Ever thought about what song would be the theme to your book? What if I told you that those thoughts will help your book become even better?
I love music so this post came sort of easily to me. For me, the themes song to my book (I'll tell you what it is later) came silently. I wasn't searching for a theme song. I was just listening to music on my laptop. I've heard that song over and over for a long time before (because I love the artist) but the thought of it being connected to my book never came to me. Not until I started diving further into my books and its themes.
As of now (because who knows what other music I'll be introduced to?) my novel's theme song is "Hometown Glory" by Adele (the full version, not the shorter one). The song's message about one's hometown, its memories, its people, really fits incredibly well with my novel and my main character's character arc.
Finding out my novel's theme song has helped in strengthening various points of that specific theme in my novel. You know how sometimes you know your novel needs a little something, but you don't know what? Listening to "Hometown Glory" helped in finding out those spots which could be strengthened to create a strong, solid narrative arc.
And it's not only for theme songs. For example, listening to this amazing version of this amazing song (I love that song a lot) inspired me to push one scene in my novel to a higher dimension, something I know will help take the story to an epic-er (?) plane.
If you're having trouble finding your novel's theme song, don't go searching for one. Let it come to you. And think: "If my novel was made into a movie, what song would be playing in the end credits?" Usually, that'll be your novel's theme song :)
NOW GO OFF AND FIND YOUR THEME SONG!
Have you already found it? What songs do you think fit your novel well?
Monday, February 24, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
The JK Rowling Excuse - the Danger of Success Stories
I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel this way before. I'm a writer. Heck, I live for fantasies.
Back when I was querying my YA Epic Fantasy (since then, I've put that manuscript aside), I was absolutely torn apart with all these fantasies I had for my work.
It was, originally, about 40k words over the standard limit for the genre. Also, it had not one, but two prologues (both of which, as I later understood, weren't working). But the thing was, for months, I just wouldn't believe that it'd hinder me from getting published.
I kept thinking that I'd be like JK Rowling. I'd been reading (and I still do read) success stories of authors like Rowling, like Tolkien, like Margaret Mitchell.
Rowling: published an over-long children's novel which became the best selling series of all time. Tolkien: originally, his trilogy was a single, 500k novel which his publishers split up. Mitchell: her novel, deemed to be so freaking good (and also a debut novel), was overpriced simply because the publisher believed if it was that good, it'd sell.
I'd been drinking in all the exceptions to the rules of publishing. I thirsted for them, searched for them, and I think it was because I wanted some sort of validation that my two prologues and over-long book had a chance. That everyone (everyone) that gave me smart advice were wrong, that I'd prove them all wrong.
Well, I got 67 query rejections in a row. Not a single request. (And appropriately so).
You see, as hard as it might seem to take the hard advice, it'll probably help you more than any other advice. It's weird but it's true: the advice that hurts the most, the advice that makes you search for articles online to prove it wrong, the advice that makes you sad...that's the advice you probably need to follow. That's my acid test as to whether a harsh criticism has merit or not.
(Another way, possibly the best way to tell whether you are the exception or not, is to get trusted and honest critique partners to give you feedback. They'll tell you if your rule-breaking is working or not.)
Deep down, we all know the truth of our own novels. We know how successful they can be and we know what possibly can burden its potential. But we don't want to go through the work of lifting those burdens. Writing a book, polishing it, revising it...that's all hard enough. Why go through more work?
And because of that attitude, we refuse to cut out that scene we love so much because JK Rowling had a similar scene in her novel. We refuse to cut our words because Tolkien wrote such a long masterpiece and his was a debut. We refuse. How many times do we hear, "But JK Rowling did it!!! She did it, and sold so many books, so if I do it, I'll sell a ton as well! You all just don't understand."
But very few of us are at the level that Rowling and Tolkien are/were. (If you want to talk about how 'lucky' Rowling was, know that she spent almost a decade before publishing the first Harry Potter simply building up the world, plotting, and working hard on the novels. Almost a decade. And still, due to her editor, she had to cut many scenes from her first novel to make it more of a 'publishable' length.) Those that are on that level know who they are. Those that think they are at that level, frankly, probably are very, very far away. I think the best place is to be in the middle: confident about our abilities, but not foolish enough to believe that publishing doesn't have rules and that our 700k literary fiction debut will ever be picked up.
I write this knowing that if someone read this, then went out and sold their 700k lit fic debut, they might think about this post and snicker. And, frankly, I feel foolish writing this post just thinking about that! But for every one person that will sell a 700k, there are hundreds of others that'll have to deal with not being the exception to the rule. The sad thing is, many, many people think they are the exception, and thus they don't take critiques to heart, they don't heed advice, and they query with a bad manuscript foolishly hoping that they'll be a NYT bestseller. There is probably nothing that has helped me more in my quest for publication than the feedback of my writing friends.
I'm one of those hundreds that have to deal with not being a major exception (I add 'major' because simply finishing a book is an exception as well). After all, we can't all be exceptions.
You know what they say: you got to learn (and live by) the rules before you can break them. And realizing that we all can't be exceptions can help us get past our own insecurities and (possibly) become the exception and break the rules.
Do you think 'The JK Rowling Excuse' is dangerous?
Back when I was querying my YA Epic Fantasy (since then, I've put that manuscript aside), I was absolutely torn apart with all these fantasies I had for my work.
It was, originally, about 40k words over the standard limit for the genre. Also, it had not one, but two prologues (both of which, as I later understood, weren't working). But the thing was, for months, I just wouldn't believe that it'd hinder me from getting published.
I kept thinking that I'd be like JK Rowling. I'd been reading (and I still do read) success stories of authors like Rowling, like Tolkien, like Margaret Mitchell.
Rowling: published an over-long children's novel which became the best selling series of all time. Tolkien: originally, his trilogy was a single, 500k novel which his publishers split up. Mitchell: her novel, deemed to be so freaking good (and also a debut novel), was overpriced simply because the publisher believed if it was that good, it'd sell.
I'd been drinking in all the exceptions to the rules of publishing. I thirsted for them, searched for them, and I think it was because I wanted some sort of validation that my two prologues and over-long book had a chance. That everyone (everyone) that gave me smart advice were wrong, that I'd prove them all wrong.
