All Reading is Subjective

I mentioned a week or so ago that I was judging another contest. This contest was for published books. A few weeks ago, I received four books in the mail.

They were all historical romance novels.

3 were by NYT Best Selling Authors--I recognized all these authors, in fact, I'd previously read books by all three of these authors
1 author had only published 3 books--I didn't know this author

3 were single title length novels--these books are long--around 90,000 - 110,000 words
1 book was a Harlequin Historical (HQH)--75,000 words max.--Harlequin Historical series release 6 books a month.

2 stories took place in Regency England
1 story took place in Scotland, post-Battle of Culloden
1 story took place in Texas--post Civil War

2 of the NYT Best Selling author books were total duds -- and a totally forgettable waste of my time
1 NYT Best Selling book had 4 romances intertwined within one story --  WOW!
1 HQH was INCREDIBLE!

Those are a few stats about these books, but I have a few observations I want to make.

• Just because an author is a New York Times Best Selling author, it doesn't mean that all the author's books are excellent. It just means they sell a lot of books, which puts them on the list.
• Sometimes a longer word count doesn't mean a more exciting book. It can mean that the author dithers around about nonsense for far too many pages.
• Don't assume that if you've never heard of the author before that the book can't be good
• Don't assume that a Harlequin Series book isn't as good as a single title novel--sometimes they are better because they have to be written more tightly, which increases the pacing.
• Because I love or hate a story, it doesn't mean you will have the same reaction.

Though I won't reveal the two dud books, I will mention the two stories that really worked for me. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Scottish warrior looks like this guy!

Young Readers ARE Subjective

A few days ago, one of my writerly-type friends posted a note on FB that Parent & Child magazine listed the top 100 Greatest Books for Kids, and she wondered what others thought about it. She didn't like the idea that they called it the "GREATEST" books for Kids.

And I happen to agree.

Greatest books in whose opinion? Teachers? Librarians? Editors? Parents? Because you know they didn't ask the kids! Many of those books are read by kids because their teachers/parents force them to read them.

The greatest books tag needs to be changed to Most Popular or Biggest Moneymaker or Whatever, but not greatest.

Look at the dance show that used to be called, America's Best Dancer. They changed the name to America's FAVORITE Dancer because the best dancer doesn't always win. They might be technically adept, but if they don't have much of a personality or the ability to convey the emotions of the dance, or whatever, then the voters won't vote for them.

Again, it's subjective.

Which was my comment: Even at a very young age, children are subjective readers. What one kid likes another kid doesn't.

I loved reading the Froggy books to my daughter. She listened to them, but they weren't her favorites. THE SLEEP BOOK was, and still is, one of her favorites. I bought a dragon book for her three years ago called, THE FIRE WITHIN. I loved the book, but I couldn't get her to read past the first few pages. Now, she's devouring the series.

I love Harry Potter. She refuses to read them.

I love the Percy Jackson books. She refuses to read them.

It might be a readiness and ability to read a particular book, but if a child is interested, they will read. The key as a parent is to give them the ability to CHOOSE the books they want to read. And yes, I firmly believe this subjectivity starts at a very young age.

Fantasy stories have always talked to me. I understood them, but when my brother gave me THE HOBBIT when I was 12, I wasn't ready to read that particular book. Two years later, I read THE HOBBIT and the rest of the Lord of the Rings trilogy within weeks . . . and then read them again and again.

My sister, a double Masters, teacher/librarian for 35+ years, refused to read the Harry Potter books. I still don't know if she's read them. All I know is that she hasn't read my stuff. :-P She didn't like the "abuse" Harry suffered when he lived in the cupboard under the stairs. Actually, I find comfort in small places--kind of like swaddling an infant--it conveys the feeling of security.

I think she missed a huge opportunity by her stubbornness--

because when an author writes a series of books that manages to get a WHOLE GENERATION ALL OVER THE WORLD TO START READING, then that's a really, really good thing.

God Bless, J. K. Rowling!

Anyway, the whole purpose of this blog is to let kids read what they want to read. Who cares what they read as long as they are reading . . . within reason, of course, you don't want a 10-year-old reading racy romances, do you? You do have to play the parent, yanno. And, yes, I know I have blog readers who cut their teeth on romances, but back then they didn't have quite the same level of heat. . . unless you read Rosemary Rogers, but that's another blog topic!

Reading is wonderful. I just don't want someone to tell me that because I haven't read a particular book (trust me, there are TONS of "classics" that I haven't read) it makes me less educated or well-read.

