Edit wiki/not-reading-submission-requirements.md — Rookie Mistakes & Gotchas

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# not reading submission requirements

*(common gotcha)*

## what happened

you build a great project, then discover the submission requires a 2-minute video, a written description under 500 words, and screenshots in a specific format. it's 30 minutes before the deadline. you rush through all of it and submit garbage supplementary materials alongside a great project.

## why it's a gotcha

submission requirements are often posted weeks before the deadline but nobody reads them until the end. the video, the writeup, the screenshots — these are what judges actually see first. your code might be excellent, but if your submission materials are rushed, judges form a bad first impression before they ever look at the project. discovering them last-minute while [[submitting-right-at-the-deadline|submitting at the deadline]] is the worst combination.

## the fix

read the full submission requirements on day one. put the non-code deliverables on your task list alongside the coding work. allocate time for the video and writeup — they're not afterthoughts, they're the packaging. same lesson as [[match-the-theme-track|matching the theme]]: read the rules before you build. and [[check-what-you-submit|verify your submission]] matches what was asked for. the writeup is also where you [[frame-impact-explicitly|frame your impact]].