Well, I got 67 query rejections in a row. Not a single request. (And appropriately so).
You see, as hard as it might seem to take the hard advice, it'll probably help you more than any other advice. It's weird but it's true: the advice that hurts the most, the advice that makes you search for articles online to prove it wrong, the advice that makes you sad...that's the advice you probably need to follow. That's my acid test as to whether a harsh criticism has merit or not.
(Another way, possibly the best way to tell whether you are the exception or not, is to get trusted and honest critique partners to give you feedback. They'll tell you if your rule-breaking is working or not.)
Deep down, we all know the truth of our own novels. We know how successful they can be and we know what possibly can burden its potential. But we don't want to go through the work of lifting those burdens. Writing a book, polishing it, revising it...that's all hard enough. Why go through more work?
And because of that attitude, we refuse to cut out that scene we love so much because JK Rowling had a similar scene in her novel. We refuse to cut our words because Tolkien wrote such a long masterpiece and his was a debut. We refuse. How many times do we hear, "But JK Rowling did it!!! She did it, and sold so many books, so if I do it, I'll sell a ton as well! You all just don't understand."
But very few of us are at the level that Rowling and Tolkien are/were. (If you want to talk about how 'lucky' Rowling was, know that she spent almost a decade before publishing the first Harry Potter simply building up the world, plotting, and working hard on the novels. Almost a decade. And still, due to her editor, she had to cut many scenes from her first novel to make it more of a 'publishable' length.) Those that are on that level know who they are. Those that think they are at that level, frankly, probably are very, very far away. I think the best place is to be in the middle: confident about our abilities, but not foolish enough to believe that publishing doesn't have rules and that our 700k literary fiction debut will ever be picked up.
I write this knowing that if someone read this, then went out and sold their 700k lit fic debut, they might think about this post and snicker. And, frankly, I feel foolish writing this post just thinking about that! But for every one person that will sell a 700k, there are hundreds of others that'll have to deal with not being the exception to the rule. The sad thing is, many, many people think they are the exception, and thus they don't take critiques to heart, they don't heed advice, and they query with a bad manuscript foolishly hoping that they'll be a NYT bestseller. There is probably nothing that has helped me more in my quest for publication than the feedback of my writing friends.
I'm one of those hundreds that have to deal with not being a major exception (I add 'major' because simply finishing a book is an exception as well). After all, we can't all be exceptions.
You know what they say: you got to learn (and live by) the rules before you can break them. And realizing that we all can't be exceptions can help us get past our own insecurities and (possibly) become the exception and break the rules.
Do you think 'The JK Rowling Excuse' is dangerous?
Monday, February 17, 2014
NEW Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) Novel! "The Silkworm," out in June
YOU GUYS, I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HERE'S THE INFO ABOUT THE SECOND NOVEL IN THE CORMORAN STRIKE SERIES:
Summary from the publisher's website:
 |
| I do not own this photo. Cool cover though! |
Summary from the publisher's website:
"Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling.
"When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days--as he has done before--and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
"But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives--meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.
"When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...
"A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, THE SILKWORM is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant, Robin Ellacott."
Read that description. THE DEAD GUY IS A NOVELIST!!! I don't know why but as a novelist, I feel very happy :) I don't know why but I kind of like when characters in books are writers (yet sometimes, this let's-make-the-main-character-a-writer ploy turns out horribly). Maybe we'll get more insight into Rowling's writing philosophy and techniques through reading about this (dead) writer? Who knows?
The book is to be released June 24, 2014!!! I know I'll be in the bookstores that day. I really enjoyed reading the first novel (Cormoran and Robin were fantastic and I want to read more about them; I love them both so much, especially Robin :D).
WOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you guys excited?!?!?!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Happy Valentine's Day!!! Sharing the Writerly Love
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!
(I wonder how this pink looks against the blue background. I bet it looks horrible).
Basically, I love all of you guys. Joining the writing community has been one of the best, most rewarding experiences of my life. I owe so, SO much to you guys! I love visiting blogs, I love connecting on Twitter, I love your heartfelt thoughts and comments to my posts, and I love the amazing support you give. It means a ton, and I just wanted to tell you guys that. I almost never dwell in 100%s but I know without a doubt that without this community, I would not have grown as I did in my writing. I don't know how I could have gone on this journey alone, and for that, I thank you :) You all are among the best friends a writer can ask for. Our community truly is amazin.
Woah, this post can get mushy really fast, but I NEEDED TO LET IT ALL OUT! And today, I thought, was a good opportunity for it :) (And how awesome is it that this year, Valentine's Day falls on a Friday?!)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY AGAIN!! WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is your Valentine's Day shout-out?
(I wonder how this pink looks against the blue background. I bet it looks horrible).
Basically, I love all of you guys. Joining the writing community has been one of the best, most rewarding experiences of my life. I owe so, SO much to you guys! I love visiting blogs, I love connecting on Twitter, I love your heartfelt thoughts and comments to my posts, and I love the amazing support you give. It means a ton, and I just wanted to tell you guys that. I almost never dwell in 100%s but I know without a doubt that without this community, I would not have grown as I did in my writing. I don't know how I could have gone on this journey alone, and for that, I thank you :) You all are among the best friends a writer can ask for. Our community truly is amazin.
Woah, this post can get mushy really fast, but I NEEDED TO LET IT ALL OUT! And today, I thought, was a good opportunity for it :) (And how awesome is it that this year, Valentine's Day falls on a Friday?!)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY AGAIN!! WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is your Valentine's Day shout-out?
Monday, February 10, 2014
Interview with Tiffanie Lynn - Become an Agent WINNER!
I've got an awesome interview up for you guys to read today! It's with Tiffanie, the one who on the recent 'Become an Agent' contest with her entry, TAINTED LOVE.
But, before that: TO EVERY ENTRANT: I WANT TO HEAR ANY/ALL SUCCESS STORIES YOU GET. Email me at SC_Author (at) yahoo (dot) com and SEND ME THE SUCCESS STORIES WHEN YOU GET THEM! It can be getting a publication deal, getting an agent, or heck, even getting a full request. But success stories seriously are amongst my jewels on this blog. I love them, and I love hearing about them. SO SHARE!
ON TO THE INTERVIEW! (I do 7-question interviews as much as I can, because 7 is the Harry Potter lucky number!)
