NYC Midnight : Creative Writing & Screenwriting Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > GENERAL DISCUSSION > Creative Writing Corner
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Trust your readers, but don't trust your judges
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Trust your readers, but don't trust your judges

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 234
Author
Message
jennifer.quail View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt


Joined: 07 Feb 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 7931
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jennifer.quail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2019 at 8:51pm
Originally posted by OnyxLily OnyxLily wrote:

Originally posted by jennifer.quail jennifer.quail wrote:

I'll put mine in my thread, too, when I'm home and not on my phone, but now the Capitalization Fairy is saying to capitalize words in the log line. (When I see people do that I think "This person does not routinely write prose fiction.") And we have journalism style tips from another one. 

One does think it's more or less perfect, so there's that.

I'm guessing your journalism tip was from 1610? That judge seems a bit obsessed with the compelling ingredients of a logline, and "in the world of journalism"

You must be psychic. Yep. I am in fact going to put in my judge feedback that if I cared how journalists wrote I would have taken a course in journalism as my university had a very good j-school, but as I write fiction I stuck with the English department and creative writing instead. And repeat (for the nth time) that no professional market for fiction asks for or cares about log lines. That is not a thing. 
Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest
Guest
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2019 at 9:34pm
My feedback was all good (meaning it wasn't about the logline or other ridiculous details), except for one judge who wanted foreshadowing that my heroine was pregnant. I deliberately put foreshadowing of such in there!! AARGH. But we've all been there, when the judges just don't "get" it. The rest of the feedback was on point. 
Back to Top
Helou View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Regular
NYC Midnight Regular


Joined: 15 Jul 2019
Status: Offline
Points: 482
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Helou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2019 at 9:42pm
I think my feedback was very fair, but one judge did seem to both praise and criticise pretty much the exact same aspect of the story. For anyone curious, I've added the feedback and my thoughts to my thread linked in my sig :)
Back to Top
calksb View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Addict
NYC Midnight Addict
Avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2019
Status: Offline
Points: 527
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote calksb Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2019 at 10:16pm
I so agree with your point about the feedback seeming to be geared at "how to expand this piece into a    longer form."

Flash fiction is actually a thing, not an excerpt from your next novel, in my way of approaching it. And the best will stand alone, not as a readers digest version of a longer piece, but as a moment in time, or a singular description of a few moments. For that, you don't need a back story, you don't need a motivation. (although you MAY have those) 

I think I will have to post mine to show what I mean.

I don't put too much store in what a judge says. Now and then they are very enlightening, and other times, not helpful, or I just disagree. I paid money to enter this to make myself follow through. There are other great places to work on writing where there are a lot of comments from member, they are free, and the suggestions are often excellent.

Also, not everyone will like your story (or mine) I just didn't think, "Oh, 4,000 other people! I will probably win!!"

One of the sillier judges first said I had murdered too many people, and then at the end suggested "You might consider also having your MC kill Dierdre, also"  (I did kill off a lot of people in a short time)

But Because I see the purpose of flash fiction to be a flash, and not a novel, I don't think my character will change, or have an arc, or reach a resolution.  Suggestions from one.

Another was kind of condescending "As hard as it is, every story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end." It made me laugh, but overall, I was OK with the comments.  They are after all reading a LOT of stories.

I do agree that asking for a lot of backstory is kind of beside the point.  

calksb
I like to read others' stories. Will read and comment as I can.

Back to Top
deedodd81 View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Regular
NYC Midnight Regular
Avatar

Joined: 12 Jul 2019
Status: Offline
Points: 414
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote deedodd81 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2019 at 11:13pm
Originally posted by jennifer.quail jennifer.quail wrote:

Originally posted by OnyxLily OnyxLily wrote:

Originally posted by jennifer.quail jennifer.quail wrote:

I'll put mine in my thread, too, when I'm home and not on my phone, but now the Capitalization Fairy is saying to capitalize words in the log line. (When I see people do that I think "This person does not routinely write prose fiction.") And we have journalism style tips from another one. 

One does think it's more or less perfect, so there's that.

I'm guessing your journalism tip was from 1610? That judge seems a bit obsessed with the compelling ingredients of a logline, and "in the world of journalism"

You must be psychic. Yep. I am in fact going to put in my judge feedback that if I cared how journalists wrote I would have taken a course in journalism as my university had a very good j-school, but as I write fiction I stuck with the English department and creative writing instead. And repeat (for the nth time) that no professional market for fiction asks for or cares about log lines. That is not a thing. 
The sole critique i got from 1610 was about my synopsis!!!!!!! 😂🤣
Back to Top
BarbaraFL View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 08 Jun 2006
Status: Offline
Points: 3785
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BarbaraFL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2019 at 6:59am
My feedback was really fair for this round (I hated the judges' feedback for CH1). 

It was actually too fair. They complimented me for something that was entirely a mistake. Two character names were very similar but unfortunately it was only because I kept changing one of the names right up until the deadline and had a weird brain freeze. The judge thought I was trying to present some uncertainty about whether they were the same person and said that was good.

Hee. Nope. I just screwed it up actually
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 234

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.05
Copyright ©2001-2022 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.172 seconds.