Will give feedback for
a WRiTE CLUB vote
The last entries of
the last week of the preliminary bouts of the readers’ choice WRiTE CLUB
contest have been received. By this time, all 132 writers who entered know
whether they made the initial list of 30 entries. Or not. You’ve tuned in every
day, noted the players and (I hope) voted and critiqued whether your piece was
on the line or not.
At this point last
year, when I entered the contest as a writer, I would have learned that my
entries didn’t make the initial cut of 30 contestants and probably spent a few
days dropping tears on my keyboard. But I still followed the contest. Still
voted and critiqued. And this year, though I’m invested in the contest, not as
a writer but as one of 20 initial slush pile readers, I’m still voting and
critiquing.
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| image: Pixabay |
And whether you won
your round or lost (and all of this week’s bouts are still being voted on), or
never saw the words you spent so much time crafting on the screen at all, I
hope you’ll stay invested as well. Will still watch, vote, and critique your
fellow writers. Not that you need an incentive except the chance to help fellow
writers but WRiTE CLUB organizer DL Hammons has added one – everyone who sent a
writing sample to the contest can receive feedback from us slush pile readers.
If you vote and critique.
It doesn’t have to be
in every round. Mop your tears, open your internet browser and connect.
Even without having
submitted my writing to the contest, I have a few tears to mop up. Out of the
entries – a total of 189 from those 132 writers – I marked more than 70 as
“favorites” after my first read-through. Plus more than a handful of “maybes”
that deserved a second reading.
Try to imagine the
agony of paring all those down to only 30. And tossing them into the ring with
the 30 top picks of 19 other slushies. Only eight of my 30 ended up in the
preliminary bouts. Only eight! (Although in a few instances, second entries
from writers I picked made the cut.)
Still, I long to pass
on my comments, compliments and congratulations to all the other writers in
that packed field. I’m looking at you, sexy Scottish gladiator who made me think
“Outlander” slays “Twilight.” And the writer of that super creepy Gothic
(“Elephant Man” meets “The Thirteenth Tale”). And the update of Poe’s horror
classic, “Premature Burial” for the 21st century.
Ditto the
Maserati-driving thriller-killer. And the beauty queen comeuppance-er. And so
many more.
Even as I had to sadly
note “no” to some writing samples, I often found a cool premise, an interesting
character, a scene that would have only needed some tweaking to make the cut.
You’re all so great,
I’m sure you’ve been voting all along. But in case you haven’t. In case you’ve
been in a hospital, in jail, in a war zone, or on a mountain retreat with no
internet access for the last month, there’s still time to participate. Please
do. I’m counting on you.
Even as I had to sadly
note “no” to some writing samples, I often found a cool premise, an interesting
character, a scene that would have only needed some tweaking to make the cut.
You’re all so great,
I’m sure you’ve been voting all along. But in case you haven’t. In case you’ve
been in a hospital, in jail, in a war zone, or on a mountain retreat with no
internet access for the last month, there’s still time to participate. Please
do. I’m counting on you.
Or, in case all your
devices lost all your contact information, check DL Hammons' site for
information about how to stay connected with the contest and keep your hat in
the ring for some cool prizes. And the eternal friendship of a lot of other
writers!
Another WRiTE Club-related
post made number 7 of 2019’s all-time hits, this one first published April 1:
A straight shot to
this WRiTE CLUB judge’s heart
OK, people, it’s two
weeks into submissions for DL Hammons’ annual WRiTE CLUB challenge. And after
several years of participation in WRiTE CLUB, the readers’ choice writing
contest, I’m now on the inside as a judge (aka slushpile reader). There’s some
amazing stuff coming in – and some I wish had been tweaked just a little more.
It’s made me think deeply about what I – as a reader – want to see from
writers.
A little over two
weeks in, I’ve seen about 50 submissions, with the vast majority of the
expected 200 or so still to come – most in the final week, ending April 14.
Each will be read by me and the other 19 judges before readers at large have a
chance to vote. So, taking a tip from several of my 20 fellow judges’ Twitter
postings, here’s a list of five things that will make me say Yes! to a 500-word
writing sample.
1. An authentic human character
2. Who wants something
3. And is willing to go through hell to get it
4. And tell us about it with clarity
5. And honesty
Darn, you say,
stopping at item #1. Your main character is an anthropomorphic animal, a
supernatural being, even an inanimate object. (Not that I’ve seen those yet,
but it’s still early days.) Fear not. Pick the closest thing to a human trait
your nonhuman character has and work it, baby. Work it even harder if your main
character is a cliché, a generic (fill in the blank), or has all the depth of a
wet Kleenex.
And please, PUH-LEEZ
make her/him/them/it desire something.
It can be the most godawful thing you can imagine, as long (at least initially)
as the character is willing to work to gain it. Maybe she wants to be king.
Maybe they just want to live to the end of their tour of duty. Maybe he wants
to strike the match that will keep him from freezing to death. Just, for the
love of dog, make them do something. I’ll give you a little leeway for
backstory or navel-gazing. Maybe two sentences, three tops. Then get those
characters up and working to achieve their heart’s desire.
So, about that clarity
thing – what I mean is, don’t confuse me. Hey, I got 200 more stories to read!
How much time do you think I got to figure out what the h--- you’re trying to
say? Much as I love you, I – and all of us – have jobs with bosses who nag if
we clock in two minutes late, income tax forms to fill out, yards to mow,
casseroles to cook, baby diapers to change. Give us the story in some orderly
fashion, with phrases and sentences that follow each other in logical and/or
chronological order. Say what you mean and don’t make it too fancy.
And don’t try to pull
the wool over my eyes. Characters can lie, authors never. Sure, you can put
lies in the mouths of your characters, in fact, make those characters lie their
heads off, but you’d better play straight with us readers. That “it was all a
dream” stuff? Forget it. (Which doesn’t mean that you must tell everything you
know up front. Suspense is great, but tell us what we need to know, when we
need to know it.)
What have I left out?
Oh, that “voice” thing everybody is so crazy about. You have it already.
Everybody does. It’s not a matter of jumping through a bunch of literary hoops.
If you write characters who are true to themselves down to their toenails,
their voice, your voice – your story’s voice – will come through like Caruso.
And considering I’m
usually such a grammar Nazi, why haven’t I even mentioned spellcheck? Or
grammar check? Or punctuation? I file all that the heading of “clarity.”
Because if I have to spend too much time trying to figure out what the heck
word you have in mind, well. . . color me grumpy.
There is one thing
I’ve seen others mention that, frankly, I don’t give a flying flip about. It’s
formatting. Who cares if you single space, double space, indent paragraphs or
put two spaces in between? OK, your agent will care, but that’s not me. Follow
the guidelines on the agency website. Oh, and give yourself a pat on the back.
You’re writing! You’re submitting! Yay, you!
***
Tomorrow: numbers 5
& 6 of the hit parade!
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