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You can find the following articles on this page: What Are Judges Looking For in a Contest Entry Memorable Character Names Adventures of a Romance Writing Mother
What Are Judges Looking For in a Contest Entry? Are you thinking about entering a contest, but you’re just not sure what to do? How will you win?
As a judge myself for numerous writing contests, as well as a category coordinator for two different RWA chapters, I thought I could offer some advice to those writers who are not quite sure what judges look for in an entry.
First and foremost you have to love writing and love your story. The love you have for your story will shine through in your entry. Secondly, you have to edit your entry, if possible show it to a critique partner or group, it always helps to have a second pair of eyes to catch the little things we can’t seem to see on our own.
Why do people enter contests? It’s a good way to get your manuscript ready for submission. You will get some feedback on your work, and if you’ve done well enough to final, your entry will land before an editor and agent. Does finaling or winning a contest matter to an editor or agent? It really depends on who you submit to. Some say it’s great and shows you’re serious and that your writing is good. Others say they are afraid the manuscript may be good for the first three chapters and then decline from there. Just make sure you edit your entire manuscript as well as you did the first. Having a crit partner or partners should help with this.
I have taken some of the most common scoring guidelines and explained them below. Most will have a score from 1 – 5, with 1 meaning it needs major revisions, and 5 meaning it is ready for submission.
Format
The judge is looking to see that your manuscript is written in an acceptable format. For example, you have 12 pt. font, Times New Roman or Courier font, double spaced, black ink, 1 inch margins, page breaks between chapters, *** between scenes or at least something indicating a scene or POV change. (POV= Point of View, no head hopping!)
Opening
The opening of your story is generally thought of as the first line of your story to the second page. You’ve really got to grab your reader from the start, make that first sentence and first paragraph really jump off the page, and compel the reader to keep reading. You’re opening hook could make or break the entire story. It could be action, dialogue or narrative, just as long as it pops. As an exercise check out a few of your favorite books, how did they draw you in?
Storyline
Is your story fresh and unique? You may have heard there are something like five storylines in the world, well what makes yours different? Are we introduced to the main characters and shown their internal and external conflicts? Is there enough conflict to sustain the story? Now understandably you only have 20 – 30 pages to show the judge all this stuff and you may not be able to put it all in there. Judges know that, and just want to see hints conflict will continue.
Setting
Judges want to be able to sense the place and time. They want to see how your setting adds to the mood of the book. Believe it or not, but setting and how you portray it, is very important to a story. Setting sets the mood and allows the reader to become the characters. I’ve always tried to describe the way I read as seeing a movie in my head. If the setting is written clearly I can’t see the movie… Research your setting well, judges will check to see if the setting is believable.
Characterization
Make sure your characters are well developed. You should know them as well if not better than you know yourself. Know what they would do in each and every situation, because if you don’t know your characters well, neither will a reader. Your character’s goals should be portrayed or at least hinted at in an entry, and be realistic. Actions, dialogue, thoughts, goals, motivation should all be relevant to the time period or at least give the reader an idea why they aren’t.
Romance/Relationship
Your hero and heroine should be introduced to the reader somewhere near the beginning of the novel. Upon their first meeting of each other, sparks should fly. That doesn’t mean they have to want to jump immediately into bed together (although it doesn’t hurt!), they may hate each other at first, which could make it all the more fun. Bring on the sensual tension! Make us feel those sparks, or at least make us feel like we would if we could read more than 30 pages… Judges will look to see that your characters have enough depth to make it in a relationship. They need to like each other for certain reasons, not just because she’s pretty and he’s hot. Although physical attraction is important, judges are looking for emotional attachment too.
Dialogue
Your dialogue should move the story along. It should be meaningful and reveal things about the characters, the setting and the story. Read your dialogue aloud, if it sounds odd to you, it will sound odd to a reader. Don’t use too many, “he said” “she said” tag lines. Intersperse your dialogue with action. Make it flow. Also don’t give your southern belle a New York accent, or your noblewoman a peasant’s tongue.
