The Truth about Writing Contests
Opinionated statement alert: Every writer should volunteer to judge a writing contest. And not simply for altruistic reasons. No, we should do it because we can learn from reading others’ work, as it’s much easier to see mistakes in prose other than our own.
My friend Anassa Rhenisch had a great blog post about this concept ages ago (and you’ll see from my comment there that I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while). Reading “bad” writing helps us figure out why passive voice is boring, or what makes a plot hole a plot hole, or any other of a hundred bad habits we can have. And when we discover how to fix problems in others’ stories, we better understand how to fix them in ours.
Back when I first started planning this post, I was going to compare judging writing contests to American Idol. However, since then, my friend Kristen Lamb used that analogy in her fabulous post about self-publishing. Self-publishing. Contest entries. Those are similar concepts, with authors presumably sending out their best work, so you can see where I was going with the comparison.
Every year, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) sponsors a contest for unpublished authors, the Golden Heart Awards, and I volunteered to be a judge this time around. I’d previously judged a contest sponsored by an RWA chapter and figured this one would be similar. Um, no.
The RWA chapter contest I judged last fall had a scoresheet broken down by different categories like voice, point-of-view, characterization, etc. Judges assigned a number to each topic and then added up the points to determine the final score.
The Golden Heart contest has none of that. No scoresheet, no breakdowns, no guidelines at all other than a vague “how much did you enjoy it?” At first, I hated it. How was I supposed to come up with a score?
Then you know what happened? I read the entries this past weekend, probably very similarly to how agents/editors read submissions. Suddenly, everything I’ve read about how they just know made complete sense.
I could mark down the not-so-great entries for POV issues, bad prologues, grammar problems, telling instead of showing, unnecessary scenes, etc. all day long. These are the types of submissions that don’t make it past the first page with agents and editors. Maybe not even the first paragraph. Honestly, whether I gave them a score of 5.2 or 5.4 didn’t matter very much. They weren’t going anywhere near the Finalists, so the amount of rejection was irrelevant.
But then I read a great, no, a fantastic entry. The voice was spot on from the very first paragraph, and my thoughts immediately settled in to read an engaging tale, while also hoping the rest of the pages would live up to the potential.
And yes, the voice and story were wonderful, but that wouldn’t erase sins against every writing rule. Luckily, the fact there weren’t any issues with this story meant that nothing took away from my enjoyment.
The synopsis was tedious, but that didn’t matter. The first few paragraphs of the synopsis covered the same events as the entry’s pages, so I knew it was the fault of the synopsis and not the story.
If I were an agent, I’d have requested the full by about the time I got to the third page. Seriously. I gave the entry a perfect score.
And I’d love to end on that positive note, but my point requires me to talk about the last entry I read. Good voice, flawless grammar, interesting premise. But I just didn’t “enjoy” it as much.
If I were an agent, I’d send an encouraging note, probably with a request that they send future projects my way. But I wouldn’t be able to tell them how to fix this story with a “revise and resubmit” letter—because the author didn’t do anything wrong. There’s not necessarily anything to fix. It just wasn’t a story I loved.
Now I understand when agents and editors talk about how they have to fall in love with a book. And sometimes the author can do everything right, and still have it not be enough. The worst thing is that we’ll probably never know if we’re this close unless the rejection includes a personal note.
It might not be fair, but that’s the way it is. Not everyone will love our book.
I gave that last entry a very high score, but not a perfect score. I hope it will be high enough to give that author a shot at the Finals, where agents/editors can chime in with their opinions. Just because I didn’t love it doesn’t mean they won’t. Haven’t we heard that line from agents and editors before? Guess what? It’s true.
Have you judged writing contests before? Do you prefer a scoresheet with guidelines, or do you prefer to score by gut feel? What other lessons can we learn by critiquing other writers’ work? Have you ever had an agent or editor tell you that they just didn’t love your work? (Does this post make you feel better about it?)
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Like you, Jami, I’ve judged several contests where the scoresheet was really detailed, and I just judged my first bunch of Golden Heart entries. Totally different experience, but much more enjoyable in some ways because I got to just read and ask myself whether I enjoyed the story. I wish I’d signed up to do more entries because I had a wonderful time.
When I judge other contests, I think about how aspects of the story could be improved and try to pass the on to the author. With the Golden Heart, I let myself be swept away (or not).
I really can’t wait for finalists to be announced. Whether I am one or not, March 25 is so full of excitement and expectation. Now that I’ve judged, I’ll be looking out for whether any of the entries I read made it and feeling happy or disappointed for those authors instead of focusing solely on myself.
Best of luck to everyone!
@KatrinaLatham
Hi Katrina,
Yes, that’s it exactly. With the GH judging, I wasn’t looking to tear things apart or be nit-picky, it was all about the story and how much it “swept me away” (as you mentioned). I ended up enjoying the experience much more. And the finalists announcement will be very interesting. I really hope to see some of my entries on the list. Thanks for the comment!
