Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → On Contests and Judging

Disclaimer: This is a personal essay, NOT a guideline. It contains the advice and opinions of a fellow user, of which you may agree or disagree with at your leisure.

Introduction
Lately contests have been a bit competitive and heated as of late, especially when it comes to judging, so I felt like writing a little (or large) essay on the subject to give my own opinion and advice to judges and contest participants alike. Because I know the danger of TL,DR threads I have made nice bold section headings for people to read about the questions/topics they are interested in. Note that this essay is rather writing-centric due to my lack of experience with art contests.

Why do people join contests?
For basically four reasons, but of course there may be ones I forget.

1. Merits. I'm guessing about 20% of people will do a contest to vie for a merit. But honestly speaking? It's not so easy to get a merit this way, because you must compete. You're much better off getting merits from writing good reviews of games you like.
2. Internet Glory. What is Internet Glory? The feeling you get when people "thumb up" your witty Youtube comment. The feeling you get when you post a win photoshopped image and bathe in the "LOL"s and "ROFL"s of your Internet peers. The feeling you get from trolling kids who shouldn't even have an Internet account legally into a blubbering pile of (imagined) juvenile tears. Yes, that is Internet Glory, and it probably accounts for another 20% of people.
3. For critiques. Maybe about a 5% of people. Noble, of course, although if you post poetry on a flash game site with a chief demographic of American males ages 12-18, you should probably find some place else.
4. For fun. A rare sight, only about 1% of people actually join a contests for fun and fun alone.

That's it. You might say, "Well, Parsat, if you add up your percentages, you only come up with 46%." And the answer to that is, most people fall under a combination of said reasons. What percentages those combinations take, I do not know, but I'm guessing most people have a little of everything.

On Good Judging and Expectations
Now I see plenty of conflict on the boards between judges and participants, and from the perspective of both, let me offer a few remarks. First, what makes a good judge (not listed in order of importance)?

1. Appreciation. A good judge will not simply judge from gut feeling after a cursory glance of poems. They will take time to look at each poem as an appreciation of the works of other people.
2. Comprehensiveness. This comes across as much more important than actual ability. The best judging I have seen offered a clear, concise rationale about how the poem made them feel, what it meant to them, and why it deserved the place it did. It will offer constructive criticism of the piece, including possible areas of improvement. When this is done, it not only stands as a testament to the judge's knowledge but also their appreciation of others.
3. Moderation. A good judge will answer questions and seek to be approachable, as well as check to make sure poems follow the guidelines before the deadline. Of course judges may slip from time to time, but as a fellow participant you should be concerned for fair competition when judges forget about or neglect this duty.
4. Punctuality. See next section.

On Punctuality.
Now this one is the one people want to know about. Yes, a judge should be held to the deadline they set. HOWEVER, do note that most of us (*shies away from leaderboard*) have lives other than AG, and that these lives do get busy. Keep in mind that judges want some time and the right mentality before judging so that they may be fair.

My GREATEST pet peeve is seeing whiners raging "JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE". Not only is this rude towards someone who has more of an outside life than you, it is no better than spamming for AP. If a judge is 3+ days late, drop them a nice comment reminding them. They will appreciate that much more, I guarantee it. Besides, you have plenty to do while waiting. You've got a bunch of other forums, games to play...just chillax. This is a site meant for chillaxing. Why so serious?

How to Run a Good Contest
A few things you should consider:

1. Is the medium too specific, too vague, or just right? Note that the chief demographic means that you can't choose something too hard, like an Alexandrine Sonnet contest, for example. On the other hand, if you make things too open you run the risk of people not knowing what to write about.
2. Does the medium offer sufficient flexibility? Generally a poetic form focuses more on the diction, while a rhyme scheme focuses more on meter. Tailor it to the type of poetry you like to read, as long as you make sure you have the actual structure right.
3. Your contest will not be a merit contest immediately. Allow it to attract some attention before asking a mod whether it can be considered a merit prize contest. Mods are around but often busy as well, and a merit is a deserved award, so don't be surprised if getting to this step is a slow process.

How to Write a Winning Entry
Now here we come to a very touchy question. As I explained, most users are probably out to win merits or "Internet Glory" with contests, which is fine. However, I do not want my advice to be seen as gaming the system for the achievement of either. It would be easy, for example, to examine a judge's judging habits and write accordingly, but where's the fun in that? That's the reason why I advocate switching judges every three or so months to make sure we get some variety around. Gaming the system is not fun for anyone, and you would deceive yourself if you thought that it was.

1. Stand out. The general demographic likes to write about death, darkness, guns, and war. Nothing wrong with that, hell, I'm still in the chief demographic. You should realize, though, that there is more to life and poetry than these subjects. Optimistic poetry is easier to appreciate.
2. Be yourself. Carry your own identity with what you write. I know that I can recognize some of us here with just a poem alone because the voice that comes through their writing is so familiar. It is a gift to be able to have a voice that stands out in this manner. Find your voice and develop it.
3. Avoid Rowling Syndrome. A generation raised on Harry Potter and similar juvenile fiction is instantly recognizable from their bowel-clenching overuse of adverbs and adjectives. Write enough to describe what you need and carry your message, and stop there. Extra bells and whistles are bells and whistles in the end.
4. Be very careful with figurative language. It generally stinks like an overripe gym sock, and dances along the borders of clicheland.
5. Read your stuff aloud. Meter is the greatest challenge, and it convinces everyone to do free verse, which is without a doubt the hardest form of poetry to do. Meter is just the art of making your poetry sound good. Our tendency is already to read in iambs, so go for that. You don't necessarily need to pull out iambic pentameter or tetrameter every time, but look into it.
6. Punctuation is important, ESPECIALLY in poetry. Commas and periods provide important pauses and emphases in the action, while a line break without a punctuation mark can really give a sense of driving force through your poem. It will improve the oral aesthetics of the poem.
7. Write of what you know. Write about feelings once in a while, not just action and people and settings and quotes.
8. If you're going to be philosophical, make sure you have some philosophic weight, and not just a hollow shell that looks artsy/contemplative.

That's it, ladies and gents. That's what I think about the status of contests and judging right now. I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of others about this subject, especially towards judging.