Narrative
To me narrative may be one of the hardest parts. You want to make sure you’re showing and not telling. You want to make sure you get all your details and descriptions in but not too much that you bore the reader. You want it to be well balanced with dialogue and action. Show us what’s going on through the character’s point of view. Your narrative should move the story along just like your dialogue does.
Style
Judges look for your unique voice. They want to see that your writing is vivid, emotional, and interesting. They want to be hooked. Did you use all five senses? Can the reader hear, see, feel, taste and smell what the character does? Again…Show don’t tell! It is so important. Make sure points of view are clear, and don’t hop from one person’s thoughts to another. If you want to switch points of view make sure your transitions are smooth and not confusing.
Categories: Historical, Contemporary/Series, Mystery/Suspense, Paranormal, Fantasy, Erotic, Time Travel, etc…
Most likely you will enter under a certain category or into a certain contest. Make sure your story fits that category. You wouldn’t enter your contemporary into a historical category. Make sure you know your genre and you’ve researched it enough your eyes are now crossed.
When in doubt contact the contest coordinator they will be able to answer your questions, and get you on the right track.
Good luck!
Memorable Character Names
What’s in a name? So much goes into choosing a name. Naming anything can really take a long time, your kids, your characters, your pets, your pen name, your house, your car… A friend of mine took almost two days to name their son after his birth, and they’d known he was a boy for at least four or five months by then. It just takes a lot. It has to be perfect. It has to match, to fit. When you hear the name you want to think of that person, place or thing.
Every writer wants their characters to have a memorable name. Besides the name, you want to make sure your character is actually a memorable person, with a deep and intriguing personality. Beyond that, you want people to think of their name and remember that character, remember the book, remember you, and want to read more of what you’ve written.
So how do we go about picking that character name? It takes me awhile to come up with the perfect name. I mull it over in my mind as I think about the setting of my story and the plotline. I think about who my character is. I plot out on note cards their physical characteristics, personality traits, strengths, weaknesses, their goals, things in their past that influence their goals today, and anything else about them that may come to mind. Once I really know each character, what they’re about, and what they want, then I tackle the name.
First names first…I look up names online, in baby name books and my favorite, The Writer’s Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, by Sherrilyn Kenyon. One of the reasons I like this book is, let’s say my character is Greek, I can flip to Greek names, or Celtic, Japanese, French, English, Persian, and the list goes on. I like my characters to have names that are specific to their country of origin. I feel like this makes it more realistic, especially since I write historical. You wouldn’t want to give your historical character a very modern name, and vice versa, your modern character would sound odd if her name were outdated, like Mildred or Bertha.
I usually start out by looking for a meaningful name to the character. If I want my heroine to have a name that means strong, or beautiful, or if I want my hero’s name to mean defender, or handsome, I will look up names with those meanings. And if I want my villain to have an equally descriptive name, meaning he’s not so good, I will find it.
Obviously if I find a name that I love and the name sounds great with my story and characters, but is meaningless, I will use it.
First names are little easier to come up with than last names. A last name not only has to match your character and your story, but it has to fit well with your characters name, and if your heroine is going to get married to the hero and take his last name, then the hero’s name has to match her name too… You’ve all seen the names before that just don’t sound good together, like Julia Gulia from the movie The Wedding Singer. You don’t want to have a beautiful name get ruined when she gets married!
How do you find a wide variety of names to choose from? Besides using the book I mentioned above, I also use baby name books, do research online, the phonebook, obits in the newspaper, programs from graduations, movies, lists of the peerages in Europe, etc… When I put the question to some members of one of my chapters I also heard some more interesting places to look for names, graveyards, social security administration’s most popular name list, names of great cities, using your own genealogy or that of a historic person. I also listen in on conversations, I’ve been known to hear a name and snap it up. One of the children in my daughter’s class last year had a beautiful name that I’d never heard before. It was perfect for a hero in my story.
There are so many memorable names…Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett, Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde… When you hear the names you think of the story. I want that same thing for my readers. I want them to hear one of my character’s names and remember what a fascinating love story I wove within the pages of a book.
