Debra - Grading On the Curve

That's what we do. Grade what we see. Our experience. Our work. The work of others. (Which is way more fun. Usually.)

A thousand times a day we make quiet little judgments that steer our course. We toss a pebble and the ripple rocks a stranger. Often we aren't aware that we've made a rippling micro-decision. Other times we know what we decide will make a difference.

Judging contest entries by unpublished writers is one of those jobs that will rock strangers, perfectly lovely people who'd might not have ever entered a contest before and have just handed me their baby. Every time I agree to judge I swear I will be better. More lenient. Less blunt. And then the entries come and know that I can only be me. It's not an easy job. (Constructive judging, not being me.) Especially when a contest has a complicated score sheet, not a simple 1-10 scale. Instead of one judgment, I have what seems like millions.

Oh, I don't say evil things like, "A writer? Who you kiddin? Go back to day care." Nor to I subscribe to the hurtful useless Queen of the obvious remarks like, "I've never seen a more convoluted mess of a scene masquerading as a plot and so little understanding of grammar. Have you read a book or been to school at all?"

I don't subscribe to the theory that there is only one way to construct a book or a character. Every book is different. I have to remind myself that some books simply aren't books which will score well in contests but are fabulous books nonetheless. I probably value voice above all. And I've never given a critique that says, "Get that GMC book by Debra Dixon."

Sunday, I grabbed my large stack of entries, fluffed my favorite pillows, prepared to do my duty. I'd done several entries on planes recently but I still had over 10 to plow through. Critiquing is hard work. Start to finish, including my notes, it's about two hours per critique for me. Rare is the entry that you can simply lose yourself in their work, zoom through, and can award a perfect score. Also rare is the genuinely butt-ugly manuscript, especially in an RWA contest of some sort.

For my money, give me the fabulous entry or the awful entry. Give me a brilliant but fundamentally flawed manuscript. Anything but the middle-of-the-road-don't-hate-it-don't-love-it-perfectly-competent manuscript. This is such an industry of fairy dust. A writer needs something more than competency. For the awful manuscript an experienced judge can usually find something to suggest that will genuinely improve the manuscript. We can offer a light bulb moment. For the fabulous entry we can offer the kind of genuine delight in their work that might buoy them along in the hard times as they keep knocking on doors.

But what can you do for the competent manuscript? Writers will shoot you if you tell them, "Find your voice." "Bring something fresh to the table." "We don't fully connect with your characters."

Those are big rocks to throw and the fix always depends on the writer, the book, the genre. Not something I find easy to do in a contest entry scoresheet.

What are the critiques you hate to give? Which ones have you hated to get? For anything, not just writing. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.