There aren’t a lot of opportunities to judge writing contests in the MG and YA arena, unless you are published. But, I can relate. It’s how I choose which books to buy. With some books, there is nothing wrong with them, I just don’t connect with the style or story. I can tell in the first page if it’s good writing or not though. That’s why first pages are so important!
Hi Laura,
Yes, you’re right! We do this judging all time when we read a sample before deciding to buy. Great point, thanks!
Critiquing is essential to become better at writing, but I couldn’t do it for a contest. If I didn’t fall in love with an otherwise well-written story, how could I give it a lower mark? It’s not the author’s fault I didn’t connect with their work. I guess that’s why I don’t follow contests or award shows much.
I get why an agent would think this way because they have to sell the book and they’re not going to be able to sell something they’re not 100% behind.
Nice topic Jami. Lots to think about.
Hi Andrew,
Yes, that difference between subjectivity and objectivity was the reason I didn’t like the Golden Heart method at first. It feels unfair because it is unfair on some level. But unlike the RWA chapter contests, the GH is not a teaching/learning contest – the entrants don’t receive any feedback other than their score – so it’s meant to be a professional contest, emulating how agents and editors approach the work. I’ll probably hate the GH way all over again when I get my scores. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I think I prefer a score sheet (I’ve judged contests with and without them) GH, as you mentioned, was tough at first, but eventually I fell in love with the process – just wish I could have commented on a couple of the entries. Mine were mostly good. 🙂
With judging? I think it puts you in the agent/editor chair for a while – it’s a great way to see through why something doesn’t work or too, why something does. I really get the ‘falling in-love’ idea.
Like you – I highly endorse judging contests. Ever writer should do this.
Great post, Jami!
Murphy
Hi Murphy,
Yep, sitting in that agent/editor chair through this process is a great way to see our work from a different perspective. Thanks for the comment!
Yes, I’ve been told that, and yes, this does make me feel better about it. Great post, Jami. I’ve often wondered what when on behind the scenes on these contests, and while I’ve valued some of the edits I’ve received, I did realize that they can’t help but be subjective. But, then, isn’t the subjective what it’s all about? All the best.
Hi Piper,
I’m glad this helps. It’s never fun to be critiqued or rejected, but as Laura mentioned in her comment, that’s kind of the name of the game, even after you’re published. Not everyone will love our story. Thanks for the comment!
Jami, As much as it means a lot when my trusted readers say they love my writing, in spite of the flaws and issues I rely on them to tell me, they can’t publish me, so I feel this isn’t as simple a problem as you sometimes make it out to be, and I know you’re often speaking generally, but for me this isn’t simply a wishy-washy frustration. For me, at least, this isn’t a “Not everyone will love what we write” issue. but rather a “Who in publishing WILL love what we write?” issue. I don’t love paranormal romance the way a lot my writer friends do, that doesn’t mean I have to make them feel bad for it, and I think we often let the market influence in ways that causes more problems than they solve, let alone RE-solve for ourselves creatively. That’s a fairly different stance in my opinion. As much as people keep trying to shove the “critiquing others writing makes us better writers” thing down my throat, I still don’t get it the way you and others commenting here seem to. I try, but I don’t feel it’s my strength, and it’s not because I don’t want to repay those who critique me, but if I can’t give someone WHY this doesn’t work for me, I’m being no more helpful than those form letters we all get, and I believe it’s our duty as writers to try and give the WHY or we stay stuck… — Read More »
Hi Taurean, I always appreciate your comments because you make me question myself–and I see that as a good thing. 🙂 You’re absolutely right that sometimes we can feel a certain way and lose the nuance behind that feeling of how our approach might not work for everyone. So thank you for being a “nuance reminder” for me. 🙂 Yes, I try to share my bad along with my good (I just wrote a comment on my most recent post about how I can get discouraged by comparing my hourly word counts with others because I’m just not that fast of a writer). But I am a Pollyanna optimist, so I’ll admit that I don’t dwell on those bad things as much as others might. Just as much as that’s part of who I am, others are who they are, and that’s not something any of us choose. Not everything is a “weakness,” and not everything is something we can “fix.” As for your question about why one would enter a no-feedback contest… I can speak only for myself, but I enter it a) because it’s prestigious, and b) because watching my scores go up each year shows me the progress I’m making in my writing. It’s nice to have a gut feel for our improvement, but hard numbers feel good too–at least for me. 🙂 Yes, I’ve volunteered to judge several writing contests. I feel I get value out of it–seeing what others are capable of, seeing mistakes I… — Read More »
Hi Jami,
Good post… you & I talked about this on Twitter last week. I definitely prefer using the scoresheet to judge entries. The Golden Heart with its 1-9 blanket scoring system is tough.
“For purposes of judging, a score of 5.0 shall be specified as ‘average’ for an unpublished manuscript.”
It’s entirely subjective–my idea of average might be your idea of outstanding. At least with scoresheets & commenting, we, as judges, have the opportunity to explain the number we assigned to an entry. I think that’s more valuable for the writer who put their heart (and money) into submitting their work.
