Contest Results

are in for the Fab Five!


Uh, no, I didn't final with Demon Within, but I had some great feedback. Actually, I'm surprised I didn't delete the email. I've been spammed a lot recently and didn't recognize the sender with attachments, too. And all that was in the subject line was 'Fab Five', not 'Fab Five contest'. For all I knew it could have been some new weight-loss supplement, Canadian pharmaceutical, or new penile implant.


Basically, I placed eleventh out of twenty-four, but the finalist's scores ranged from a 57, out of 60, to 55. I scored an average of 53.5. Not too shabby for a new story that no one has seen or critted. My scores were 55, 52, and 44. Guess who scored the 44?--an RWA Pro (Pro is a designation within RWA of a writer who finished a manuscript and is actively shopping it around). In general, unpublished writers tend to be stingier with their scoring. But the lowest score is dropped so it doesn't really matter. And I wouldn't have finaled anyway even if she'd scored me higher.


But this blog isn't about not finaling, or horrible contest judges, or crappy score sheets, or judges who score low but don't comment. Those topics are fodder for another blog on another day.


This blog is about how this contest and judges did it all RIGHT.


Yep, I HEART this contest. Why?


1) the score sheets were straight forward and fairly generic, which was why I entered this contest in the first place. This story isn't a romance. So I didn't get dinged for not having the hero or heroine meet in the first few pages. The questions were very open-ended which allow the judges to evaluate the entry based on merit and not some preset criteria.


2) Simple scoring system--ten points per question, six questions: opening, characterization, plot, dialogue, setting, and style. There are some guideline questions under each header for the judges to follow, but only one score per question.


3) Three judges, one dropped score. Built in discrepancy judging. The contest can keep to it's preset timeline. Oh, I'm sure there is still the rogue judge or two, but I bet they kept it to a minimum. And when you have to use a discrepancy judge it's usually AFTER the deadline, increasing your timeline.


4) Mixture of judges. Most contests shoot for one published author per entry, but it doesn't always happen. I'm pleased that the judges marked their published/non published status. I had published in romance, published in other, and PRO.


5) All the judges commented. For those of us who enter contest, you know this is a freakin' rarity! Most contests require the judge to comment if they score below a certain number, but many judges don't comment if they score above that preset number.

6) This one is personal to me. All three judges found the same problems with the manuscript. Now, remember, this story hasn't been looked at by anyone. I had totally rewritten it after I got a two page rejection from Deb Dixon and I wanted some feedback before I continued in this new direction with the story.

I. AM. STOKED.

This doesn't happen very often, but when it does it validates you as a writer. Yes, I still have some issues, but three separate people saw the SAME problems. Repetition and a flashback scene that slowed the pacing. I know how to take care of the flashback. It is needed, but I'll find a better spot for it. And repetition is a common mistake for writers. I'll just take my sharp Kyocera ceramic knife and do a little slicing and dicing!

Kudos to the Fab Five contest! Good Luck to all the finalists!

Write On!