2018 Results Are In!
“I loved your story and would definitely recommend it to friends once it’s published and out on a shelf. Please keep going with this story. I really want to find out how it ends one day.”
“I enjoyed reading this! The story kept me wondering what was going to happen next!”
“From a 'reader’s' perspective, this is one of my favorite submissions/entries so far, primarily due to author’s word choices and ability to bring the characters and setting to life.”
“When I got to the end of the submission segment, I wished there was more to read.”
I defy you to name a writer who wouldn’t positively beam after reading such remarks! I sang the praises of the Ink & Insights writing contest in a previous post and while this year’s contest has yet to officially close (i.e. they haven’t announced the winners yet) I did receive my personal scorecards and was slightly overwhelmed with the positive feedback I received from my judges this year.
I scored 881 out of a possible 1000 points and while there is still room for improvement, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised by this result. Being a mere 119 points shy of a perfect score is nothing to sneeze at in my opinion! Don’t worry—I haven’t let it go to my head. I don’t write this post intending to boast. (Hah-hah that rhymed!) Instead I would like to share some of the feedback I was given in an effort to illustrate why this contest is so beneficial and truly an “Invaluable Resource”.
*Please note: since I did not get permission to refer to my judges by name I chose to omit their identities but will describe their professions and credentials.
Judge Number One, a travel blogger, freelance editor and teacher of English as a second language made the following comments:
“You’re characters are all done really well! I was able to see every one of them vividly in my head, so well done.”
“Your descriptions and setting are just beautiful. I was never bogged down with details, but I never felt like I was lacking any details either. So thank you for that!”
On the flip side of the coin she also said:
"I understand what you were trying to do with the battle scene, however I think for young adults it might be a bit slow of a start."
"I didn’t notice any internal conflict with Sasha…She handles external conflict really well, but I’d love to see some internal conflict as well."
"I wish there was just a bit more (backstory) so I could understand why Maclajez should be feared.
Judge Number Two, who unfortunately had no bio listed, stated:
“I love this story! It’s so interesting, and you weave all of these different events happening in different places together so well.”
“The scene where the queen was crying in her room because of her daughter was well done! I cried a little too.”
“You do a wonderful job sewing all these little seeds that build on one another.”
And also:
“The beginning was a little bit confusing as to who was important and who was not.”
“There needs to be more relationship build-up between characters.”
Judge Number Three, a freelance editor and author with over 15 years of experience imparted:
“In most cases, author does well bringing in character traits and each character is distinct.”
“The setting comes to life through the eyes of the POV characters—we are shown, not told—and this ‘place’ seemed real to me.”
“Author’s voice seems perfect for this genre and his/her way of writing description (word choices, similes, etc.) is very well done…It’s not easy to create an entire world populated by believable creatures from scratch, and the author does an excellent job in this area.”
However:
“While it is acceptable to write in more than one POV, author’s lack of staying in protagonist’s perspective for more than a short time causes disconnect and gives the story less depth.”
“All low scores are directly related to the POV issues, and if the author addresses/revises story to improve POV, these other issues will most likely go away.”
Judge Number Four, a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association with over 30 years of writing and editing experience said:
“Cernnunos is great! I hope he remains an important character on Sasha’s journey.”
“Overall this was a very enjoyable read.”
But also said:
“The first paragraph of the Prologue felt choppy – not in a good way – leading me initially to be concerned about how the writing would flow in the rest of the submission segment. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it improved enormously.”
This is just a fraction of the feedback I was given. I picked and chose from among my judges’ comments, both positive and negative, the strongest in either direction. The first four comments in this post are what each of my individual judges had to say about my story excerpt strictly from a reader’s perspective. Glowing reviews aside, the takeaway from all this is enormously helpful in identifying where my work needs some…well, work.
Despite previous revisions a major common thread is that my attempt at introducing my main character in a cinematic, theatrical fashion played out better in my own head than it did to my readers and unfortunately led to confusion as to who the main character is at the start—certainly not my aim! Because of this insight I basically rewrote the first couple of pages, devising a way for her to be introduced from the outset, without detracting anything important from the story and I’m quite pleased with the result.
A fifty-fifty split regarding opinions of my prologue and whether it was necessary to the story as a whole turned my editorial attention to this area as well. Ultimately I didn’t end up agreeing that it should be scrapped entirely however I did make it a bit livelier and used the opportunity to develop important back-story.
Something that I was downright amused by were the reactions I got from certain character interactions. What one reader loved another "couldn't quite see grown men behaving this way." However I am so in love with this particular bit that I doubt I will ever do away with it. Does it border on the absurd and irrational side of behavior for grown men? Absolutely. But these characters’ extreme distaste for each other and subsequent treatment of one another becomes vital later on. The scene is used to portray how despite our best efforts, nobody is impervious and we all have moments where our more childish, irrational self rears its ugly head, even if for only a few moments.
I strongly encourage any fellow aspiring novelists out there to give this contest a try if you haven't already. It's a real eye-opener having someone completely unbiased take a look at the first 10,000 words of your manuscript and give you the good the bad and the ugly! That $40 entry fee is repaid 1000-fold by the insight and wisdom you reap from your judges!
Hapy writing everyone!
