Novel | Paper and Pencil ③

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The pleasure I took in reading the works submitted to the blog site literary award gradually shifted to predicting who would win the Grand Prix.

When I looked at the list of judges again, as expected, they were all people the organizer themselves followed.
Well, that makes sense; you couldn't possibly ask someone to be a judge if you didn't already have some kind of relationship with them.

Even if I were to launch some kind of blog literary award, I would ask people I already interact with. I certainly wouldn'tconsider asking someone who has blocked me to be a judge.

I had completely turned into a mere spectator.

I looked into the people who had won the Grand Prix in the past. As I had suspected,almost all of the winners were people in the organizer's inner circle. This is only natural, one might say.

After all, they ask people they are already close with to be judges and then decide the Grand Prix through consultation.
And if there is prize money involved, wouldn't it be infuriating to have it taken by a complete stranger, no matter how excellent other works might be?

While I enjoyed reading the works, I thought that I should be able to predict who would win the Grand Prixwithout even reading the works.

Of course, someone who hasn't entered wouldn't win the Grand Prix. They couldn't be that blatant.
However, it is certain that for the author of a submitted work,being followed by the organizer and the judgesis a "prerequisite" for winning the Grand Prix. It is clear when you look at those who have been chosen as past Grand Prix winners.

I boldly made my Grand Prix predictions by identifying the follow/follower relationships between the organizer and the judges, without re-reading the works.

First, those who are "strong" arethose in a "mutual follow relationship" with the organizer. The next strongest arethose in a "mutual follow relationship" with the judges. After that, it would be"one-way follows or one-way followers".

Then, about10 peoplewho seemed likely to win the Grand Prix emerged.

So, who among those 10 will be chosen?

Looking at past winners,works with an exceptionally high number of "likes" are not chosen. Perhaps it is difficult to choose works with many "likes." This is because if the people who participated in the literary award think,"Oh, so in the end, the literary award is just decided by how many 'likes' you have,"it is expected that the number of entries for future awards will drop drastically. Choosing a work that only received a few "likes" allows them to
"the judges will even read works that haven't received this much attention"
andexpect an increase in their favorable reputation.

Although the submission period is still ongoing, for me, who will win the Grand Prix has already been almost determined. It is just a prediction, but it is as if it were decided from the beginning who would win.

Still, the reason why so many people participate is probably:
① Because if you add the tag "#○○○GrandPrix," many people will read it.
② Because even if they realize it's a rigged game, they know it's like a festival.
...that is likely it.

Perhaps among the first-time participants, there are some who truly believe that "excellent works are chosen."

However, that is nothing more than an illusion.

I will not write down here who I think will win the Grand Prix. There is no benefit for me in doing so. I am satisfied enough to just chuckle to myself in private after the results are announced, thinking,"As I thought, just as I predicted".

I felt my personality becoming even worse, but I also felt, "Well, that's fine."

...Next time, the final episode

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#PaperAndPencil
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#GrandPrix
#MyWorkIntroduction
#TryLiking
#Judge
#Follower
#Follow
#ShortStory
#WhatAreYouTalkingAbout