Learning
From Contests
Last
year, I decided to be brave and enter some writing contests. My hope: to gain
valuable feedback about my writing and my story. I entered two contests in the
spring and received helpful observations. On a whim, I submitted to two
contests in September and put them out of my mind. In early November, I
received a few phone calls from a phone number I didn’t recognize. Since it was
election season, I didn’t answer. After the third attempt, the caller left a
message. Imagine my shock when I heard the words, “I’m happy to let you know
you finaled in our contest. Congratulations.”
My hands shook as I listened, and
then re-listened to those words.” I finaled? The following week, an e-mail
popped into my inbox notifying me that I had finaled in another contest. My
kids wondered if Mama had finally taken a dive into the deep end as I “Eeeee-d”
my way through supper preparations.
As I receive scores, I’m learning
some great things about evaluating results. Contests provide feedback in
various ways. One contest sent the judge’s score and comments on my actual
entry. Other contests provided a rubric and a number score next to each item
being assessed. Some judges left comments, others gave only the number score.
After I entered the My Book
Therapy’s Frasier contest for the first time, I created a spread sheet to
consolidate everything onto one page. I made a column with category and
sub-category descriptions (i.e. Stakes, Hero/Heroine Identity, etc) My next
column was for the scores from Judge One. The third column was for the scores
from Judge 2, and the fourth column was for me to make notes on ways I could
improve based on scores and comments judges offered.
I know, it sounds like a lot of
work, but seeing everything in one place helps me detect patterns. If both
judges scored me lower in a certain category, that is a great indicator of
something I need to work on. On the flip side, higher scores from both judges
indicate a writing strength. When I saw a discrepancy in the scores, I talked
to a mentor about them.
Though not
everyone is an analyzer, a few things I’ve come to understand through my
contest experiences are:
1. Pray before even
peeking at scores. I’m guessing most of us enter contests because we want
feedback on our writing. Sometimes we’re going to receive feedback that says,
“Yes! You’re on the right track!” Other times, judges’ scores will be harder to
embrace. The key is to ask God to help you see the gemstones within the
disappointments. Take a day or so before you pore over your results. This
allows you to calm down and gain some distance, so you can evaluate with a
fresh perspective.
2.
Identify
what will help you use contest scores to better your writing
skills. And, no, I don’t mean shred the low scores. You may not be an analyzer
like I am, so discover what will help you take the data offered and use it to
make your writing better. Maybe that means focusing on one area of improvement
and setting the rest aside for a later time.
3.
When
judges offer positive comments and suggestions for growth, don’t
focus only on the negative. Believe in your writing strengths. Even seemingly
negative comments have nuggets hidden within their words. If someone says,
“This story isn’t original,” you’ve just been given a great clue about a weakness.
The challenge: mix things up in your story and add some sparkle.
4.
Remember
scores tell us something about our writing, but judges are subjective, because,
well, they’re human. If you disagree with or don’t understand a score, talk
with someone you trust for clarification.
5.
Above
all, have a teachable spirit. Remember, God gave you
your story, and He’ll help you write it, with help from others.
What about
you? How do use contest results to become a stronger writer?
