𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫: Nika | Nikachu22
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐞: Azan | FrostedForestFairy

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𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲?
I'm Azan and I'm a writer as well as judge and reviewer. I've been a judge since 2021/2022.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲?
I think the pros are that you get to discover some amazing new stories and also as a person who enjoys reading, judging it quite fun. I'd say the con is that it's a bit time-consuming since you have to focus on the language used in the story and find things to give constructive criticism on.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲?
I usually look for the grammar usage as well as how appealing the story is. It's easy for me to judge these two things. One thing I struggle with is rating based on the rubrics. Sometimes I'll find two stories that are harder to judge between as to which one is better.

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹?
So far I've never had someone contest my judging, thankfully!

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴?
Sometimes I will see books that could be considered 'first drafts', as in there are some very noticable mistakes in them and they stand out like a sore thumb between all the other books that have been proofread.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲?
Similar to the previous question, I'd definitely suggest proofreading and editing the story before entering it into awards. It greatly improves your chances of scoring high!

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗔 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀? 𝗪𝗵𝘆?
Definitely constructive criticism! I know many writers enter awards to get criticism on their shortcomings but using a harsh tone can demotivate them from writing. Constructive criticism provides a nice balance between criticism and politeness.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺?
Well, definitely give it a shot! It's a pretty fun experience. And you always get to learn new things once you start judging. It's a great way to grow as both a writer and a person. Also probably don’t take too much burden, remember that this is just a fun little side project of your life.