𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚊 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐...
In the Mellonia Community, we are like a big family. Our goal is to create a magical place for members to come together, showcase their talents, and let their imaginations run free.
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𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴? Since I’ve just recently joined the Mellonia community a few months ago, the Brumous awards was my first opportunity to be a judge and to truly be able to determine which story was best suited for first to third place, specifically for “best blurb.” So as you can see, I’m not that experienced, but I took the knowledge I have from critiquing and reviewing stories in the past, and think I did a pretty decent job at judging (or so I hope).
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲? I always focus more on the story itself, never the authors, really. What they’ve managed to create, along with the quality of their writing, that’s what truly matters. I believe this is what makes it fair for every author’s story I judge, that I take a look at what the author has nailed and what they may need to improve on. I analyze their stories from a neutral standpoint and with the intention to be a guide, never to bring anybody down or say that their story is bad. But if there are parts that don’t make the cut, whether it’s the dialogue, a character’s behavior, awkward sentences or anything concerning writing, or really anything at all, I will always comment on it to get the author’s awareness on it so they know what to fix. And I’m certain it’s the same in every other judge’s eyes. I always try my best to write the most in-depth feedback on what the author did well and what could have been done better so that the author understands why they got the place they got, whether first or last, and so they see where I’m coming from and how they can improve their writing. I believe all judges should explain, not only their opinion on the story along with a quick review of it, they should also include as to why they took the decisions they did and, as I mentioned, give feedback on how they can improve their skills. And at the end of the day, whether the writers believe it was unfair or not, it’s all up to them to decide whether they want to improve on their craft and take my advice. But my goal is to acknowledge the stories’ mistakes and achievements and to give recognition to the stories who deserve it
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁? Fortunately, so far I haven’t actually had any conflicts with judging. I mean, I’m still pretty new at this so there was no issue at the last awards.