Hi Karla,
I know, I was just complaining about this last week. 🙂 But after I finished all the entries, I changed my mind about the scoresheets – only because as RWA states, the GH isn’t intended as a teaching tool. If RWA’s goal is to reflect the judgment of an agent or editor, I think they have to do it this way.
For normal contests, where the entrants are expecting feedback, the scoresheets make complete sense. It’s only by seeing where our scores are lower that we can discern our weaknesses. But here, for this specific contest, I think this works. (Until I see my own scores, then I’ll probably be complaining about it all over again. LOL!) Thanks for the comment!
Great post, and thanks for the shout-out! I haven’t judged a writing contest—my “bad writing” experience comes from reading amateur fiction and from freelance editing—but it sounds like a great way to get insight into an agent’s mind. I also think critiquing a full-length work accentuates the whole “we don’t have time to accept bad writing” stance, because it drills in how much time it takes to clean up a manuscript. (It’s also good practice for our own revisions.)
Hi Anassa,
I’m glad you found this post despite me flaking on tweeting it to you. 🙂 Yes, you’re right, and it also gives us insight in how difficult it can sometimes be to put a finger on what exactly makes something not work for us. Thanks for the comment!
Wow. No score sheets? I might have been perplexed at first as well. But, sometimes, when judging contests, I’m not in love with the score sheets. I’d love a few general questions about the book to which I can write my answer instead of choosing a number.
Hi Lynn,
Yes, I probably read the instructions about – no joke – 5 times to try to glean how the heck I was supposed to score those suckers. 🙂 Perplexed describes my thoughts pretty well. Thanks for the comment!
When you do a lot of reading, I think it’s easy to tell when stories need more work on the craft of writing. But I like what you said about seeing a difference between perfect story and the story that was well written but didn’t grab you. As a writer, that’s what’s difficult for me to judge — and to create, especially because it’s sometimes subjective.
Hi Andrea,
Yes, as a reader, we understand the difference between like and love. I know I’ve not loved stories that others did. But as you said, that’s a harder thing (and more frustrating) to judge and create as a writer. Thanks for the comment!
I know exactly what you mean about judging others’ work helping with your own writing. This is partly why I LOVE reading and critiquing fellow writers. I do judge a yearly poetry contest – last year one of the judges passed out a list of ratings… which was helpful for remembering what we liked most about each poem… but honestly, despite the ratings, what swayed me the most was my feeling about the piece – and of course if it maintained all of those things that encompass good writing, then that was part of it. On the other hand, working together with two other judges AT THE SAME TIME helped me see the beauty in poems that may have been well written, but didn’t perhaps strike me… and in addition, I know I was able to do the same for the other authors too.
Hi Danielle,
Oh yes, it would be so interesting to go through an entry with other judges at the same time to see how they differed from you. Interesting. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
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All good points. I also judged in the GH and gave two of my entries high scores, but they didn’t wind up in the finals. This is all very subjective. I’ve judged my local chapter’s contest so this is not news to me.
However, I’m done with contests and have decided to just continue to submit directly to editors. While I’ve never finaled in a romance contest, I have had more than one full MS request from editors and a partial from an agent.
My last contest entry came back from one judge who wrote that “three paragraphs without dialogue is telling” and called a compound sentence a “run on sentence”. She might be new to judging and/or new to writing and still learning. Still, it’s disappointing to get feedback that I can’t use.
The only way I’ll enter a contest again is if the judges are editors and/or agents. And that’s called subbing!
Hi Maria,
I understand. A good 80% of the contest feedback I receive at my level of writing is unhelpful or just plain incorrect. 🙂 Now I’m in contests to avoid the query process–final or bust. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
Hi Jami,
I have a question. I submitted the same piece to the RWA Utah Great Beginnings contest and got an aggregate score of 90%. The same piece submitted to RWA Wisconsin Fab Five got an aggregate of 40%.
Exactly the same 5 pages of Chapter 1. How can 2 judges in the first contest love it and provide all positive comments, while the other 2 judges in the other one hated the plot, dialog and setting.
I am completely stumped!
Hi Max, How frustrating! Did you receive the scoresheets yet? Did any of the judges leave comments on the scoresheet or the manuscript? Here’s what I would look at if I were in your position: How many judges were there in each contest? Did one contest drop the lowest score and the other didn’t? (In other words, did both contests contain a mix of judges’ scores, but the contest policies created a difference?) Did you enter under the same category in each contest? Or did one contest not have categories? (Categories can greatly change judges’ expectations and mindset when reading because then you’re also being judged by how well you meet those expectations.) Compare where the two entries ended. Did one entry end at a cliffhanger or hook and the other didn’t? Were the entries of the same scene or scenes? If the entries were of different scenes, that disparity of scores wouldn’t be as much of a surprise, but even if they were of the same scene, hooks can make a huge difference in judges’ eagerness and enthusiasm for the entry. Compare the scoresheets themselves. Did one emphasize craft with lots of points? Did one focus on characters or setting or…? Look at what they each include or not include. I once missed finaling simply because my synopsis was being judged (which I hadn’t realized and cleaned up first), and that brought my score down by 20%. Compare how questions for similar elements were worded. If one asked whether… — Read More »
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