Many people read to be educated. While others feel they need to broaden their minds. While others will only read non-fiction. Or others read only classics. Or . . .  (supply your reason here)

I read for enjoyment and escapism.

What do your read, and why?

My Contest Judge is an Idiot!

This topic comes up every couple of months on various loops across RWA land. I was going to respond to the topic on the loop, but thought, 'Hey, I don't have a topic for today. I'll use this one!'

Romance writers are lucky. They have a very large supportive organization that holds a National contest for published and unpublished writers, Rita's and Golden Heart. This contest idea has a trickle down effect, in which many RWA chapters also hold contests. These contests run the gamut from query letter to synopsis to first XX # of pages to steamy scenes--it is a romance contest so what else would you expect--to HEA ending.

RWA chapters win because contests make their chapter money, which is used for the benefit of the chapter: special speakers, retreats, conferences, etc. But their reputation is also at stake. If they get lousy judges, or have a lousy score sheet, or their final judges aren't impressive, they can take a financial hit. In today's electronic world, chapter's don't loose very much except in the area of making money. Virtually everyone working on the contest does it as a volunteer. There is nothing to mail unless the final judge insists upon paper submissions. And even with mailing 3-5 entries up to 30 pages each, how much does that really cost?? Not a huge amount, considering contests are charging $20-35 per contest entry. Pure gravy.

Today I'm going to concentrate on the judge's portion of the equation. I will be speaking as a judge, instead of as a contest entrant in response to some of the judge's comment. Of course, everything is subjective, including entrant interpretation of comments. And therein is the inherent problem.

--This is a subjective business. Tastes differ even within a genre.

--Judges HAVE to follow the score sheet instructions, though I've started fudging scores in the last couple of years. There is no sense in marking someone a 1 out of five, when a 3 will get the point across. There is no way an entry full of 3's will final in a contest. Along with the fact that giving someone 5's across the board won't guarantee a final. This has happened a few times. I've loved a story; it's very clean and ready to publish, BUT it doesn't even final. It's heart-breaking for a judge. When I come across an entry that I love, I sign it and put my email address down, hoping the entrant will add me to their newsletter mailing list. I WANT to see their book in print.

--Judges take their own personal experiences to the table, BUT my personal experiences may not be the same as the contest entrant's experiences with the same topic.
--For example: A writer friend (WF) wrote an obese character documenting her trials and tribulations. A judge took exception to this, complaining that the author had no idea what it was like to be obese. WF HAD been obese, but lost 100+ pounds and kept it off for 25 years. Just because the writer's experience doesn't match the judge's experience doesn't make it wrong--only different.
--another story: Susan Grant wrote her first book about an airline pilot making contact with an alien ship. The judge didn't think a pilot would do what that character did. What the writer didn't know was that Susan Grant was, and still is, a pilot. She flies the huge honkin' planes from the west coast to Asia and Australia. She knows EXACTLY how a pilot would act.
--another WF wrote about a journalist and got dinged in a contest, 'because journalists don't do that'. Guess what, kiddos? Yep. WF is a journalist.

--Judges unintentionally channel what they see on television and what they read into their opinions. We all know that TV messes things up. They film what makes good TV, not necessarily what is real. As a judge you should take everything with a grain of salt. The key is to temper your answer. And with luck, maybe the writer won't take offense to the criticism.

--it's all about word choice. When I pick up a vampire contest entry, but the vamp can walk around in sunlight, you'd better give me a valid reason. This doesn't mean tons of back story, but a reasonable explanation. I totally got sucked into the Blade movies. Wesley Snipes is a daywalker. How? Daily injections. Makes sense. No super-duper explanations. Just a sentence or actions within a scene will do it.

Judges do the best that they can. When they first start judging, they are pretty harsh in their comments because they don't know how to temper them. Speaking for myself, I saw a dramatic improvement in my own writing after I started judging.

Judging contests gives you perspective into what agents and editors see every day. There is a lot of stuff that is submitted that isn't ready for submission. As a judge it's your job to gently point out questionable areas.

But I will tell you this. Every judge has her pet peeves. Mine are horses. If you write something that doesn't make sense involving horses, I will say something in no uncertain terms. I still remember a contest entry, roughly the 1700's, where the wife of a Calvary officer was telling her husband how to ride his horse??? Come on! Yeah, I blew a gasket on that one. Pure common sense should have stopped that scene from being written.

Anyway, judges try their best when they judge a contest. As an entrant we should try to learn from the judges comments, apply what makes sense, and toss the rest.

Write on!