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ophelialit74 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ophelialit74 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Wonky Feedback
    Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 10:30am
Just received the judges' feedback, and it's a bit more off the rails than usual. I typically find the feedback fairly helpful, but this time...one of the judges told me I should take out the required prompt item because it "seems unnecessary," and one of them apparently completely missed an entire paragraph that provided the info that seemed "lacking." Unhappy

How'd everyone else fare with the judges this round? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote theinquisitor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 10:44am
I understand the second criticism being annoying, but maybe the first is a sign that you didn't incorporate the object as seamlessly as you could have done?
My feedback is mostly fair enough, although I am a little concerned that one of the judges says that anyone could see themselves doing what my MC does. No, I really, really couldn't see myself drugging a woman and cutting her hair off while she's unconscious.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ZoeLou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 10:46am
Originally posted by theinquisitor theinquisitor wrote:

I understand the second criticism being annoying, but maybe the first is a sign that you didn't incorporate the object as seamlessly as you could have done?
My feedback is mostly fair enough, although I am a little concerned that one of the judges says that anyone could see themselves doing what my MC does. No, I really, really couldn't see myself drugging a woman and cutting her hair off while she's unconscious.

Do- do they actually know how fiction works?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ophelialit74 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 11:11am
Originally posted by theinquisitor theinquisitor wrote:

I understand the second criticism being annoying, but maybe the first is a sign that you didn't incorporate the object as seamlessly as you could have done?
My feedback is mostly fair enough, although I am a little concerned that one of the judges says that anyone could see themselves doing what my MC does. No, I really, really couldn't see myself drugging a woman and cutting her hair off while she's unconscious.

I definitely considered that the object placement may have been clunky in some way, but I pretty much structured the story around it, so it wasn't stuck in randomly. Who knows? More concerning is your judge with the....errrr...active imagination! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NERdling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 11:11am
Originally posted by theinquisitor theinquisitor wrote:

I understand the second criticism being annoying, but maybe the first is a sign that you didn't incorporate the object as seamlessly as you could have done?
My feedback is mostly fair enough, although I am a little concerned that one of the judges says that anyone could see themselves doing what my MC does. No, I really, really couldn't see myself drugging a woman and cutting her hair off while she's unconscious.

!! Jail. Straight to jail.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote swilki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 11:31am
Originally posted by theinquisitor theinquisitor wrote:

I understand the second criticism being annoying, but maybe the first is a sign that you didn't incorporate the object as seamlessly as you could have done?
My feedback is mostly fair enough, although I am a little concerned that one of the judges says that anyone could see themselves doing what my MC does. No, I really, really couldn't see myself drugging a woman and cutting her hair off while she's unconscious.

Well, that makes me feel better about my feedback. 
I may not agree with all of it but at least it didn't require a content warning.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote brianosull Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 1:12pm
Originally posted by ophelialit74 ophelialit74 wrote:

Originally posted by theinquisitor theinquisitor wrote:

I understand the second criticism being annoying, but maybe the first is a sign that you didn't incorporate the object as seamlessly as you could have done?
My feedback is mostly fair enough, although I am a little concerned that one of the judges says that anyone could see themselves doing what my MC does. No, I really, really couldn't see myself drugging a woman and cutting her hair off while she's unconscious.

I definitely considered that the object placement may have been clunky in some way, but I pretty much structured the story around it, so it wasn't stuck in randomly. Who knows? More concerning is your judge with the....errrr...active imagination! 

Since you built your story around the object, yes, that is absolutely wonky feedback. In my case, I actually wouldn't have minded feedback on whether to keep my required object. I've thought about dropping it in a post0contest revision. 

Sometimes I think that in addition to "what the judges liked" and "what the judges thought you could have done better," it would be nice if there was feedback specifically  on "what the judges think you could do in a revision." This would be for all the kinds of things--dropping a required element, adding more explanation than is possible in 250 words, etc.--that you couldn't have done in the contest entry, but that you could do now if you decide to revise. Making that a seperate category would make it easier to differentiate the stuff that actually hurt our scores from the stuff that would be just nice to see in a different version of the story.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Zefferson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 1:54pm
I just find it funny that in a flash fiction contest all the feedback I keep getting is to "expand on certain elements". They seem to always want everything to be longer lol
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote nod1v1ng Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 2:21pm
Originally posted by Zefferson Zefferson wrote:

I just find it funny that in a flash fiction contest all the feedback I keep getting is to "expand on certain elements". They seem to always want everything to be longer lol

That is super frustrating. However, sometimes that doesn't mean add 500 words to this story. Sometimes it means, pare down the unimportant prose & kill your darlings so you have more space to make the story more complete.

And sometimes the judges are just on crack. 

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Edited by nod1v1ng - 28 Oct 2021 at 2:21pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote jennifer.quail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2021 at 2:44pm
Originally posted by Zefferson Zefferson wrote:

I just find it funny that in a flash fiction contest all the feedback I keep getting is to "expand on certain elements". They seem to always want everything to be longer lol

I call for a rousing round of applause for judge 1771, who said they could happily read more about my characters but of course we were under the constraint of the contest word limit.
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