I entered the ACFW Genesis contest last year. I thought about entering contests in the past but pushed them to the side. They were not my thing. Well, if they’re not your thing, maybe you should reconsider. It was $35 dollars well spent. I got invaluable information, and a chance to get my work in front of professionals in the field.
I’m posting the tally sheet with the middle score and judge who offered the most commentary. Two of the judges really seemed to like my work, and one did not. But I’m leaving that for a future blog post 🙂
The judges looked at the first fifteen pages of the novel and a 100 word summary. Along with the scorecard, they provided commentary on those pages, pointing out the reason I received the scores that I did and ways to improve my writing.
The judges were editors and published authors. They were people with experience. If you’re like me, you’ve had friends and family review your work. While they can tell you if it’s a good story or not, they probably don’t have a clear understanding of the mechanics or expectations a book requires to be published.
The takeaway from their reviews is that it is a great story but needs some polish 🙂
An added bonus is I connected with a Developmental Editor that could help me get the book ready for publication.
Entry: Ariel’s Revenge
Judge #: GHRJ298 | File Name: 000069014.docx
| Question | Score | Comment |
| Does the entry hold your interest to the end? | 5.00 | Yes, I found the summary very interesting! Love that it’s a complex adventure with mystery. |
| Is the point of view consistent? Are POV changes smooth and logical? | 5.00 | Yes, each is well-placed. |
| Do sensory details (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste) enhance the scenes? | 4.00 | It is mostly smell and feel. |
| Is there a sense of time and place? | 4.00 | I can tell by the way they speak and transportation that it’s like the 1700s, but I’m not sure when exactly. |
| Do the scenes move the story forward? | 3.00 | Yes, but Ariel reflects and comments too much and repeats those that they slow down the story and tension. I have pointed this out in the Word doc. |
| Is there an opening line that immediately hooks the reader into the story? | 5.00 | Yes, I like that it starts with Ariel speaking and it gives mystery to why she’s doing what she’s doing that I want to keep reading to find out. |
| Is the writing fresh and original? | 4.00 | Mostly, it just gets weighed down by all the commentary and repetition. I’d like to see some beautifully written lines. But the POVs do have personality. |
| Does the writer utilize showing and telling? | 4.00 | Mostly so. |
| Is the author’s voice distinct? | 4.00 | Mostly because of the strong personalities of POVs. |
| Do you get a strong sense of what the story will be about? | 5.00 | Yes, and not just because of the summary. I can tell her plans won’t work out the way she’d like, that Blake will butt heads with her but they will fall in love, and that her step-uncle will be hot on her trial and catch up to her and reveal who her father really was and how he was murdered. |
| Does the author have a command of the elements of grammar, punctuation, and spelling? | 5.00 | Yes. There were only like 3 places that needed fixing. |
| Does the manuscript reflect Christian worldview? Are the story and plot elements compatible with the genre category? | 5.00 | Yes, although, so far, it is only Ariel who prays and exudes Christian-like attributes. |
| Is the dialogue between characters strong, revealing plot and emotion in a way that creates tension? Does it help move the story forward? | 4.00 | Yes, but I’d like for Ariel to have someone like her handmaid help her escape just so she has some real dialogue and someone to talk to. I get that she’s on her own, but her scenes feel very isolated. |
| Are the characters’ voices distinct and appropriate for the setting (time period or scenario?) | 4.00 | Mostly so. They each speak in a way and use terms for that time period. There were only a few lines that didn’t seem to fit the way they are worded. |
| Is the narrative necessary and well-placed with the dialogue? | 5.00 | Yes, each POV comes across as well-placed with strong motives and something to add to the story. |
| Are character motivations powerful enough to create sufficient conflict? | 4.00 | Yes, however, I know the most about the antagonist, her step-uncle, in what he wants and why and how he’s going to get it and what stands in his way. I only know that Ariel doesn’t want to marry him but not really what she thinks about marriage or what she wants for herself or even how she plans to clear her father’s name. I know that Blake wants to avenge his fallen comrades and get to what really happened that night, but so far I do not get the sense from what I know from the summary that he’s a rake. I’m not sure what he wants exactly or why he’s a spy. |
| Is the tension and conflict discernable enough to tell what the story will be about? | 4.00 | Yes, although if Ariel, Blake, and Charles’s motives were clearer, we’d have more specific conflicts. |
| Is the goal and purpose of the main character identifiable? Do you get a sense of what he/she wants? | 4.00 | Mostly, see my explanation above about their motives. |
| Do secondary characters contribute to the story? | 4.00 | Yes, they add important dialogue and tension. |
| Do characters’ emotions seem believable by providing understandable motive? | 5.00 | Yes, I get a sense of urgency from Ariel, sadness from Blake, and anger from Charles. |
| Total Score: | 87.00 |
Hope this helps someone.
-Jan R
It seems like it’s been a long time since I truly sat down to write. I’ve been doing posts, but mainly older blogs revisited or simple quotes.
Ninety-nine out of one-hundred new writers make the same major mistake. I know I did. They fail to plunge their hero or heroine into trouble at the beginning of the novel. If you don’t pique the interest of your reader from the start, they won’t make it through the first chapter.
Spoiler alert! If you were one of the eight people that read this blog two weeks ago, you are experiencing deja vu. I thought it was a good blog, but one thing I’ve learned over the last two years, is the title can make you or break you.
We’ve talked about weak and strong verbs, but did you know the same holds true for nouns? I never really thought about it, until I took an online class that talked about strong and weak nouns. My first thought on weak nouns; the instructor has to be referring to pronouns. Well he wasn’t and that is a subject for another day.
Writing your first novel-Things you should know 