 Adventures of the Romance Writing Mother
6:00 a.m.
I awake to a loud irritating sound – beep, beep, beep.
I ask for the hundredth time why I torture myself with so little sleep…the answer comes instantly, because I am a stay-at-home mom and a romance writer.
When I decided to write this article, there could only be one title. Everyday in the life of a mother and a writer is an adventure. When you lead the double life, it makes it all the more enjoyable; every day I am filled with surprises, whether from my family or from my characters.
There are more mommy writers out there day after day. Taking care of their families and writing at the same time. Some with young ones, school aged, teenagers and even college aged kids that require daily care. I’ll bet half of you even have full or part time jobs pressing on your list of to dos.
I have been writing since before my children were born. When my eldest daughter, now six, was born I had to start making accommodations to my writing schedule. In addition I was also working full time. I learned to type one handed, keep books by the nursing chair, and live off of caffeine.
 When my second daughter was on the way, I decided it was time to stop working and concentrate solely on my careers as a mother and writer. She is now twenty months old, and I really have a pattern down that I wanted to share with other writing mothers.
Try them out. Ultimately you will have to come up with your own schedule and patterns. Everyone has different things they have to do during the day. Hopefully these tested methods will help you or at least give you an idea for something that works better.
So let’s start at the beginning of my day. As you saw at the beginning of the article I wake up before the rest of the house. I don’t do this to work on my writing as many others do. I do it to get most, if not all, of my chores done and a shower before the other inhabitants of the house rise. Everyone’s got chores, and if you’ve got kids, double them….marker on the walls, toys dumped and hidden in odd places, juice spilled, last night’s spaghetti stuck to the ceiling, you get the picture. For me, I can’t sit down to write unless I know I can actually sit down to write. If there is twenty loads of laundry to get done, I have to put at least one load in.
Come 7:30 a.m., I’m getting the kids dressed and taking my older one to school. From there I head straight to the gym, drop off my littlest one at the gym daycare, and hit the floor. I workout every morning, it helps to get the creative juices flowing. Think of it as an hour of time to plan out scenes and character sketches. A lot of times I’ll take the latest RWR or Romantic Times, and read it while on the bike. Also I sit a lot of the day, snack a lot and the only way to not add on the pounds is by sticking to a strict exercise regimen.
I know for those of you that work, this may be hard. I used to work out after work. Remember working out doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym. It could be going for a run or walk in the neighborhood, if you have a dog he would surely enjoy it! Running around at the playground after you pick up your kids. Taking a family walk after dinner. Squeezing your rump while at the desk, and tightening your abs during the commute are also ways to tone!
 After the gym, I spend a little one on one with my youngest. Puzzles, books, going to the park, playing outside or going to a local mom and me class, just spending time together is important. By the way, your local library may have a free class for kids. Mine does and I love it. We read books, sing songs, and she gets to play with other kids. Plus it’s never too early to get your kids addicted to the library.
By 10:30 a.m., I get on the computer and check emails and look at my writing schedule for the day. These are easy things to do when you have a child running around, or a baby laying by you or on you. They don’t take as much concentration as writing a scene.
I know you’re thinking, a writing schedule? She’s crazy! I am totally serious. I am a strict adherer to a schedule. When you have so many things going on in your life, it is hard to just go with the flow. I have to at least have some basis to go off of or nothing will get done. That’s not to say that the schedule doesn’t change. Once things start adding up, you can’t do everything in one day. After all, even though everyone else thinks you’re SuperMom… the reality is even SuperMom can get stressed out!
What are some things I put on the schedule? Website updates, volunteer duties, articles, WIP’s to edit, review or write, emails, critiques, reading about craft, research, blogs, classes. I write it up at the beginning of each week with the goals I want to complete by the end of the week and then update it daily. My goal is to get it done Monday through Friday, leaving the weekends for catch-up, fun or getting ahead.
Just a side note on goals, it is important not only to set short term goals, but long term goals. I have my writing schedule on the computer. The first page is my short term goals for the week, and the second page is my long term goals. Long term goals for me are when I hope to finish a manuscript or article, and when to send in the query or submission package.
