Judging again

Not too long ago, a writer I knew through Absolute Write sent me an email asking if I’d like to be a judge in a writing contest. I was thrilled she asked me and so of course I said yes, asking her which categories were open for judges. Eventually, I picked the Poetry category. I received the entries for this category last week and look forward to reading all of them next week.

This will be my third experience as a judge in a writing contest. The first one was for Skyline, and the second was a writing contest for boomer writers created by my friend and fellow writer Martha Jette. For this one, it’s a writing contest created by a writing group in Oklahoma. I don't live in Oklahoma, so I guess this is not a requirement for the judges. I am just so excited about this opportunity and very thankful to this writer for thinking of me.

Plus, I get to read more poetry! Yay!

I love to read just about anything and it’s always a new experience being a judge in a writing contest. Of course, I cannot read the entries at leisure; I must analyze them with a critical eye and base my judgment on the contest criteria. Still, it’s a treat I will be able to read material that I may not otherwise have had the chance to read – let alone the world at large. So this is one other benefit of being a judge for a writing contest.

Additionally, using the criteria of a writing contest when I judge entries benefits me as a writer. The things I am told to look for in a winning entry are the same things which I should make sure can be found in my own writing. Comparing an entry to how I write that kind of particular work helps me to understand ways in which I can improve it. I also get to see little things to watch out for, and something just may make me see that kind of writing (in this case, poetry) in a whole new way.

I look forward to this experience and hope that there will be many more opportunities to be a judge for other writing contests later on down the road.