Judging

I've read about a dozen novel entries and I've been surprised by how bad so many of them are. Out of a score of 150 total points, most aren't making it over 100. One even scored a depressing (thought deserved) 68.

Firstly, this exercise has reminded me just how important those first ten pages of a novel are. It has also revealed to me just how hard it is to get those first ten pages to be perfect. My own effort probably wouldn't score very high. I think a reader might be bored, and not care too much about the characters. It's a weak point of my manuscript I've been working on. However, compared to the ones I'm reading, mine isn't too bad.

I read one the other day about a Hobgoblin. Now, I like fantasy and sci-fi, and I understand that at this point in history there is a specific enthusiasm for vampires, witches, wizards and the like. But, a Hobgoblin in Houston is a bit of a hard sell. Not to mention that while reading it I was completely and thuroughly lost. So many things were thrown at me that I had no idea what was going on.

Conversely, a story about a young girl in high-school who was gang raped the night of her dance was incredibly well written. After reading the synopsis, I started reading the entry with a bit of hesitation. It's not a topic I would genearlly seek out. However, the author had such clear and clean prose, and the description of the young girls thoughts and feelings were so well written, that I read more of that entry than any other.

I've read and graded about a dozen, I have about four dozen more to go and only three weeks to read them all. It's going to be a close one.