Competition in any field helps in identifying one’s strengths and weaknesses. It even helps one to be more refined in their skills. Since here the discussion is solely on writing abilities, the focus would be on writing competitions. Writing competitions encompasses diverse formats such as story-writing, poem writing, slogan writing, essay writing, etc.
Essay writing contest helps writers to put forth their perspectives on a particular topic, to conduct such competitions isn’t a smooth ride, one has to take into account varied considerations before conducting such competitions.
Things to keep in mind while conducting an Essay Competition
- To determine the scope of the essay contest- This means that when one decides to conduct an essay writing contest then, the first thing one should ask is- for whom is this competition being conducted? Does this mean that whether the essay writing competition is for school-going kids, or college students, or is it open for all? One can even think this question from the prism of age factors such as individuals belonging to 14-16 years or 16 to 18 years, etc., can take part in the competition.
- The context for conducting the contest- Why is the essay competition being held? This means that such competitions could be held on significant occasions to commemorate a particular day or to raise awareness on a particular issue or they may even be held to simply instill the spirit of writing among the masses. For instance- an Essay writing competition on peace and non-violence could be conducted on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, etc.
- Theme/Topic- Once the initial steps are taken care of, the focus shifts to the theme/topic for the essay contest. There could be a single topic on which all the participants can write or multiple topics could be provided from which the participant can choose and write accordingly. The topics can vary from events related to one’s life to writing on a social cause or to write political events, etc.
The organizers have to be specific about the word limit for the essay so that the participants can write their views while keeping the word limit on time.
- Create a team- An essay contest includes varied components that need to be taken care of to have a fuss-free event. Thus, creating a team would be handy in such a case. Members of the team can be assigned dedicated tasks. For instance, if the essay writing contest is offline then, one member can be endowed with the responsibility of inspecting the venue, and if it is online then, the member can look into the technicalities so that the submission process of the essay happens error-free.
- Jury members- A competition would be worthless if there are patches of prejudices in the process as well as in the result. Thus, to ensure the credibility of the essay competition, the organizers must ensure that the jury members have zero knowledge of the personal details of the participants so that they can decide the winners purely based on merit. The organizers can decide to invite esteemed personalities from the writing community such as authors or novelists so that the authenticity of the results is unquestionable.
The organizers must even specify the grounds based on which the participants can be disqualified such as in case of using unfair means to win the competition which includes bribing the jury members, producing someone else’s work by labeling it as their own, etc.
- Incentives- Incentives apart from certificates, medals or trophies are necessary to fill the participants with excitement so that they work hard to win the writing competition. The incentives can be in the form of cash prizes, shopping vouchers, a trip to an exquisite location, etc.
The organizers must mention the date when the results would be announced so that there is no ambiguity on this aspect.
- Promotion- Lastly, if the organizers want that people actively participate in the essay writing contest conducted by them then, one of the ways is to use the path of promotion. This means that promotional means such as attractive posters, banners, digital advertisements, etc., can be utilized. Moreover, these promotional sources would even provide useful information such as the date on which the essay contest would be held, the venue(if it’s an offline essay contest), timing, etc.
Conclusion
Conducting an essay writing contest helps to strengthen the culture of writing amongst the youth. This helps writers to present their opinions on an issue and it would be beneficial for even the readers to gain a holistic insight on a particular issue. Thus, if one takes into account the aforementioned points then organizing an essay contest would not be a tough row to hoe.
By: Ritika Sagar
Write and Win: Participate in Creative writing Contest & International Essay Contest and win fabulous prizes.
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