Bad Scores = Good Lessons by Susan Tuttle

How many of you have entered contests over the years? And how many of you have received less than stellar scores? Yep. Me too😃

I used to cringe when I would see my scores return. I even reached a point where I didn’t want to open the email. Sometimes it would have been less painful to shove bamboo shoots under my fingernails.

But I learned something. Those bad scores came with great feedback. Concrete ways that I could grow and change my writing. They also thickened my sensitive skin—something that must happen if you want to be a writer. This is a world of rejection; it doesn’t matter if you’re published or not. There will always be people who don’t like what you write…and that’s okay! You begin to develop an ear for what criticisms to listen to, and what ones you release.

So I encourage you to keep entering contests. Keep growing. Keep thickening your skin. It’s all part of becoming the writer you’re meant to be! And there is (almost) always good to be found tucked into the bad.

Susan L. Tuttle lives in Michigan where she’s happily married to her best friend and is a homeschooling mom of three. She’s firmly convinced that letters were meant for words, not math, and loves stringing them together into stories that inspire, encourage, and grow women into who God created them to be. Romance, laughter, and cookies are three of her favorite things, though not always in that order. You can connect with Susan at her blog, Steps, Facebook, or Twitter.

Criticism and Candy by Marie Wells Coutu

Criticism is like M&M candy in reverse.

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like M&Ms. But I have one friend who prefers the red ones, and a relative who will eat any color—except the brown ones.

I used to work with a man who would bring M&Ms to meetings at work. He would take a handful and line them up in front of him by color, eating all of one color before starting on the next color. But since he shared the bag with the rest of the group, we enjoyed watching him organize his own stash.

As writers, we need to treat criticism like M&Ms. What’s that? We should eat the words from someone else?

Not exactly. But we do need to be selective in how we take in the criticism.

Like the brown M&Ms, what one reader, or judge, or agent/editor hates, someone else may love. It can get confusing when our critique group tells us to do things one way and a publisher seems to prefer a different technique.

One of my friends recently received low scores on her unpublished manuscript from judges of one writing contest, then ranked as a finalist with the very same manuscript in a different contest. It could have been differences in the contest or simply subjective preferences of the judges. A work-in-progress I entered in a different contest finalled, garnering raves from the three initial judges, but the final judge didn’t care for the story.

And that’s okay. I told my friend—and myself—to take the criticisms with a grain of salt. Because reading is subjective. Some people will love your writing and others will hate it—or at least, not care for it. So if the critiquer offers constructive criticism, listen to it and then decide for yourself which of the comments fit for your particular story. Pick and choose the “colors” of the criticism that is important to you.

As for the positive comments, those might be your red M&Ms. Be encouraged by them, enjoy them, but don’t overdose on them. As a writer, you can always improve but you need those encouraging words to keep you going. (Of course, if your mother is the only one who likes your writing, you might need to do some serious thinking about your calling!)

Consider the source, learn from the criticism but don’t stress out over it, and be encouraged by those who like your work.

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103

Meanwhile, take a handful of M&Ms. Peanut or plain?

About the Author

The Secret Heart
by Marie Wells Coutu

Marie Wells Coutu’s new novel, The Secret Heart, will be released in late August from Write Integrity Press. Follow Marie on Amazon.com to be notified when it becomes available. The Secret Heart is the third book in the Mended Vessels series. Books in the series are contemporary re-imaginings of the stories of biblical women, including Esther and the woman at the well.

Her debut novel, For Such a Moment, won the Books of Hope Contest. Thirsting for More, the second book in the series, was a finalist in the 2016 Selah Awards Contest. You can find more about Marie and her novels on her Facebook page (Author Marie Wells Coutu), at her website (MarieWellsCoutu.com), or follow her on Twitter (@mwcoutu).

Marie retired after 15 years with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and she and her husband now divide their time between Florida and Iowa.

The Secret Heart

Beautiful Shawna Moore married Hunter Wilson, the governor of Tennessee, after a whirlwind romance, only six weeks following her first husband’s death in Iraq. Now, she wonders if the governor loved her at all or only hoped to avoid a scandal.

An investigative reporter—and friend of Shawna’s—is asking questions. If he discovers the truth about Shawna’s baby, Hunter’s chances for reelection could be ruined. But keeping the secret is destroying their marriage. Will Shawna convince Hunter to choose his family and drop out of politics, or will he continue to put his career first?

The Secret Heart, will be released in late August from Write Integrity Press.

Fifth Thursday Fun - Contests by Terri Weldon

Terri here – again. Sorry, but it’s not often we have five Thursdays in a month so I’m improvising and filling in. I thought it would be fun to discuss contests. 

 

Contests can be a great way to get your manuscript in front of an agent or editor. The American Christian Fiction Writers have two great contests for unpublished authors – the Genesis and First Impressions. The Genesis requires you to submit a complete manuscript while the First Impressions only requires the first five pages of your manuscript. They also have a contest for published authors entitled the Carol. Published authors, either traditional or ACFW Qualified Independently Published, submit a book that was released between January and December of the prior year. 

 

One of my favorite contests, the Daphne, is sponsored by the Romance Writers of America’s Kiss of Death Chapter. This contest is geared towards mystery and suspense. Suspense is the genre I’m currently targeting. If you are a Christian fiction author they have a category for you. This contest is also open for published and non-published authors. They have great final judges, in fact they have an agent and editor as the final judge in each category. 

 

Harlequin offers some fantastic contests for authors who aspire to write for them. They recently held a contest for their Love Inspired Historical line. Our very own Sandra Ardoin moved on to the next round in that exciting contest.  

 

Right now Harlequin is sponsoring a contest called the Harlequin Heartwarming Blitz! Harlequin Heartwarming novels are wholesome and clean. They have no sex scenes. The novels are typically 70,000 words. Check out this link www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com if you are interested. The first round is open April 4-22, 2016. 

 

So far a contest hasn’t landed me an agent or a contract, but I enjoy entering them. If nothing else the feedback alone is worth the cost and effort of entering. And the Harlequin contests don’t have a fee. They are free and an actual Harlequin editor looks at your manuscript. You can’t beat a deal like that!

 

There are many other great contests. I don’t have the time or space to name them all. I wish I did. If you have a favorite contest, please share it here with us. 

I’ve already fessed up. I like contests, I’m selective about what I enter and due to being, well forgetful, I don’t enter as many as I’d like. What about you? Are you a contest junkie?  How about telling me why or why not? And if you’ve signed with an agent or received a publishing contract through a contest I’d love to hear about your good fortune.

Terri Weldon is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and shopping for shoes. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction. She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has two adorable Westies – Crosby and Nolly Grace. Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing.

Readers can connect with Terri:
Website: www.TerriWeldon.com or Blog: Seriously Write