I did not win the local novel manuscript contest. This does not come as a shock to me. The first chapter of my novel has changed drastically since I submitted the one that I entered back in February, which was before I had gotten my first round of criticisms on it. However, I scored a 45 out of a possible 50 points and received the following comments from a "published author in my genre." This woman (girl handwriting) did not follow the directions of "two to three sentences of constructive coments in each of the 10 categories," offering no more than one sentence in four categories. Which irks me a bit. I mean, I was promised minimum 20 sentences and I got four:
Good job
The synopsis does a good job of handling the conflict
Handles POV very well
Very well done, However, I did find the language offensive. This story is outstanding without it. (there is a good deal of pottymouth in my book, and graphic descriptions of abuse. I will not change my use of the verb to fuck meaning to have sexual relations with another person.)
And:
This is one of the best submissions I have read. The writer has a clear concept of the craft. Characterization is outstanding.
Not bad for a chapter that has since had the shit edited out of it.
Thank you, reviewer person.
Posted by Zerd at May 23, 2007 11:50 PM