, but because they simply don’t fit the genre. This is not something that’s going to be overlooked either, because, imagine entering a SciFi competition and then later learning the winning story was a memoir. No matter how genius the writing, not only would entrants be disappointed, but the competition would also be discredited. Thus, judges are not only vetting for good writing, but for basic guidelines too.
4. Know what you want your story to say
Not every story needs to be a lesson, but every story should convey something, and knowing what that is will help guide your writing, especially against a tight word count. (This also holds true for all kinds of writing.) Stories without that sense of direction tend to land flat, feel empty, or wander with unnecessary detail instead of keeping the writing tight and narrative focused.
5. Solid over Florid
Although many writers try to stand out with clever twists or showy vocabulary, neither can beat a solidly told story of sound structure. As there’s so many entries, there’s some measure of gratitude when coming across an easy-to-read, well-told, tightly written story which relies less on the unexpected (though it may include that as well) and more on solidity. Stories without wasted words, scenes, or characters are impressive for the writer’s skill and craft, and judges take notice.
All considered, this isn’t to discourage writers from trying something new or challenging their own storytelling skill. This is simply a reminder that no matter how wonderful or creative or fresh or unexpected, brilliant writing still has to follow competition guidelines.
Bio: E. L. Tenenbaum is an author and writer of essays and thought questions on her Substack, Versifications.
