Before I start my rant, let me say that I am PRO and I am darned hard on the entries I judge. But I don't let personal preferences or snap judgments get in the way of my scoring. And when I see something that belongs on an editor's desk, I'm all glowing praise.
I am always fascinated by my contest results when I look at them. Most of the time, I can count on published authors to score my entry high and unpublished and most PROs to score low and nitpick the chapter to death.
Just by looking at the comments, I can usually tell when a PRO has judged it. The level of "you are doing this wrong" is always high. It's like they're looking for stuff to pick on.
I'm always eager to get feedback, but it has to be intelligent feedback.
Here's a no no:
"Having both characters rich, made it hard for me to sympathize with them."
"Having both characters rich, made it hard for me to sympathize with them."
This story is targeted at Desire. The heroes are billionaires. If you're going to judge series, know your category lines. That's like a someone judging paranormal and saying they don't like all those books about vampires, shapeshifters and faeries.
And here's an example of where you lose credibility with me:
And here's an example of where you lose credibility with me:
"In the opening scene, I couldn’t figure out who was hosting the party"
CHAPTER ONE
Nathan Case dodged a waiter carrying a tray of champagne. Ahead of him, keeping just out of range, Emma Montgomery slipped through the cream of Dallas society gathered at her father’s home to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Were you able to catch whose party they were at?
Okay, enough grumbling. I'm off to work on chapter 14 of my YA.
Today's goal: Finish chapter 14
Yesterday's achievement: I actually wrote a little
What I'm grateful for: All of you for listening to me vent. Thank you!!
Quote: "The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. - George Burns