1. Fun facts about you: name three!
Hmm…
I always forget facts about me when asked a question like this. Well, I can
think of one you’ll love, SC. Despite being in the right age group, I’ve never
read a single word of the Harry Potter series. (GASP.) I know. Blasphemy! I figure I’ll
read them one day. Maybe in German…
That
can be my second fact! I decided to learn German and hope to one day travel to
Germany. I’m still far from being fluent. Actually, the only thing I can think
of to say is “nicht gut” (“not good”), which pretty much describes my fluency.
My
third fact is kind of sad. I wasn’t first inspired to write by JK Rowling, like
most my age, but instead by Stephenie Meyer. Eck! I was around sixteen at the
time and decided I wanted to be a published author. Luckily for me, it was a
choice that stuck because I love stories.
2. Tell us about your writing/publication
experience. How did the drafting go? How do you cope in the querying process?
I
started writing my first real book (a YA Fantasy) in November 2010 and finished
the rough draft in January 2012. I sent out the first batch of queries five
months later in June. But the query was a disaster and the book wasn’t ready. I
joined some sites like Absolute Write and AgentQuery Connect, but lost hope
around October and didn’t look at my writing again until January 2013.
Up
until November 2013, I was still working on Book #1 (which had become a NA
Fantasy), trying to write a coherent query and fix problems throughout the
manuscript. But it occurred to me that I’d never find an agent with Book #1
because the concept was too hard to sell. So I’ve put it away with plans to
rewrite it as a futuristic high fantasy.
I’m
currently on the first draft of Tainted Love. I hate first drafts. I love the
planning stage (I’m a plotter) and anything second draft or above. First drafts
just take so long for me to finish. But my goal is to be query-ready by the
start of August 2014.
3. What/Who keeps you going on this quest
for publication, especially if you feel like giving up some times?
Well,
I did give up once. But creating other worlds and spending time in them is what
I love to do. I’ll always be a writer. And since it’s what I love, it only
makes sense to try to pursue it as a career. When that’s not enough motivation
(like when the query rejections start pouring in), I try to think how happy
I’ll be the day I get to hold my own book. I don’t look at it like a dream that
may never come true. I tell myself it will happen. If not with the current
book, maybe with the one after it. Or the one after that. But one day I will be
published. If I doubted that, I’d probably give up for good. (Same here.)
4. What is your favorite book? Genre?
Author? Also, what writer would you most love to be compared to?
My
favorite genre is fantasy. But favorite book and author? Ahh… I don’t know if I
really have one. I’ve read Katie MacAlister’s and Karen Chance’s fantasy series
multiple times. They’d probably top the list of my favorite authors. My favorite book changes. Right now it’s
Chloe Neill’s Biting Bad, the eighth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series.
The ninth just came out a few days ago and I plan to devour it the moment I get
my hands on a copy.
5. What are your long-term and short-term
goals, writing-wise?
Ha.
They’re both the same right now: get published and get published. I guess my
short-term goal is a little more specific. I hope to get Tainted Love
published.
6. How was your experience in Become an
Agent? Anything to tell the other entrants?
I got
the most yeses, so there’s that. But what was more important to me was discovering
what worked and what didn’t work in my query and first 250. The most common
criticism was to remove the clichéd “world stands still” line. I purposefully
meant it to be clichéd (Ya know, true love at first sight) but I’ll have to
rewrite it somehow so an agent doesn’t reject my query based on it.
To
the other entrants: “Everybody has won and all must have prizes.” This contest
wasn't about who had the most amazing query and first 250, but about getting
constructive feedback to make your work the most amazing it could be. I read
and critiqued every entry and all had potential. Some just were closer to being
query-ready than others. (YES. YES YES YES!!)
7. What would be a dream review for any of
your books? Meaning, what would you LOVE for someone to say about your writing/stories?
My
favorite novels are ones that stay with me for days after being read. Having
someone say they’re still thinking about my book, and all the twists and turns
it took, a week after finishing would be the greatest compliment I could
receive. It would probably make me cry.
Thanks
again, SC, for hosting this contest. And I wish all the other entrants (and any
aspiring writer reading this) the best of luck in their publishing journey! I
can’t wait to see your books on shelves :D
NOW. YOU ALL MUST GO and Follow/Tweet her on Twitter, check out her website AND her blog! Go do it! Go do it now!!!!
Hope you all enjoyed the interview! Congrats again, Tiffanie! Best of luck with you and your journey (and be sure to tell us any new successes!).
Friday, February 7, 2014
Why This Query and 250 Won the Contest
The 'Become an Agent' Contest has ended, and Tiffanie Lynn won it! Her entry got the most 'Yes' votes in answer to the question, 'If you were an agent and received this query and 250, would you request more pages?' The writers went around giving out Yes or No votes, and Tiffanie's got the most Yes's. Below is her query and 250, below that is the version with my comments in bold are as to what made her entry so great.
Enjoy!
Original, uncommented version. Read it before you read my comments so you can make your own judgement! Remember, I'm not always right. Feel free to disagree with my comments.
Title: TAINTED LOVE
Title: TAINTED LOVE
Enjoy!
Original, uncommented version. Read it before you read my comments so you can make your own judgement! Remember, I'm not always right. Feel free to disagree with my comments.
Title: TAINTED LOVE
Genre: High Fantasy
Word Count: Work In Progress
Dear Agent:
In Mithos, where white magic is fueled by purity and black magic by passion, True Love is known as the Intolerable Sin. It’s the darkest, most corrupt source of magic in the world. The punishment: a quick death.
Martia is a Love Child, born out of True Love. She spent her entire life in the Academy, isolated from regular society. But now that she’s graduated, Martia is out in the real world, doing what the Academy trained her to do: assassinate those who’ve committed the Intolerable Sin.
Then Martia meets Narin, the oldest son of Mithos’s empress. The beautiful, courteous man draws her attention like no other—and when their eyes meet, the world stands still. Martia refuses to commit the Intolerable Sin. True Love’s Kiss alone could level an army. But as Martia draws closer to Narin, her choice must be made—kill Narin as she was trained to do, or give into the black magic and risk everything.
Complete at XXX, TAINTED LOVE is a stand-alone high fantasy with strong romantic elements. I have included the XXX in the body of this email.
