Contest feedback - do I cry or laugh?
One thing I’ve learned through the school of hard knocks is that everyone has an opinion and that it’s all subjective. I was looking over some contest feedback I received and wondered does it help? Do writers crave everyone’s opinion or do writers put up with it as the consequence of submitting to a contest?
The judges want to be helpful, they excitedly give you scores, with a flurry of their pens they make comments on your manuscript and try with all their heart to make you a better writer. I wonder if I am.
Do comments like ‘she has very little personality’, or ‘the story itself is intriguing’, or a 1 score on the question - ‘Are the relationship and conflict components of the story properly balanced’, help me become a better writer? I really don’t know. I have to ask myself how I feel about these helpful strangers.
Are these helpful strangers giving me the tools to be a success? Are they helping themselves by judging the mechanics of my work? Or are they wanna be school teachers with a red pen stash, secreted away in their closets? What does their comments/feedback mean to me? Am I overwhelmed, or happy for the feedback, or just angry that my baby isn’t perfect?
At the end of the day, helpful strangers or not, I know love to write. So I’ll keep submitting to contests and marking one goal as being done. I’ll give thanks for the judges who want me to be a better writer (I hope). And remember that scores and comments from judges are not the enemy with a red pen. And, I laugh along the way.
Isabella
December 6th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
If two or more say the same thing…then listen. It is subjective. In one contest I had a perfect score from a well-known published author, and then a non-pub gave me a score of over 100 less. In that case there was nothing constructive to be learned. And sad to say, this and other experiences have taught me to take the word of a non-pub with a grain of salt. So my general opinion is to only enter publisher-generated contests. Not those which are used to generate money for those giving it.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Former contest ho speaking up LOL I’ve had some DOOZY comments and at the end of the day, if I learned nothing else, I learned to take criticism of my work…and considering what fragile egos writers have in terms of their work I’d say it was worth every penny I ever spent on contest!
Good luck!
December 7th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I agree with everyone’s insights. I always take comments with a grain of salt. If I know in my gut it is a correct criticism of my work (and we usually do know) then I take it or if I get repeated comments of the same type, then I definitely listen. Everything else - I take a look, see what works for me and toss the rest. Everything is subjective and in the end I’m responsible for my own writing, my own learning curve and growth and my own career.
Tina/Cassie