Open Novella Journal 2024

The Judging Criteria

As stated in the rules and guidelines, the judging criteria for this contest are...
- spelling and grammar
- narrative voice
- relation to theme/prompt
- creative execution

Of course, does this really tell writers what they're looking for?

If you're looking for an answer on whether the judging criteria are spread equally between the four criteria, I can't tell you this, but I do know there are individuals who place too much onus on spelling and grammar.

How much so?

Well, their onus on spelling and grammar can be summed up as, "If I find a single spelling or grammar error in your story, you should be eliminated," or sometimes they're like, "If I can find three or more grammar or spelling errors your story should be nixed." And, of course, their story shouldn't have been nixed because they, of course, in their opinion, have perfect grammar. I say in their opinion because anyone who tells you they never mess up when it comes to grammar and spelling is an outright liar.

Oh!

I should also mention these individuals always focus on the spelling and grammar aspects of their stories and nothing else because, in their minds, spelling, and grammar are the epitome of good writing rather than the basic building block. They're so focused on spelling and grammar that they've never developed a true narrative voice to their writing, and creative execution leaves a lot to be desired. And don't get me started on whether their story actually related to the theme/prompt or not, because their mind is way too focused on the grammar part.

To say their writing is lackluster would be accurate. Still, I also wouldn't place the blame directly on the writer but instead on an education system that places an over-emphasis on spelling and grammar, and by that, I mean a system that punishes someone for having one or maybe even three mistakes in secondary education writing that don't happen at the tertiary level whereas other skills get majorly neglected.

Oh, and this is a system that advocates for thesaurus abuse as well.

Yet, this is how the mindset of these writers is shaped. Still, on a judging rubric, they would honestly think one to three mistakes would be enough to get a writer's work (and we're talking a 20-40k work rather than the 1-2k essays they are writing in school as well) should result in them receiving a score of 1 or even 0 when it comes to grammar, rather than receiving whatever the top mark is or the score below. (3-4 on a four-point scale and 4-5 on a five-point scale).

Nor does it occur to them that there is some level of expectation on the judges part that writers will go back and make minor edits to their stories over ONC.

The other thing that doesn't occur to them is whether or not they're scoring low in the other three categories, let alone whether or not they're actually following a prompt. And it's actually not likely the score that got them nixed from the first round, which I'll go into later on.

More importantly, having a strength in narrative voice and one's creative execution is important because practically everyone in ONC is going to be scoring high when it comes to spelling and grammar, either getting the highest score, or the score just below, or even a score between the two. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous, but it majorly bothered me last year because these writers (and some of their supporters) kept going on about how their story was better written (referring to the grammar and spelling aspects) than other stories they read.

So, in other words, it wasn't just an issue of not respecting the judges last year, but also not respecting their fellow writers.

Seriously, don't go around claiming someone isn't as good of a writer as someone who got nixed during the contest during the first round, even if you don't name that certain someone. It's an outright lie if it's based on spelling and grammar and still, a lie, if it's based on your personal preferences, aka, their writing, is not your cup of tea.

Now, this isn't to say some of the stories I rooted for didn't get nixed, because I do know one that got nixed for having triggering artwork, but that's another entry isn't it? By that I mean why people get nixed during the first round is another entry for this journal.