First 250:
The streets of Yuin are no place for love.
I creep through the shadows, the clack of my boots muffled and unheard. I wear all black in a city of tan stone, bright glass murals and strips of crimson fabric. Even at night, Yuin is never dark.
A giggling couple stumble into the alley. The man leans toward the woman, his voice low and teasing. Her giggles grow to a squealing chuckle. She clutches her sides, bunching up the flowing layers of orange, pink and purple that makes up her long pleated dress. The man’s grin is wide enough to crack his face. She reaches for his hand—
She sees me.
Her laughter cuts off and fear streaks through her wine-glazed eyes. She tries to stand straight, but wobbles. The man frowns at her. She grasps his hand and leans close.
“It’s one of Them.”
The man turns and freezes when he sees me. For a moment, all is still and silent, except for the distant music of viheulas and bongo drums.
The couple is attractive with dark hair and honey-colored skin. Mithoian by birth, then. To an ordinary person, they’d look like two drunk lovers, returning from a late night street festival. But I see differently. Surrounding them is a twisting maroon aura, tinted with gray edges. Black magic.
I step forward with an easy smile.
The woman whimpers. “Please don’t kill us.”
The version with my comments on it!
Word Count: Work In Progress
Dear Agent:
In Mithos, where white magic is fueled by purity and black magic by passion, True Love is known as the Intolerable Sin. It’s the darkest, most corrupt source of magic in the world. The punishment: a quick death.
Martia is a Love Child, born out of True Love. She spent her entire life in the Academy, isolated from regular society. But now that she’s graduated, Martia is out in the real world, doing what the Academy trained her to do: assassinate those who’ve committed the Intolerable Sin.
Then Martia meets Narin, the oldest son of Mithos’s empress. The beautiful, courteous man draws her attention like no other—and when their eyes meet, the world stands still. Martia refuses to commit the Intolerable Sin. True Love’s Kiss alone could level an army. But as Martia draws closer to Narin, her choice must be made—kill Narin as she was trained to do, or give into the black magic and risk everything.
Complete at XXX, TAINTED LOVE is a stand-alone high fantasy with strong romantic elements. I have included the XXX in the body of this email.
First 250:
The streets of Yuin are no place for love.
I creep through the shadows, the clack of my boots muffled and unheard. I wear all black in a city of tan stone, bright glass murals and strips of crimson fabric. Even at night, Yuin is never dark.
A giggling couple stumble into the alley. The man leans toward the woman, his voice low and teasing. Her giggles grow to a squealing chuckle. She clutches her sides, bunching up the flowing layers of orange, pink and purple that makes up her long pleated dress. The man’s grin is wide enough to crack his face. She reaches for his hand—
She sees me.
Her laughter cuts off and fear streaks through her wine-glazed eyes. She tries to stand straight, but wobbles. The man frowns at her. She grasps his hand and leans close.
“It’s one of Them.”
The man turns and freezes when he sees me. For a moment, all is still and silent, except for the distant music of viheulas and bongo drums.
The couple is attractive with dark hair and honey-colored skin. Mithoian by birth, then. To an ordinary person, they’d look like two drunk lovers, returning from a late night street festival. But I see differently. Surrounding them is a twisting maroon aura, tinted with gray edges. Black magic.
I step forward with an easy smile.
The woman whimpers. “Please don’t kill us.”
The version with my comments on it!
Title: TAINTED LOVE
Genre: High Fantasy
Word Count: Work In Progress (Not a problem because my contest allowed WIPs.)
Dear Agent:
In Mithos, where white magic is fueled by purity and black magic by passion, True Love is known as the Intolerable Sin. See how she capitalized 'True Love' and 'Intolerable Sin.' This is a way to add world-building easily without overcrowding the query, something I see SO MUCH in queries for fantasies (especially high fantasy). The writer (including me, back when I was querying a high fantasy) thinks he/she has to include so many details about their world, but in doing so, only convoluted the query and confuses the reader. With Tiffanie's capitalization, the reader or agent can infer that in this world, it's not good-old-normal true love, it's True Love, the Intolerable Sin. And she did that all in just one sentence. It’s the darkest, most corrupt source of magic in the world. The punishment: a quick death.
The entire hook is a beautiful way to incorporate a lot of world-building without making it convoluted. It's a lot, lot, lot harder than it looks. The only reason it seems easy is because Tiffanie spent a lot of time on it (I think) trying to make it read smoothly. Clarity is important even in non-fantasy queries. Ever had the character soup, where John's uncle Bob and his sister Sarah has a daughter named Marta who's in love with Christopher but there's Mark coming in the way? Yea. Hard to keep track of. Keep the details simple and focus on your query's flow.
Martia is a Love Child, born out of True Love. Tiffanie's hook set up this sentence perfectly. We're scared for Martia because we know how dangerous True Love is in this world. And now we're wondering, 'How'd she get born in secrecy? What'll happen to her?' She spent her entire life in the Academy, isolated from regular society. But now that she’s graduated, Martia is out in the real world, doing what the Academy trained her to do: assassinate those who’ve committed the Intolerable Sin.
Here, Tiffanie sets up Martia's character arc. She's killing people like her own parents. Think that won't set up any problems later on? Think again. Without Tiffanie telling us, we know that there are problems coming up - and we want to be there to witness them unfold. (Mostly, I want to witness her getting a taste of her own medicine when she realizes she's killing people like her own parents!)
Then Martia meets Narin, the oldest son of Mithos’s empress. The beautiful, courteous man draws her attention like no other—and when their eyes meet, the world stands still. Normally, this cliche wouldn't work well. I'm not sure if it does even right now, but it's acceptable simply because the entire book's premise is based around a cliche: True Love. This novel is a twist on the notion of True Love. In this world, this cliche is acceptable. In fact, it's funny that Martia fell victim to it :) I'm liking Martia more and more! She's very well developed in the query. Martia refuses to commit the Intolerable Sin. True Love’s Kiss alone could level an army. But as Martia draws closer to Narin, her choice must be made—kill Narin as she was trained to do, or give into the black magic and risk everything.
Here, at the end, Tiffanie lays out the theme of the entire novel: love, and its sacrifices. But she does not over-explain things that don't need any more explaining. For example, the reader can infer that falling in True Love with the empress's son will lead to a lot of trouble.
