MARCH THEME: CREATURES

It gives me great pleasure to announce the winners for this month! But, before we dive straight in, I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone for their patience. And, of course, a special thank you to our judges - and we had a total of seven judges. I think we might have actually broken some sort of Wattpad record - we had seven judges, and two more judges who were willing to judge in case one of the seven dropped out. How inctredible is that? Thank you to everyone who volunteered to judge! We would love to see everyone return, as either participant or judge - either way, we would be thrilled to have you again. 

Buttertech - Thank you so much for being incredibly prompt, but also very fair with your scoring. You stepped out of your comfort zone to judge some of these stories, and words cannot express how much I appreciate your commitment and diligence. 

GryffindorsLoneWolf - I cannot express how thrilled I was to see you return as a judge! You not only offered to judge, but you offered to judge more books than I thought anyone would ever agree to, and you submitted it all well before time with incredible and thorough feedback. Thank you so much - you are truly fantastic. 

mistress_me - Thank you so much for judging for us this month! You were very communicative, which is something I really, really appreciate. You've been very thorough with scores, breaking down each bit of the criteria, which is simply brilliant! Thank you so much! 

pluviophile_bookworm - I know how incredibly busy you are, so I was so thrilled and honoured when I saw you sign up to be a judge. Your judging was as fantastic as your reviewing is, and your feedback and dedication was amazing. Thank you so much - I am so grateful to have you as one of our reviewers. 

Rosie_Posie1 - A dear friend and a fantastic judge! Despite being so incredibly busy, you still pitched in and offered to judge. Along with this, you handed in the scores well before they were due, you kept them detailed and fair, and you were excellent at keeping the communication lines open. Thank you so much! 

the_bibliophile101 - Thank you so much for judging for us! Your feedback was thorough, and you were honest and kind throughout the entire process. It was such a pleasure to have you on the team for this month, and we would love to see you again sometime! 

_WishUpon_ - You are simply brilliant. Not only did you judge promptly, but your feedback was incredibly detailed and thorough. Better yet, you didn't just give 75 words of feedback, but you broke down each criteria and justified your score for each one. You are an absolute champion, and thank you so much for judging for us.

And now, onto the results! 

First of all, congratulations to everyone who made the shortlist! All stories were judged by at least two people, and the scores were incredibly, incredibly close. Most stories were separated by either one point or half a point, and we all know how incredibly subjective writing is, so everyone should be extremely proud of themselves. You've all done brilliant. 

Now, here is our shortlist:

STORY: Misadventures by Monsters

AUTHOR: awesomeSTG

FEEDBACK:  

This book started with a great hook, running from danger (suspenseful action). The descriptions were vivid and realistic, using hearing, sight, touch, smell and emotions. Surroundings were made easily into pictures in my mind. As characters were introduced (and at a good pace), their interesting personalities actually worked together very well. Their personalities were contrasting. Also, the pacing of the story was slow enough to seem realistic. Information was not crowded. Something to be worked on was that the characters were a tad bit too perfect. They fit together maybe a bit too obviously. Overall, good pacing and descriptions, but character personalities were a little too perfect. 

STORY: Castle

AUTHOR: EmberShy

FEEDBACK: 

Intriguing prologue, it really got me hooked. I liked the way you tied the prologue into the story. Great job tying the backstory into the present. It led straight to the point of Emlyn being taken away by magic. More intrigue there! I think you have a strong connection with the main character, helping you portray her in the story. One of my favorite things to read is "real-world" people being taken to fantasy lands. Harry Potter, Narnia, and now- Castle. Although your ideas and story are completely your own, I did take off a few points for originality, just because it's a traditional 'normal person in fantasy world story.' However, way to push the boundaries and choose what that means for yourself, because, like I said, your ideas, characters, setting, and story are all your own. Good word choice, I feel that a bit more dialogue would help improve your story. From what I read, you have a great story, characters, and setting. Keep writing!

STORY: Ripper: An Iodoraptor Story

AUTHOR: ElijahCole11

FEEDBACK: 

I absolutely love Jurassic Park (the original) and going into this I honestly didn't know what to expect. The movies taught us that the things we create have their own minds, you can't control them, and I love you played on that concept! However, it felt a little redundant over time about him questioning his existence. You did explain and show the pain very clearly and it is an intelligent creature, but some of the things had me questioning if the dinosaur really knew everything, like how it was the only one of its kind. Then again, who knows what's going on in the creature's mind? There were some tense switches and grammatical errors that I noticed, but nothing too bad; I do suggest however, changing the sentence style. It felt like a lot of it was "I feel or I this, I that". I loved the cover!! It reminded me of the movies.

