Judging Contests

Well, shoot! I forgot what day of the week it is! Blog day Wednesday.

What to write about? What to write about? What to -- ah, ha!

I've been dicking around trying to write my query and synopsis for MOGG, but have managed to find a good way to procrastinate . . .

Judge a contest!

Not just one contest, but two! For a grand total of ten submissions in the last two weeks! YAY! And though I request Paranormal or Historical, both judging panels sent to me were paranormal and there were no duplicates! Another YAY! And I actually got some really, really good ones. Triple YAY! And none of them made me want to jab a hot poker in my eye! Quadruple YAY!

I love romance--nothing is better in this world. I tried to write romance--can't. But I read romance--voraciously. And these were all paranormal romances. Four of them were excellent and of publishable quality IMHO. The rest fell into the okay category and needed some work. None of them were hideous. Trust me, over the 8 years that I've judged contests--I have run into some hideous entries, mainly due to the entrant being a newbie and not running the story through a crit group--and true, the entrant may not have access to writer friends or a crit group, but I usually try to guide them in the right direction.

BUT if you're trying to break into romance don't just read the books just out on the shelves of your local B & N (those were bought two years ago!), judge contests in your genre. You will learn more about your writing than you will ever want to admit outloud. Plus you'll have the added bonus of seeing the same stuff that editors and agents are seeing. You'll learn why agents are sick and tired of the same old, same old, because you aren't the only one to have thought about a daywalking vampire zombie shapeshifter.

Thus it all comes down to execution. How you tell the story is paramount--even more than it ever was.

Here are a few things I learned this week:
1) if you write paranormal make the paranormal element integral to the story, not superficial. If you can make the elf/vamp/zombie/shifter a human and it doesn't change anything, think up a new story plot.
2) a routine time-travel doesn't cut it any longer--it's been done--A LOT. There has to be a new and unique twist to the story. Just putting on a ring/walking into a closet/maze is so been there, done that. The butterfly effect can be a real challenge, but it also makes the story interesting.
3) polish, polish, polish--if you change your character's name make certain you change ALL instances of the name
4) Make certain your MC (main character) has sufficient motivation. Motivation CAN change throughout the story. Just make certain it's strong enough to start the plot ball rolling.
5) think outside the box--really, really outside the box--the best submissions that I read had multiple plotlines that tied together
6) If you are writing a synopsis for a romance, make certain you hit all the romance plot points and conclusion

Editors and agents aren't looking for another Nora Roberts or Jayne Ann Krentz, they already have those wonderful writers. They are looking for something new and different. They are looking for you and your unique twist to the same old story.

Write on!