This is a very thin line of which Tiffanie is on the right side of. Normally, it's way too hard to find out what stuff to leave out and what stuff to include in the query. What's the line between teasing and annoying? Confusion and desire to read? I struggle to find this balance. But I think Tiffanie found it by focusing on one thread during her entire query: Martia's character arc. We see the beginning of it (her assassin side), the pivoting moment (falling in True Love), and we get a glimpse at where it can go from there (falling in Love or killing her love). This thread alone is enough to carry the query (as it does), but either by accident or on purpose, by drawing in concepts and details from her world, Tiffanie hints at so many other avenues where the story might go. It's not the annoying type of teasing. It's the skillful type.
And also: think about the clarity of this query. So easily read, so easily understood. That's rare. Very rare. It's not easy to make a query sound fresh!
Complete at XXX, TAINTED LOVE is a stand-alone high fantasy with strong romantic elements. I have included the XXX in the body of this email.
First 250:
The streets of Yuin are no place for love.
I creep through the shadows, the clack of my boots muffled and unheard. I wear all black in a city of tan stone, bright glass murals and strips of crimson fabric. Even at night, Yuin is never dark.
A giggling couple stumble into the alley. The contrast between the suffocating city and dark colors of the above lines and this happy, giggling couple lend to a creepy, awesome mood. The man leans toward the woman, his voice low and teasing. Her giggles grow to a squealing chuckle. She clutches her sides, bunching up the flowing layers of orange, pink and purple that makes up her long pleated dress. The man’s grin is wide enough to crack his face. She reaches for his hand— Look how easily this is read. It's usually very hard to dive right into the 250. Writing isn't always as clean and smooth as it is here.
She sees me.
Her laughter cuts off and fear streaks through her wine-glazed eyes. She tries to stand straight, but wobbles. The man frowns at her. She grasps his hand and leans close. Showing, not telling. This is good.
“It’s one of Them.” I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK HOW SHE CAPITALIZED 'THEM'. Not only does this show us how alien Martia is to the 'normal' world (how stigmatized she must feel and how the 'normal' people hate her kind), it gives us an insight as to the dynamics of this world.
The man turns and freezes when he sees me. For a moment, all is still and silent, except for the distant music of viheulas and bongo drums.
The couple is attractive with dark hair and honey-colored skin. Mithoian by birth, then. To an ordinary person, they’d look like two drunk lovers, returning from a late night street festival. But I see differently. Surrounding them is a twisting maroon aura, tinted with gray edges. Black magic. That's frankly really cool. I'd read on just to find out why/how True Love is linked with black magic.
I step forward with an easy smile.
The woman whimpers. “Please don’t kill us.”
Holy crap. That last line.... I LOVE IT. IT'S INCREDIBLE.
It seems so easily written because we can read it so quickly and smoothly. But don't be fooled! This type of writing is very hard to do.
Tiffanie also dropped us right into the action. Martia is on her assassin streak and she's about to claim another victim; how much more action do you need? And it's not the confusing action where the reader doesn't know what's going on. The reader is firmly in Martia's head before the action and drama and tension starts. It's not disorienting. It's fluid. And that's incredible.
Also, overall, think about how amazing this premise is. But more importantly, think about how wonderfully it's executed. Great premises are all around us. It's the sad truth. What matters is the execution of said premise. A story centered around True Love could become corny very quickly, but what Tiffanie showed us in her query and 250 is that this is anything but a sappy love story! It's pretty darn awesome, that's what.
What I think made her entry win is: her amazing premise, her execution of the premise, and her solid skills at writing fluid and clean prose. I truly think clean, easy-to-read prose is what distinguishes publishable material from nonpublishable ones. Tiffanie is a testament to that belief :)
So, there you go. That's what I think made her (very unassuming entry) so great, and why she won the contest (congrats!!!). Hope you guys liked it! Also, stay tuned for an interview with Tiffanie coming up Monday morning.
(Woah, it hit me really hard! The 'Become an Agent' contest and all it's post-contest festivities will be over on Monday! Back to regular blogging after that. Wow. That's a weirrddd feeling.)
Do you have anything to add about Tiffanie's entry?
Word Count: Work In Progress (Not a problem because my contest allowed WIPs.)
Dear Agent:
In Mithos, where white magic is fueled by purity and black magic by passion, True Love is known as the Intolerable Sin. See how she capitalized 'True Love' and 'Intolerable Sin.' This is a way to add world-building easily without overcrowding the query, something I see SO MUCH in queries for fantasies (especially high fantasy). The writer (including me, back when I was querying a high fantasy) thinks he/she has to include so many details about their world, but in doing so, only convoluted the query and confuses the reader. With Tiffanie's capitalization, the reader or agent can infer that in this world, it's not good-old-normal true love, it's True Love, the Intolerable Sin. And she did that all in just one sentence. It’s the darkest, most corrupt source of magic in the world. The punishment: a quick death.
The entire hook is a beautiful way to incorporate a lot of world-building without making it convoluted. It's a lot, lot, lot harder than it looks. The only reason it seems easy is because Tiffanie spent a lot of time on it (I think) trying to make it read smoothly. Clarity is important even in non-fantasy queries. Ever had the character soup, where John's uncle Bob and his sister Sarah has a daughter named Marta who's in love with Christopher but there's Mark coming in the way? Yea. Hard to keep track of. Keep the details simple and focus on your query's flow.
Martia is a Love Child, born out of True Love. Tiffanie's hook set up this sentence perfectly. We're scared for Martia because we know how dangerous True Love is in this world. And now we're wondering, 'How'd she get born in secrecy? What'll happen to her?' She spent her entire life in the Academy, isolated from regular society. But now that she’s graduated, Martia is out in the real world, doing what the Academy trained her to do: assassinate those who’ve committed the Intolerable Sin.
Here, Tiffanie sets up Martia's character arc. She's killing people like her own parents. Think that won't set up any problems later on? Think again. Without Tiffanie telling us, we know that there are problems coming up - and we want to be there to witness them unfold. (Mostly, I want to witness her getting a taste of her own medicine when she realizes she's killing people like her own parents!)
