Where Is My Story Now??
If you are an author and have already submitted a story for judging, here is a bit of information about how your story will be judged leading up to the final round of the competition.
1. Round One - Once the submission deadline has passed in early January, your story is ready to be judged. Your story will be forwarded to three different, randomly selected judges from around the TDSB. Each judge will read your story and offer positive feedback, as well as suggestions on how to improve. You will receive this input when the contest ends late in the spring. Once your story has been read and critiqued by the three judges, it is ranked against other stories in randomly selected groups assigned to each judge. Each judge puts fourth a suggested list of stories he or she believes should move on. There is no set number of stories that go through to the second round. We are simply looking for the best. On average, about half of the stories submitted move on to the second round, but it depends on how many entries we get.
2. Round Two - Round two usually take place in March. If your story makes it through to this round, it will be read and ranked again by two more randomly selected judges. The stories are reshuffled and new batches are created and given to the judges to read and rank. The stories are ranked again by each judge, but no commentary is given. Results are then tallied, and roughly 20 stories are chosen to move on to the next round.
To stimulate online interest, we have decided that we will make space in the finals for two wildcard entries. Throughout the course of the competition, each judge will have the opportunity to read any story in the competition online. They can then log in to an online forum where conversations and commentaries between judges can take place. The two stories (which have not already been chosen for the finals), which garner the most interesting online participation and commentary from judges will be rewarded with a space in the final round.
3. Shortlist - The shortlist represents the final round of the competition. First, the remaining stories are read by all of the judges. The judges then meet in person for a wild day of discussion, debate and sometimes even argument. The merits of each story are hashed out, and as consensus builds, the winners are finally chosen. While the judges try to include between 6 and 9 stories in the batch of winners, there is no formal limit, and only the best will be picked. These "best" stories will be published in the annual contest booklet.
4. Authors Day - If your story happens to make it past the first round, you and your English teacher will be invited to participate in Authors Day in early May. On this day, you will receive a folder containing a copy of your story, plus the three commentaries completed by the first round judges. You will then be provided the opportunity to attend workshops facilitated by published authors. In the afternoon, our winners will be announced at the annual Awards Ceremony, and contest booklets will be distributed. English teachers will take back and return the entries and sets of commentary of any students who did not attend Authors' Day.
2. Round Two - Round two usually take place in March. If your story makes it through to this round, it will be read and ranked again by two more randomly selected judges. The stories are reshuffled and new batches are created and given to the judges to read and rank. The stories are ranked again by each judge, but no commentary is given. Results are then tallied, and roughly 20 stories are chosen to move on to the next round.
To stimulate online interest, we have decided that we will make space in the finals for two wildcard entries. Throughout the course of the competition, each judge will have the opportunity to read any story in the competition online. They can then log in to an online forum where conversations and commentaries between judges can take place. The two stories (which have not already been chosen for the finals), which garner the most interesting online participation and commentary from judges will be rewarded with a space in the final round.
3. Shortlist - The shortlist represents the final round of the competition. First, the remaining stories are read by all of the judges. The judges then meet in person for a wild day of discussion, debate and sometimes even argument. The merits of each story are hashed out, and as consensus builds, the winners are finally chosen. While the judges try to include between 6 and 9 stories in the batch of winners, there is no formal limit, and only the best will be picked. These "best" stories will be published in the annual contest booklet.
4. Authors Day - If your story happens to make it past the first round, you and your English teacher will be invited to participate in Authors Day in early May. On this day, you will receive a folder containing a copy of your story, plus the three commentaries completed by the first round judges. You will then be provided the opportunity to attend workshops facilitated by published authors. In the afternoon, our winners will be announced at the annual Awards Ceremony, and contest booklets will be distributed. English teachers will take back and return the entries and sets of commentary of any students who did not attend Authors' Day.