Mini Rant about Contests

As I might have mentioned, I have another packet of contest entries to judge. For the most part, I judge contest submissions the same way I critique. The difference is that when I crit, I know the writer's history, style and craft, and for the most part, I don't have to explain my comments. When I judge a contest entry, I don't know if the writer is brand spanking new or a published author trying out a different genre, which means you have to explain your scores.

--though you can tell pretty quickly the writers who have a little bit of experience under their belt.

And then you get those submissions where the writer gets your expectations and/or defenses up immediately.

I'm working on one of those contest entries right now.

Let me 'splain a little.

The way this particular contest put each entry together is: manuscript pages, one page synopsis, and score sheet.

Not all score sheets are created equal, so I had to flip all the way to the back to read the score sheet, the questions asked and the categories.

Okay, fine, this one was weighted VERY HEAVILY on the romance of the story, because the hero and heroine each had a seperate category with three questions each for a total of 30 points. OUCH! If you don't intro your hero or heroine within the submission pages, you could potentially get seriously dinged!

I really don't like those kinds of score sheets, as they tend to favor the intro of the H/H almost immediately. If you write a story that intro's either the hero or heroine later, then I'd avoid this type of contest. READ YOUR SCORE SHEETS PRIOR TO ENTERING A CONTEST.

Many times if I'm reading confusing manuscript pages, then I'll go to the synopsis to clarify who is who and then I'll get on with reading the story. But since it was a one-pager, I read it on this first submission.

And I reread it.

And tried again.

Nope. No clue as to who the hero OR the heroine were. NO clue as to what's at stake other than the end of the world (very, very broad external conflict). No clue as to any internal conflict, especially since I didn't know who the main character's were! It was a bunch of plot points that weren't even in any order to even show progression of the story.

And seperated by a couple of blank lines, the author wrote a statement that this was the third book in a series, but it could also stand-alone.

Ruh-Roh! Scooby-Doo!

Uh, no, it can't.

A quickie note about a synopsis. I don't care about all the politically correct upheavel about what constitutes a romance--romance writers know what I'm talking about here--so I will go as generic as possible.

A synopsis for a romance must show the two main characters with an attraction toward each other (they're usually fighting it) (for example: cop/con, werewolf/hunter), as the romance develops they experience internal and external conflict that tries to pull them apart, until the moment when they realize it will never work out (black moment) and resign themselves to the fact that they will never be together until something happens to threaten one of the MC's and they realize they can overcome their conflicts to live happily ever after or Happy for now.

So now, I'm faced with scoring this entry and writing copious notes about how I came to my conclusions. I have to say that giving a "1" is pretty harsh and I avoid it if at all possible. I try not to score below a three EVER, but I had to be harsh with this entry. Everything got a one, and yes, I explained why I scored this way.

But I have a feeling that this author won't have her listening ears on.

She was already defensive when she wrote that it was the third book in a series, which I think she felt excused her starting the story in the middle nowhere. Just because a book is the third in a series doesn't excuse the fact that you have to ground the reader in THIS book.

And this is my public service announcement for the day.

If there are any typos . . . oops, my stupid spell check button isn't working!

Later, Peeps!

Margaret's Pet Peeve # 5746

I have a lot of pet peeves. Usually they don't bother me other than to irritate me for a second and then I get over myself.

But this week, it's different.

Why? you ask.

Well, due to my miscalculations, I have two packets of contest entries to judge. One packet consists of four historical romances of 50 pages and a synopsis, BUT the contest requires only one score. Comments are expected on the entries along with responding to two questions on the score sheets. Though these entries are long, they aren't as time consuming as contest #2.

Segueing nicely into . . .

Contest #2 sent me a packet, consisting of four paranormal romances of 25 pages and an unjudged one-page synopsis. BUT this contest's score sheet is very, very detailed requiring a huge time investment.

Though these contests are run differently, judged differently, and are totally different genres, I have seen one serious issue pop up OFTEN in both of them. Yes, this problem is becoming more and more prevalent in ALL contest entries and it is the result of the dreaded disease known as 'lazy writing'. And as a judge it isn't my job to 'fix' your boo-boos, you should find them and fix them yourself or find critique partners who will beat some sense into you.

This problem has become one of my biggest pet peeves . . . at least for this week. 

What is it?

The lack of appropriate punctuation.

Yes, I know I'm comma challenged. And I have been known to make up words--boobage happens to be a favorite of mine. And I have been known to make nouns into verbs to suit my purposes.

But one thing I learned in the fourth grade-and a lesson that I will never forget--is to place a comma after the word in front of  or behind a proper noun, especially when addressing someone.

For example: What did he want Billy?  Sally can you come here?

This is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

It should be: What did he want, Billy? Sally, can you come here?

See that little comma?  The one after the 't' in want. Yeah, that one. That comma belongs there. And the one after Sally? Yep, you got it. It should be there.

I know in this age of instant messaging, texting, and instantaneous gratification, blah, blah, blah, writers tend to forget the simple stuff that sets them apart from the masses--the ability to write well.

This is pure lazy writing, and it is as irritating as a mosquito bite.

STOP DOING IT!!

Public Service announcement is over for the day.

Later, Peeps!  --By the way . . . notice the comma?  Yeah, that one. The one after 'later'. You got it. It's supposed to be there.