Then Martia meets Narin, the oldest son of Mithos’s empress. The beautiful, courteous man draws her attention like no other—and when their eyes meet, the world stands still. Normally, this cliche wouldn't work well. I'm not sure if it does even right now, but it's acceptable simply because the entire book's premise is based around a cliche: True Love. This novel is a twist on the notion of True Love. In this world, this cliche is acceptable. In fact, it's funny that Martia fell victim to it :) I'm liking Martia more and more! She's very well developed in the query. Martia refuses to commit the Intolerable Sin. True Love’s Kiss alone could level an army. But as Martia draws closer to Narin, her choice must be made—kill Narin as she was trained to do, or give into the black magic and risk everything.
Here, at the end, Tiffanie lays out the theme of the entire novel: love, and its sacrifices. But she does not over-explain things that don't need any more explaining. For example, the reader can infer that falling in True Love with the empress's son will lead to a lot of trouble.
This is a very thin line of which Tiffanie is on the right side of. Normally, it's way too hard to find out what stuff to leave out and what stuff to include in the query. What's the line between teasing and annoying? Confusion and desire to read? I struggle to find this balance. But I think Tiffanie found it by focusing on one thread during her entire query: Martia's character arc. We see the beginning of it (her assassin side), the pivoting moment (falling in True Love), and we get a glimpse at where it can go from there (falling in Love or killing her love). This thread alone is enough to carry the query (as it does), but either by accident or on purpose, by drawing in concepts and details from her world, Tiffanie hints at so many other avenues where the story might go. It's not the annoying type of teasing. It's the skillful type.
And also: think about the clarity of this query. So easily read, so easily understood. That's rare. Very rare. It's not easy to make a query sound fresh!
Complete at XXX, TAINTED LOVE is a stand-alone high fantasy with strong romantic elements. I have included the XXX in the body of this email.
First 250:
The streets of Yuin are no place for love.
I creep through the shadows, the clack of my boots muffled and unheard. I wear all black in a city of tan stone, bright glass murals and strips of crimson fabric. Even at night, Yuin is never dark.
A giggling couple stumble into the alley. The contrast between the suffocating city and dark colors of the above lines and this happy, giggling couple lend to a creepy, awesome mood. The man leans toward the woman, his voice low and teasing. Her giggles grow to a squealing chuckle. She clutches her sides, bunching up the flowing layers of orange, pink and purple that makes up her long pleated dress. The man’s grin is wide enough to crack his face. She reaches for his hand— Look how easily this is read. It's usually very hard to dive right into the 250. Writing isn't always as clean and smooth as it is here.
She sees me.
Her laughter cuts off and fear streaks through her wine-glazed eyes. She tries to stand straight, but wobbles. The man frowns at her. She grasps his hand and leans close. Showing, not telling. This is good.
“It’s one of Them.” I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK HOW SHE CAPITALIZED 'THEM'. Not only does this show us how alien Martia is to the 'normal' world (how stigmatized she must feel and how the 'normal' people hate her kind), it gives us an insight as to the dynamics of this world.
The man turns and freezes when he sees me. For a moment, all is still and silent, except for the distant music of viheulas and bongo drums.
The couple is attractive with dark hair and honey-colored skin. Mithoian by birth, then. To an ordinary person, they’d look like two drunk lovers, returning from a late night street festival. But I see differently. Surrounding them is a twisting maroon aura, tinted with gray edges. Black magic. That's frankly really cool. I'd read on just to find out why/how True Love is linked with black magic.
I step forward with an easy smile.
The woman whimpers. “Please don’t kill us.”
Holy crap. That last line.... I LOVE IT. IT'S INCREDIBLE.
It seems so easily written because we can read it so quickly and smoothly. But don't be fooled! This type of writing is very hard to do.
Tiffanie also dropped us right into the action. Martia is on her assassin streak and she's about to claim another victim; how much more action do you need? And it's not the confusing action where the reader doesn't know what's going on. The reader is firmly in Martia's head before the action and drama and tension starts. It's not disorienting. It's fluid. And that's incredible.
Also, overall, think about how amazing this premise is. But more importantly, think about how wonderfully it's executed. Great premises are all around us. It's the sad truth. What matters is the execution of said premise. A story centered around True Love could become corny very quickly, but what Tiffanie showed us in her query and 250 is that this is anything but a sappy love story! It's pretty darn awesome, that's what.
What I think made her entry win is: her amazing premise, her execution of the premise, and her solid skills at writing fluid and clean prose. I truly think clean, easy-to-read prose is what distinguishes publishable material from nonpublishable ones. Tiffanie is a testament to that belief :)
So, there you go. That's what I think made her (very unassuming entry) so great, and why she won the contest (congrats!!!). Hope you guys liked it! Also, stay tuned for an interview with Tiffanie coming up Monday morning.
(Woah, it hit me really hard! The 'Become an Agent' contest and all it's post-contest festivities will be over on Monday! Back to regular blogging after that. Wow. That's a weirrddd feeling.)
Do you have anything to add about Tiffanie's entry?
Thursday, February 6, 2014
'Become an Agent' Winner and Revision Opportunity!
Become an Agent 2014 has officially ended!!!!!!
The votes have been tallied (by me, thank you, thank you) and the winner is TAINTED LOVE by Tiffanie Lynn! I'll be posting an interview with her this Monday, and tomorrow (Friday) I'll do a detailed analysis on why her entry won the contest. Basically, what made her query and 250 so good?
So until then, KEEP AN EYE ON THIS BLOG!
More on that later!
Everyone that participated in the contest (even Tiffanie) has the opportunity to submit a revised version of their query and 250. The revisions will come from the feedback gotten from this contest.
All you have to do is open your own entry post. Then, in a comment, post your revised query and 250. I'll be tracking the comments. Those that have posted revisions, I'll list below. (I'll try to do it as fast as possible; if I'm really slow, just comment on this blog post giving me a heads up with your post number :D)
Those with Revisions
#4 GLASS HAND
#5 NIGHT WITCH
#6 RUST&BLUE
#7 TAINTED
#10 ALL IS DARK
#11 WRAPPED IN DARKNESS
#12 CAPTAIN
#17 DREAM CRASHER
#18 REMEMBER
#19 THE FLAME WARS
#20 EXQUISITE SENSES
Same rules apply for voting etiquette, except now you can give as many Yes's as you want (way too hard to track with a changing number of revisions). As always, be constructive. Don't be brutally harsh. There's a smaller number of entries now so take your time to tell them what they did right in their query and 250 as well :) I feel that it's almost as important knowing what's working as knowing what's not working.
