The contest descriptions on PoetrySoup often include special criteria and writing tips, and perhaps even a handy link, for the poetic form featured and usually stipulate a particular topic and/or genre, which is each sponsor’s right to do. The contest might also specify certain perimeters, for example, in my current contest I stipulate that the entries must not exceed 14 lines.
Quote from my current contest First Draft
Judging criteria: An engaging content.
It will be taken into account that it is not the final product but please conform to correct grammar and spelling. Punctuation and first-word capitalisation are the prerogatives of the poet.
Under 'Resources' there is a free spellchecker, and listed separately is the Grammar Check here on PoetrySoup.
Just for fun, and I can relate as I have made some of the same mistakes over the years:
LANGUAGE, PER SE (poetrysoup.com)
The penultimate line from the above tongue-in-cheek poem:
‘Its language, par say, that bridges the gap’ [It must read: It’s …]
(BTW it should be ‘per se’ – this deliberate error is just one of many I lampoon in that poem.)
ITS and IT’S + the apostrophe
I have included the definition of the difference between ITS and IT’S in some of my previous contest descriptions and blogs last year, but some contestants still get it wrong. It is something that I also have to concentrate on when writing, but luckily my grammar app picks it up if I should forget. (FREE app that works on most devices: Grammarly.com).
ITS is a determiner. An easy way to remember it is that it means that it determines who/what it belongs to. Example: The sun shines brightly and ITS light is reflected in the pool.
IT’S is a contraction. In other words, it is a combination of two words, namely, IT and IS. Example: The bicycle is padlocked to a pole and IT’S making it difficult for people to nick it.
From these examples, one could easily see that ‘The sun shines brightly and IT’S (IT IS) light is reflected in the pool’ would be incorrect. As would ‘The bicycle is padlocked to a pole and ITS (its what/belonging to what) making it difficult for people to nick it.’
The Oxford comma: I can truly say that I don’t care either way. Unless my app, Grammarly.com, picks it up when I post text anywhere on the Internet, including my e-mails, I would often be none the wiser. For this contest, it is not an issue, but as illustrated in the picture below, the comma would be required to make sense of a sentence.
Further, quote from my current contest
Warts and all: For example, incorrect syllable counts per the poetic form requirement (e.g. any syllabic verse) …
[Suzette Prime is only one of the many syllabic verses which to choose from.]
diesel fried chicken, by Suzette Richards - image generated 31 January 2024
As part of the design of a poetic form
During my Metaphorical Realism in Suzette Prime contest last year the use of the comma came into question. As the design of the poetic form Suzette Prime calls for NO punctuation to be used, this in practice might pose a problem. Some poets had pointed out that a line in their poem did not make sense if the comma was left out midverse/line. To confirm: no punctuation is to be used in this poetic form as the line breaks serve this purpose. Therefore, the particular line(s) would have had a natural line break indicated, as would have other punctuation usually required in normal text. Please see the definition of Suzette Prime under Types of Poems here on PoetrySoup. (BTW I have tried to have the text ‘cleaned up’ – it reads like a burned broth instead of a (Poetry)soup. I apologise for this.) The chief criteria for the Suzette Prime is that the syllables in each line must add up to a prime number and it must contain a philosophical statement. Now is the time to dust off those Suzette Prime poems that did not gel as a line or two had 9 syllables per line (9 is not a prime number and your poem would have been rejected in the aforementioned contest, but it would fit the bill for the current contest, First Draft).
It is a common request by sponsors of poetry contests (here and elsewhere) that poets should check the grammar and spelling of the poems before submitting their entries – as always, both American and British grammar and spelling are acceptable in my contests. For example: 'license' is spelled with an 's' in the USA, but in British English they differentiate between 'license' and 'licence' depending on the context in which it is used. Some contests might be a tad more challenging than others, but that is perhaps a fun way to learn new poetic forms and often poetic devices, or merely use it as a writing prompt. There are many contests to choose from on the Internet - something for everyone.
As I have said before: I have learned as much from the contestants as from other resources. I hope that the above has given you some ideas as to what to submit for my latest contest, as well as putting your mind at ease insofar as relaxing the design criteria of the poetic forms are concerned. After all, that is what First Draft is all about: warts and all, but with correct grammar and spelling.
You are welcome to pose questions on the topic of my contest, First Draft, but I, respectfully, ask that it is not based on mere semantics. Thank you.
Happy quills!
Suzette
GLOSSARY
A poetic form is a type of poem consisting of stanza/verse per set rules and presented in a prescribed format. A Format is the arrangement of things. Genre donates the poem’s style, the main categories being objective and subjective.
Subject is broader than a topic in scope. The subject is an idea, problem, situation, etc. that you discuss or write about. A topic is a particular subject that you discuss or write about.
*POSTSCRIPT
A WILD IRIS JUXTAPOSED WITH A WILD HORSES.
A wild iris juxtaposed with a wild horses.
A wild iris juxtaposed with a wild horses.
A wild iris juxtaposed with a [error] wild horses. (Error picked up when in normal script.]
This is the reason why many contest sponsors here and elsewhere stipulate “no fancy fonts”. Publishers might even go so far as to instruct you NOT to use superscript or italicise words in your text as their printing programme and font of choice do not support these. In the case of the latter example, they would ask you to use an asterisk before and after the script that you intend to italicise, something you might have noticed in texts found in the wild.
Quote from my current contest First Draft
'The capitalisation of the first letters here is the choice of the sponsor and you may elect your own style of writing the title of your poem.'
The capitalisation of the titles of poems/short stories, etc, submissions might even automatically be changed by some sites where you post your work, to be in accordance with international Rules for Capitalization in Titles of Articles, and to create uniformity.
Link: Common Title Capitalization Rules | YourDictionary