STORY: Conquest

AUTHOR: Nlght_lock

FEEDBACK:

Ooh, mysterious and intriguing prologue. You're very descriptive and have a good choice of words. You also had a good balance between description and dialogue. I liked the foreshadowing used in chapter 2. Enjoyable characters and creatures! A couple things I'd do to improve are: use more pronouns, and include a little bit less dialogue. I found it a bit distracting how many times you said Frid, Hellgor, etc. Remember to include he, she, they and it. As for the dialogue, its good, but there's quite a bit. It's important to have a good description to dialogue ratio. Hope this helps and great job!

STORY: Demonic

AUTHOR: -skittish

FEEDBACK: 

The prologue was amazing! I really hooked me in, seeing as how she had to go through that as a child, but after that it reminded me a little too much like a teen book plot (a demonic one I guess haha). Then I moved onto the later chapters and wow! The dialogues were fun to read and the descriptions were awesome! There were some spelling errors that kept repeating themselves and grammatical ones, so be careful with that please. All in all, it's a story with potential and I love Scarlet, she's interesting and fun to read! 

STORY: Sunkissed

AUTHOR: Half-Blood_Hill

FEEDBACK: 

Overall, great use of literary elements to describe the setting. However, I'd suggest you focus on the main character and her actions and thoughts. The long descriptions of the secondary characters and setting aren't really needed. I have only heard Duana's name once or twice and I am not sure what she looks like or how she feels through the beginning chapters. Your beginning was drawn out, but the wedding scene lacked thoughts and emotions that could have made your story richer.

STORY: The Legend of Mother Nature

AUTHOR: WyPark02

FEEDBACK: 

I really loved this book, and will most likely continue to read it in days to come. I found very little errors in spelling and vocabulary for this book, and it was smooth and pleasant to read. I could get a feel for each character simply by the way Anochti described them, and the setting felt realistic and exciting. The only real thing I would change is the beginning. It felt to me like there was too much narration and not enough revelation through actions and dialogue. It makes the story easy to understand, but it also hooks the reader more when there is a mystery; a suspense. Overall, great job on this book. I really enjoyed it!

Now, before we announce the winners, a quick shout-out goes to awesomeSTG - you were only one point away from the top three. Congratulations! 

And now, onto our top three: 

IN THIRD PLACE: 

STORY: Xalvandor 

AUTHOR: VAMP1R1NA

FEEDBACK: 

First off, some terms were defined in the beginning of the book, which was helpful but also seemed out of place. It made the book seem too casual (like someone was talking). Secondly, using quotes to start off chapters is a GREAT and captivating way to begin. Most people could relate to the quotes and it gives a summary of the chapter. Lastly, the descriptions were not very vivid. The vocabulary was a bit weak, so pictures did not form in my head easily.

SCORE: 80/100

IN SECOND PLACE: 

STORY: Death Gave Me Wings

AUTHOR: Alatary

FEEDBACK: 

I really enjoyed your novella! I was very honoured to read it. It was very clear to me that you put your heart and soul into it and it red pretty professionally to me. The only thing I would advise you to watch out for it your commas and semi-colons. I noticed some could have been swapped for the other or were not needed. Other than that small detail I think what you have was fun to read and one of the more professional books on Wattpad. Happy Writing!

SCORE: 82/100

IN FIRST PLACE: 

STORY: When Night Comes

AUTHOR: xohrats

FEEDBACK: 

Definitely enjoyed reading this!! The descriptions, the writing, everything was amazing!! It really felt like a fantasy to me, with the unknown worlds, mysterious creatures. It's beautifully crafted and the reader really gets a feel of everything, from Freyja's burning desire to exact revenge on those who destroyed her mother to the descriptions of the surroundings. There were only a few grammar errors, but nothing that really stopped me from ploughing through the chapters!! I did think the hatred was a bit repetitive, but that may have been just me. The writing was absolutely beautiful; the verbiage and the sentence structures made it pleasing read! I truly loved reading this and will definitely keep up with this book as it goes on!! 

SCORE: 87/100

Congratulations - not just to our winners, but everyone who made the shortlist! The competition was extremely tough - most stories were only a point away from the one above them. The quality was incredibly high, and I am so, so impressed. 

Again, it would be AMAZING to have everyone come back next month - as either participant or judge! Remember, even if you got into the shortlist, you can still resubmit your story as long as it matches the theme (if you were in the top three, however, you cannot). It'd also be great to see some of our winners/shortlisted participants come back as judges. We're all about community, so it would be our privilege to have participants/judges come back. 

Also, feedback is always, always appreciated. If you have any feedback to give me, I would love to hear it. It can be about anything surrounding the awards - did it feel disorganised? Was the host horrible? Do you think we can improve in some way? Don't be afraid - I promise I won't bite, and I will take all feedback into consideration. 

Anyways, see you all next month with our new theme!