Be sure to return the favor if your revision gets a critique! If you have posted a revision and are critiquing someone else's revision, make sure to include your post number in your critique so the writer has an easier time finding your post.
I AM EXCITED.
Now that the contest is over, it's the time for feedback for me. In the end, all I want to know is: How was the contest? Any suggestions for the next time? Be as honest as you need to be.
CONGRATS TIFFANIE!!! And congrats everyone else for taking so much time to critique the other entries and being so amazingly thoughtful in your critiques :)
Go congratulate Tiffanie on Twitter!
The votes have been tallied (by me, thank you, thank you) and the winner is TAINTED LOVE by Tiffanie Lynn! I'll be posting an interview with her this Monday, and tomorrow (Friday) I'll do a detailed analysis on why her entry won the contest. Basically, what made her query and 250 so good?
So until then, KEEP AN EYE ON THIS BLOG!
More on that later!
Everyone that participated in the contest (even Tiffanie) has the opportunity to submit a revised version of their query and 250. The revisions will come from the feedback gotten from this contest.
All you have to do is open your own entry post. Then, in a comment, post your revised query and 250. I'll be tracking the comments. Those that have posted revisions, I'll list below. (I'll try to do it as fast as possible; if I'm really slow, just comment on this blog post giving me a heads up with your post number :D)
Those with Revisions
#4 GLASS HAND
#5 NIGHT WITCH
#6 RUST&BLUE
#7 TAINTED
#10 ALL IS DARK
#11 WRAPPED IN DARKNESS
#12 CAPTAIN
#17 DREAM CRASHER
#18 REMEMBER
#19 THE FLAME WARS
#20 EXQUISITE SENSES
Same rules apply for voting etiquette, except now you can give as many Yes's as you want (way too hard to track with a changing number of revisions). As always, be constructive. Don't be brutally harsh. There's a smaller number of entries now so take your time to tell them what they did right in their query and 250 as well :) I feel that it's almost as important knowing what's working as knowing what's not working.
Be sure to return the favor if your revision gets a critique! If you have posted a revision and are critiquing someone else's revision, make sure to include your post number in your critique so the writer has an easier time finding your post.
I AM EXCITED.
Now that the contest is over, it's the time for feedback for me. In the end, all I want to know is: How was the contest? Any suggestions for the next time? Be as honest as you need to be.
CONGRATS TIFFANIE!!! And congrats everyone else for taking so much time to critique the other entries and being so amazingly thoughtful in your critiques :)
Go congratulate Tiffanie on Twitter!
Monday, February 3, 2014
On Receiving - and Handling - 'Harsh' Critiques
Getting critiques on your work is tough. Grueling. It almost physically hurts. The query, the 250, the manuscript, the synopsis, etc. that you spend so. much. time. on is now torn apart by someone who read it in a few minutes. Now, your work starts all over again.
But there is one thing I'll always maintain: as long as you're really passionate about writing, getting harsh critiques is a lot LOT better than getting no critiques.
This has been inspired by my 'Become an Agent' contest currently going on right now (by the way, entrants, deadline to submit your votes is Wednesday night 9 p.m. EST!). No, it's not just one person who informed me that the feedback they received was a bit on the tough side. I've had multiple people tell me this. Last year, I think I had only one. That's why, frankly, I'm a bit shocked and even puzzled as to why this problem has sprung up. And that's why I'm writing this post right now.
The responsibility of the critiquer is to be clear and precise in their feedback so their advice isn't hard to understand. They also have a responsibility, not to baby the writer, but to critique with the writer's best interest at heart.
The thing is, as far as I've seen, basically every entrant in this contest gave this type of feedback.
It hurts to get 'harsh' critiques. It hurt for me, too, when I entered the Authoress's Public Slushpile contest (very much like this contest) and got the results.
I'm going to show you guys something that I'm almost embarrassed of. I really, really don't like showing people this but I think it's important for everyone still hurting from a critique to know this story.
Almost two years ago, I entered the Public Slushpile contest thinking my query would get tons and tons of Yes's. And, behold, out of 49 votes, I got only 4 Yes's (and I'm fairly sure those were sympathy Yes's because there were no limits to how many Yes's someone could give out). You want to see the entry? Sure you do. Here it is. I won't even tell you not to cringe.
I'm almost embarrassed by that query but in no way would I ever go back to the future and take it down from the public's eyes. I don't even want to take it down now. I had entered that query after getting over a dozen different eyes on it: finally, critique after critique, getting something I thought was a solid query. I was going to send that query out to agents, for Pete's sake. Read the query. Just read it. It is HORRIBLE.
That contest and the critiques I got left me hurting. I was in shock, I couldn't believe it. I was angry, frustrated, because I had worked so hard on the query. But a few days after I realized just how right everyone of those No's were.
Yes, that contest bruised my ego (more like snapped it in half and threw it in the trash). But because of that contest, I revised and revamped my query into something much, much better (but, eventually, I never sent it out because I started work on a new novel - the one I'm revising right now!). Because of that contest, I realized how stupid I was in thinking I had a good query. I would have gotten dozens of rejections and missed my chance with amazing agents.
Because of what I learned from that contest, I created 'Become an Agent' to give other writers a chance at the same experience I had. I do not exaggerate: that contest may be the most powerful contest I've ever been in (another one would be the Writer's Voice, solely because it's because of that contest that I created this blog in the first place). I desperately wanted to give other writers the same experience I had.
So sure, you may have gotten all No's in this contest, or your query or 250 or manuscript is being torn apart by your critique partners. But if you really, really think about it, would you rather get these critiques and feel bad for a few days, or would you rather be ignorantly happy while sending out horrible queries to agents, getting rejections, and never knowing why?
There's an odd rule: the more a critique seems to hurt, the higher the chance that the critique is spot-on. Don't react to a critique right away; give it at least a day for you to relax and think about it.
