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Some Judges... (Flash)

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northernwriter View Drop Down
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    Posted: 30 Jan 2020 at 5:50pm
Originally posted by MuffinMom MuffinMom wrote:

I've had two stories where a judge said that something was too unrealistic. In both cases, they were things that had happened in real life. 

To give one example, I had a comedy in flash fiction, and I wrote about a bad yellow lab (not too original, I know, but it's what I know). IRL, I've had the lawn mower guy tell me many times that I don't need to be worried about leaving my dog in the yard when he comes. This has been a big deal because I kept telling the guy that I need a heads up as to when he's going to be there so I can get my dog out of the yard. In the past, when people show up and my labrador is out there, hilarity ensues. And not in a good way. He is a very exuberant helper and has grabbed tools from workers and run around the yard with them, he's jumped on them, and he's just in general been a huge PIA. But every time, the yard guy says not to worry about it - he's experienced with dogs. So I wrote a comedy about a naughty dog that gets in the yard guy's way, and the judge's comment was "I found it incredibly odd that Robert took the "lawn guys" advice regarding leaving the dog outside. I can't imagine any person would follow this advice and I can't imagine any lawn workers to suggest such an idea."

This same judge also said about my main character eating a burrito in front of the TV and having the dog snatch it: "Isn't it strange for someone to STAND in front of the TV and eat a burrito?" Umm, no, the reason I wrote it is because it's something I do all the time.

I could have accepted if a judge felt like this story was too cliche because it was too much like Marley and Me, but I just had to laugh that the judge marked me down for things being too unrealistic when they had actually happened in real life!



I was just WAITING for someone to say that my first round short screenplay was unrealistic. I got crime caper and I wrote about a mom who steals the crown from a baby at a 4th of July baby contest. This happened to my daughter! LOL! Nobody called me out on it though. Of course, there's a longer backstory and the screenplay is much exaggerated. 
Microfiction 2021: 4th place overall
Flash Fiction 2020: 8th place overall
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MuffinMom Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jan 2020 at 5:17pm
I've had two stories where a judge said that something was too unrealistic. In both cases, they were things that had happened in real life. 

To give one example, I had a comedy in flash fiction, and I wrote about a bad yellow lab (not too original, I know, but it's what I know). IRL, I've had the lawn mower guy tell me many times that I don't need to be worried about leaving my dog in the yard when he comes. This has been a big deal because I kept telling the guy that I need a heads up as to when he's going to be there so I can get my dog out of the yard. In the past, when people show up and my labrador is out there, hilarity ensues. And not in a good way. He is a very exuberant helper and has grabbed tools from workers and run around the yard with them, he's jumped on them, and he's just in general been a huge PIA. But every time, the yard guy says not to worry about it - he's experienced with dogs. So I wrote a comedy about a naughty dog that gets in the yard guy's way, and the judge's comment was "I found it incredibly odd that Robert took the "lawn guys" advice regarding leaving the dog outside. I can't imagine any person would follow this advice and I can't imagine any lawn workers to suggest such an idea."

This same judge also said about my main character eating a burrito in front of the TV and having the dog snatch it: "Isn't it strange for someone to STAND in front of the TV and eat a burrito?" Umm, no, the reason I wrote it is because it's something I do all the time.

I could have accepted if a judge felt like this story was too cliche because it was too much like Marley and Me, but I just had to laugh that the judge marked me down for things being too unrealistic when they had actually happened in real life!


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jan 2020 at 11:02am
I had a judge that decided to tell me that he hated everything there was about my story, I mean this guy just went to town.  Then he did it to two others and I think they canned him because he wasn't around anymore.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KatinkaQueenie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jan 2020 at 9:22am
I had a judge once who told me that my flash fiction intro was so interesting as they weren’t familiar with the history of dog shows.... I made it up right..... I’m writing fiction right?
There’s usually some useful feedback and then sometimes some of it is actually funny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BaliFan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jan 2020 at 3:00am
I agree and have often gotten some very decent feedback. But I felt strongly that the judge's personal feelings in that case affected their judgement, and I could really have used an extra point, as it turned out. But I've also had some very strange feedback that did make me wonder if they'd actually read it at all...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ruagray Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jan 2020 at 1:37am
Depending on the types of stories you write, I'd say it's pretty common. I'd venture to say 1 in 5 if you write normal stories and upward to 1 in 3 if you write stories that have a figurative or metaphorical layer to them.

I try to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are overworked, but I'm assuming that they get paid to judge for this contest...so to me it's just laziness to read something and automatically assume there is something wrong with the writing rather than reading it again.

If they actually read the story multiple times and still came up with that feedback, well, I'm going to stop talking now.

Luckily, I have had at least one judge that was really on the ball and giving great feedback each time. So while you might get your contest scoring tanked by a bad judge, you should still get at least a bit of valid feedback to walk away with.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BaliFan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 2020 at 11:06pm
Since I eventually ended up missing going on to the second stage last year by ONE POINT, I really wasn't happy with my score on that story. It definitely wasn't my best, but that was a bit much and I felt it really cost me.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chelle Moriarty Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 2020 at 11:00pm
Originally posted by BaliFan BaliFan wrote:

"I find it personally offensive to pair a restaurant with a gunshop." Ummmm....


That's some quote... I'd keep that and throw it into a story if at all possible. That's the kind of random that could stop a conversation out of context.


ShortScreen22: Questionable Planning (Action/Adventure)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BaliFan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 2020 at 8:44pm
I've gone "what the hell" at my feedback a bunch of times - have gotten a lot of nitpicks on punctuation, also criticism on my LOG LINE. But I think the best/worst was when a judge got offended by one premise of my story, which had to be set in a gunshop (which had kind of offended me to start with, TBH). It was crime caper - and after it all went down, one character opened a restaurant in part of the gunshop. "I find it personally offensive to pair a restaurant with a gunshop." Ummmm....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote taaaylor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 2020 at 8:39pm
Originally posted by Chelle Moriarty Chelle Moriarty wrote:

... Totally looking forward to my feedback now.

I'm glad a read through this thread. I'm usually pretty good at taking constructive crit but if someone misses a big, obvious point in my work I tend to get a bit twitchy. If I got critism like that from a judge without being prepared for the possibility of it, I'm not sure how I'd feel.

Thanks!

I will say it's rare. This is the second time in 13 rounds that I've done that I genuinely went to "what the hell" at my feedback. For me, the only stung so badly that it was in the most important round of all lmao.

But take heart! They're truly not all bad, even if the worst is appalling.


Edited by taaaylor - 28 Jan 2020 at 8:40pm
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