Round One
Judging for the 2016 contest will take place online. You will no longer be emailing word documents to the contest committee. All of your feedback and ranking will take place via online forms. Here are step-by-step instructions on exactly how to get started.
1. All of the stories are located on the website. They can be found by clicking the "2016 Stories" link at the top of the page.
2. Once you have been provided your batch number, and the stories in your batch, you may begin downloading and reading the stories you have been assigned.
3. When you are ready to provide feedback for one of the stories, hover your mouse over the "Judges" link at the top of the page, then again over "Round One", and click on "Leave Feedback".
4. On the "Leave Feedback" page, you will find a form with several fields. If you have judged in previous years, you'll notice that the fields are very similar to the headings on the old feedback forms. Simply fill out all the fields with as much detail as possible, and click submit! If you prefer to work in a word document, you can simply copy and paste your text into the appropriate boxes. See below for some helpful suggestions on things to comment on. Be sure to follow this process for every story that you read.
5. Once you've read and provided feedback for all of the stories, once again hover your mouse over the "Judges" link at the top of the page, then again over "Round One", only this time click on "Rank the Stories".
6. Once again, you'll notice a very simple form. There are 15 drop down lists that contain the names of all 95 stories in the contest. Under #1, simply click the drop down, and select your favourite story from the batch that you read. Continue on to your second favourite, then third, etc. Remember that you must also indicate which stories you feel are good enough to move on to the second round. Clicking "yes" or "no" to answer this question for each story is essential to the judging process. You do not have to fill all 15 fields. You are free to judge only the stories in your batch, or you can read and judge extras if you like.
1. All of the stories are located on the website. They can be found by clicking the "2016 Stories" link at the top of the page.
2. Once you have been provided your batch number, and the stories in your batch, you may begin downloading and reading the stories you have been assigned.
3. When you are ready to provide feedback for one of the stories, hover your mouse over the "Judges" link at the top of the page, then again over "Round One", and click on "Leave Feedback".
4. On the "Leave Feedback" page, you will find a form with several fields. If you have judged in previous years, you'll notice that the fields are very similar to the headings on the old feedback forms. Simply fill out all the fields with as much detail as possible, and click submit! If you prefer to work in a word document, you can simply copy and paste your text into the appropriate boxes. See below for some helpful suggestions on things to comment on. Be sure to follow this process for every story that you read.
5. Once you've read and provided feedback for all of the stories, once again hover your mouse over the "Judges" link at the top of the page, then again over "Round One", only this time click on "Rank the Stories".
6. Once again, you'll notice a very simple form. There are 15 drop down lists that contain the names of all 95 stories in the contest. Under #1, simply click the drop down, and select your favourite story from the batch that you read. Continue on to your second favourite, then third, etc. Remember that you must also indicate which stories you feel are good enough to move on to the second round. Clicking "yes" or "no" to answer this question for each story is essential to the judging process. You do not have to fill all 15 fields. You are free to judge only the stories in your batch, or you can read and judge extras if you like.
What to Look For
When providing feedback for each story, you should be aiming to provide at least three concrete comments about what you enjoyed and about what you feel could be improved. If you are struggling to find something worthwhile to say, try basing your comments in one or more of the following areas:
Narrative Tension/Conflict
Character, Setting, Theme
Tone/Atmosphere
Narrative Modes (Dialogue, Action, Thought, Exposition, Description)
Use of Literary Devices (symbol, metaphor, simile, etc.)
Voice
Point of View
Audience Engagement
Creativity
Credibility
Language
Consistency
Title
Grammatical/Typographical concerns (e.g. if it interferes with the read).
Feel free to leave your comments in point form if you so choose!
Happy reading!
Narrative Tension/Conflict
Character, Setting, Theme
Tone/Atmosphere
Narrative Modes (Dialogue, Action, Thought, Exposition, Description)
Use of Literary Devices (symbol, metaphor, simile, etc.)
Voice
Point of View
Audience Engagement
Creativity
Credibility
Language
Consistency
Title
Grammatical/Typographical concerns (e.g. if it interferes with the read).
Feel free to leave your comments in point form if you so choose!
Happy reading!