This is really tough love on my part, but I say it because critiques might be the only way for you to become the very best writer you can. Don't let your emotions or short-term feelings of happiness come in the way of your talent. I want you to succeed. It's why I made this contest in the first place, for Pete's sake.
But success doesn't mean winning this contest. Success means short-term sadness but long-term success. Be happy you got all No's or mostly No's. Swallow your anger and funnel it towards making your query even stronger. In fact, I think the person who gets the least from this contest is the one who gets all Yes's, which is why I'm (if I get permission) doing an interview with the winner (so the winner gets something). That's why I've been saying over and over that winning isn't the point of this contest (although, by calling it a contest - for lack of a better word - I guess I've invited it upon myself).
This contest is a tough one, I've said it when it started. But, hopefully, it will be a contest you'll remember - and cherish - for a long while to come. All you have to do is forget about trying to win. Try to grow instead. And I do hope you won't hate me or hate my blog after reading this post because I'm not writing this out of spite! (Good gosh, I just realized I have a big fear of people hating me. That's not good for a writer, is it?)
Entrants have until Wednesday 9 p.m. EST to finish up votes!
ALSO: To all entrants!!! If you want to submit a REVISED version of your query and 250, simply include them in a comment to your original post any time after Wednesday 9 p.m. EST. I'll write up a blog post for Thursday putting up a list of all the posts that have revised entries (so people can easily find them). Anyone who wants to can critique the revisions by replying to the comment! Most likely, you'll have to return the favor (so include your post number at the end of your critique).
For entrants: how do you feel about the contest so far? Anything to improve on for next year? How has the feedback been?
For everyone: How do you feel about getting harsh critiques or reviews?
But there is one thing I'll always maintain: as long as you're really passionate about writing, getting harsh critiques is a lot LOT better than getting no critiques.
This has been inspired by my 'Become an Agent' contest currently going on right now (by the way, entrants, deadline to submit your votes is Wednesday night 9 p.m. EST!). No, it's not just one person who informed me that the feedback they received was a bit on the tough side. I've had multiple people tell me this. Last year, I think I had only one. That's why, frankly, I'm a bit shocked and even puzzled as to why this problem has sprung up. And that's why I'm writing this post right now.
The responsibility of the critiquer is to be clear and precise in their feedback so their advice isn't hard to understand. They also have a responsibility, not to baby the writer, but to critique with the writer's best interest at heart.
The thing is, as far as I've seen, basically every entrant in this contest gave this type of feedback.
It hurts to get 'harsh' critiques. It hurt for me, too, when I entered the Authoress's Public Slushpile contest (very much like this contest) and got the results.
I'm going to show you guys something that I'm almost embarrassed of. I really, really don't like showing people this but I think it's important for everyone still hurting from a critique to know this story.
Almost two years ago, I entered the Public Slushpile contest thinking my query would get tons and tons of Yes's. And, behold, out of 49 votes, I got only 4 Yes's (and I'm fairly sure those were sympathy Yes's because there were no limits to how many Yes's someone could give out). You want to see the entry? Sure you do. Here it is. I won't even tell you not to cringe.
I'm almost embarrassed by that query but in no way would I ever go back to the future and take it down from the public's eyes. I don't even want to take it down now. I had entered that query after getting over a dozen different eyes on it: finally, critique after critique, getting something I thought was a solid query. I was going to send that query out to agents, for Pete's sake. Read the query. Just read it. It is HORRIBLE.
That contest and the critiques I got left me hurting. I was in shock, I couldn't believe it. I was angry, frustrated, because I had worked so hard on the query. But a few days after I realized just how right everyone of those No's were.
Yes, that contest bruised my ego (more like snapped it in half and threw it in the trash). But because of that contest, I revised and revamped my query into something much, much better (but, eventually, I never sent it out because I started work on a new novel - the one I'm revising right now!). Because of that contest, I realized how stupid I was in thinking I had a good query. I would have gotten dozens of rejections and missed my chance with amazing agents.
Because of what I learned from that contest, I created 'Become an Agent' to give other writers a chance at the same experience I had. I do not exaggerate: that contest may be the most powerful contest I've ever been in (another one would be the Writer's Voice, solely because it's because of that contest that I created this blog in the first place). I desperately wanted to give other writers the same experience I had.
So sure, you may have gotten all No's in this contest, or your query or 250 or manuscript is being torn apart by your critique partners. But if you really, really think about it, would you rather get these critiques and feel bad for a few days, or would you rather be ignorantly happy while sending out horrible queries to agents, getting rejections, and never knowing why?
There's an odd rule: the more a critique seems to hurt, the higher the chance that the critique is spot-on. Don't react to a critique right away; give it at least a day for you to relax and think about it.
This is really tough love on my part, but I say it because critiques might be the only way for you to become the very best writer you can. Don't let your emotions or short-term feelings of happiness come in the way of your talent. I want you to succeed. It's why I made this contest in the first place, for Pete's sake.
But success doesn't mean winning this contest. Success means short-term sadness but long-term success. Be happy you got all No's or mostly No's. Swallow your anger and funnel it towards making your query even stronger. In fact, I think the person who gets the least from this contest is the one who gets all Yes's, which is why I'm (if I get permission) doing an interview with the winner (so the winner gets something). That's why I've been saying over and over that winning isn't the point of this contest (although, by calling it a contest - for lack of a better word - I guess I've invited it upon myself).
This contest is a tough one, I've said it when it started. But, hopefully, it will be a contest you'll remember - and cherish - for a long while to come. All you have to do is forget about trying to win. Try to grow instead. And I do hope you won't hate me or hate my blog after reading this post because I'm not writing this out of spite! (Good gosh, I just realized I have a big fear of people hating me. That's not good for a writer, is it?)
Entrants have until Wednesday 9 p.m. EST to finish up votes!
ALSO: To all entrants!!! If you want to submit a REVISED version of your query and 250, simply include them in a comment to your original post any time after Wednesday 9 p.m. EST. I'll write up a blog post for Thursday putting up a list of all the posts that have revised entries (so people can easily find them). Anyone who wants to can critique the revisions by replying to the comment! Most likely, you'll have to return the favor (so include your post number at the end of your critique).
For entrants: how do you feel about the contest so far? Anything to improve on for next year? How has the feedback been?
For everyone: How do you feel about getting harsh critiques or reviews?
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