Whew! Thank goodness I’m done!!:evil:
Last night I FINALLY finished up reading/critiquing/scoring/ranking the entries I was sent to judge for the Unpublished Maggies contest. This morning they’re in the mail. I’m not whining, I’m just saying…it’s a LOT OF WORK.
Each person entering the contest submits the first thirty pages of their manuscript and also a synopsis. The contest coordinator has the name of the person submitting but we judges don’t. Okay, so I have a packet of six submissions. 
By the time you factor in the synopses, we’re talking about roughly 200 pages. It’s not as if I can skim them, fill out a scoring sheet and be done. Different contests are structured differently, but in my chapter’s we are instructed “please give each entrant a detailed synopsis of their strengths and weaknesses, and write your comments directly on the manuscript.”
I’m reading for pacing, active voice, sentence structure, characterization, conflict and whether there’s enough plot to carry the story for roughly 280 pages. I am blunt. Not rude, but straightforward. I really don’t know any other way to say “This is irrational behavior” or “This doesn’t make any sense” and better that they hear it from me than submit it to an editor that way. I also make sure that I put in smiley faces when there’s a particularly nice passage. I live for the smiley faces that my copy editor puts on my manuscripts. 
I’ve spent two weekends and several evenings working on these. Girl wandered into my office last night and asked, “Are you almost through with those critiques, Mom?” Yes, hallelujah, I was typing up the last one.
Let me just say, one more time, I have the UTMOST respect for what my editor does. I could not do this on an on-going basis. It’s exciting when you read a submission where the writing’s great and the story elements are there and you know this person is going to sell this book in the next couple of months or so if they go in with a little tweaking. It is not so great to be reading for all of the above when you know the person has a very long way to go and you’re not even sure where to tell them to start because it’s all so off the mark. No editing for me.:wallbash: I’d much rather be on the writing end. The one making the mistakes. :doh:
I will say that I’m a very good critique-er. I’ve got a good eye for looking for all of the various elements. Unfortunately, I lack this clarity with my own stuff. Oh, well, such is the nature of the beast.
Guess I’ll go make some mistakes on my current wip.:wave:
Honey, I admire you so much. I could never do what you do, good thing that I am a department secretary, now that I can handle. :thumbsup2:
Comment by Ginger — July 17, 2007 @ 8:11 am
LOL, Ginger, and I would have everyone in the department pulling out their hair if I was the secretary. It wouldn’t be pretty. :mrgreen:
Comment by Jennifer — July 17, 2007 @ 9:34 am
GRW is lucky to have you. I’ve never judged anything where I had to write comments — just had to give a numeric score. You’re right that writers need to learn to take the criticism as well as the smiley faces because once they submit to NYC, they’ll be playing with the big kids. As my tagline on eHarlequin says, “It’s time to put on your big girl panties and deal with it.”
Comment by Marilyn — July 17, 2007 @ 10:06 am
I like that tagline, Marilyn! This is not a business for the thin-skinned. Mine is much tougher now than when I was a neophyte. I have found, however, that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. I really, really need to hear at least ONE thing I’ve done right and then I can take the rest like a big girl. And everyone I’ve ever “read” with (critiqued with), we all agreed, we’d rather hear it from one another up front, straight up. If a critique partner tells me I’ve nailed it and I haven’t, no favors been done there. We have also always agreed to never “argue” points. If they read it and didn’t get it, I don’t argue it with them. I dropped the ball somewhere or they would have got it. End of discussion. all of that said, I’m very careful and discerning about who I critique with — and no, the criteria is not to have a “yes” man on my side. :idea:
Comment by Jennifer — July 17, 2007 @ 11:17 am
Hmmm. Which category? I entered the Maggies this year. I’ll be looking for smilies on my entry.
Comment by Kimberly — July 17, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
LOL, Kimberly. I’m not the only one who smilies. I’ve got friends that do, too. :thumbsup:
Comment by Jennifer — July 17, 2007 @ 3:40 pm