Let’s talk nap time. It is best to get the most writing done during nap time. This could be a good hour to three hours. Sit down and write. Push yourself. Just do it. Even if you think it’s crap and eventually you end up scrapping the whole thing. I find that every day, I write a little better and as long as I keep up with it, I’m good to go. I read somewhere recently that it only takes twenty one days to form a habit. So get to it!
What if your baby or child won’t take a nap? Been there! Here are some things I do. I write in the play room, so they can play while I work. I set them at the table in the kitchen with me, each with paper and pen, and they can color or write their own stories. My oldest daughter loves to make her own books with papers she’s stapled together. I will work in fifteen to thirty minute increments using a timer. After each increment I play with them for the same amount of time, then do it all over again. My kids love this game!
Projects, for older ones are great, and even little ones try to get involved. For a baby, hold them in your lap, typing with one hand is a lot easier than it sounds. Bouncy chairs and swings are great! Set the bouncy chair next to you. You can rock the baby with your foot or hand, and make cooing faces between paragraphs.
I also want to add in here, what do you tell your kids when they ask what you write? For my daughter telling her that I write stories about princesses and princes is enough, but for some of you, your kids may want to read your work. Do you let them? For me I think it will depend on the story. Some of the stuff I write is pretty steamy and I wouldn’t want my fourteen year old reading it. On the other hand a couple years down the road I might. I read my first romance when I was fourteen, and haven’t stopped since. 
Afternoon, early evening has arrived, snack time, bus stops, homework and family time. Hopefully by now you’ve gotten most of your writing schedule for the day done, but we all know it doesn’t happen sometimes. Unless you’re on deadline for an editor, oh well. Family time is important. Remember that first and foremost you are a mother. Obviously if the kids are playing with dad, or with each other, then there is no problem to catch up on work. I check my emails, read books and magazines and sometimes write scenes while I’m making dinner. Last night I made two dinners, so tonight I can work later.
After bath time and bed time, I try to spend some time with my husband. About half the time he has work to do, or is still at work, so I utilize that time for writing or reading.
I am a late night person, up until midnight or later most days. It gives me a good four hours while the children sleep, to do whatever I need to do. Whether that be relaxing, spending time with my friends, hanging with the dear hubby, chores, writing, or watching television, I know that I can do it without having to change a diaper or make someone a snack.
A few extra pointers:
• Do keep notebooks everywhere! In your purse, nightstand, t.v. stand, bathroom, living room, kitchen, car. You never know when a clever plot, piece of dialogue or twist will come to you and you want to be able to write it down. There have been plenty of times I’ve forgotten a line that suddenly came to me and I wished I had written it down.
• Use a laptop. This makes life so much easier. You can take it from room to room, follow the kiddies. I’ve even put mine on the counter while cooking dinner.
• If you start habits/routines now, not only will they stick with you, but they stick with your family too. That doesn’t mean it always works. Just yesterday my older daughter came up to me and said “Mommy, I know you’re writing, but I think you need to take the day off.” ‘Nuff said boss, you got it.
• Don’t forget to call on help! Most likely your hubby knows you’re serious about a career in writing, although he may be jealous of the computer. Ask him to take the kids to the park or read a book while you finish up a scene. Grandparents love to visit with the kiddies too. This will especially come in handy if you are on deadline for a publisher.
I hope that some of what you’ve read helps you. It can definitely be a hectic and trying time. Enjoy the ride while it lasts. At some point when you’re on your twenty fifth best seller (wink*wink*) the kids will be at home with their own little chickadees. Playing monopoly, making cookies or going for a scooter ride will no longer be valid excuses for taking a break from your manuscript.
 Being a writer you do have it nice. Your boss won’t break into your office and say, “Hey what are you doing on the floor with all these puzzles? You can’t bring your kids here!”
Just make sure to send in the submission package without the peanut butter smears…Well it’s been fun, but I have to go clean up the paper carpet my kids made in the living room, then right a steamy scene.
Ah, the adventure continues…
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