“The transparency the contest provides in the feedback and scoring is by far its greatest strength, as well as its greatest challenge.” (Click above to read more.)
Ink & Insights blog series: “Why are my scores so different?”
Inside Ink and Insights: What This Judge Wants
A new blog post from one of our TOP judges.
Fortune shone on me as my mum read to me nightly. I’m sure this is where my love of reading began and would one day lead me to reading and judging for the Ink and Insights writing competition. *Pause for effect.*
Okay, I made that much more dramatic than it is, but there is some truth to it. Reading a lot led to writing, editing, and content development. The competition is another branch of this progress ^_^.
You’ve got the background, now here’s a little insider info – Ink and Insights’ judges are given a list of preference choices for genre, age category, etc. We’re then able to let the competition’s organisers know what we love/like, what we’re okay with but would rather not read, and what we definitely don’t want to read. This is a great system as it means each judge is paired with submissions best suited to…
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A Tale of Two Opinions
- By Ink & Insights judge: Nic Tatano We all know that pretty much everything about writing talent is subjective. Everyone has picked up a bestseller and thought about tossing it through a window like Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook when he got fed up with Hemingway. And there’s the book that never…
Contemplating Contests and Critiques – By Ink & Insights Judge Pamela Taylor
Ink & Insights often gets feedback from contestants as soon as they receive their score sheets. Occasionally, Catherine will share a particularly enthusiastic thank-you note with the judges. In one recent instance, the contestant was just as effusive about the low scores as the high ones – and that prompted me to think about how…
I Have My Scores. What Now?
- By Ink & Insights judge: Jessica de Bruyn For all of the participants of this year’s contest, first I want to congratulate you on what you have accomplished so far. We as readers, editors and writers ourselves know that it is not easy to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and…
Ink & Insights blog series: “Why are my scores so different?” — Kevin’s thoughts
I think the discrepancies help demonstrate you’ve really made people think about your voice as a writer more than your technical craft, and that’s an important factor to me, and I hope, many other readers.
Ink & Insights blog series: “Why are my scores so different?” — Linda’s thoughts
I look at judging as a coaching job. If I like the concept and the direction the story is going, but the writing is too loose, I try to encourage that writer to stay with it and work on the execution. (Click above to read more.)
Ink & Insights blog series: “Why are my scores so different?” — Aaron’s thoughts
What has been most helpful to me is thinking about judging in the same way that I do grading English literature essays.
(Click above to read more.)
Ink & Insights blog series: “Why are my scores so different?” — Jessica’s thoughts
One of the things that I love most about publishing and one of the things that frustrates me is that there is no magic formula for creating a best-selling book. What will have one person riveted will have another putting the book down after chapter one and never picking it up again. This is one…
Ink & Insights blog series: “Why are my scores so different?” — Jake’s thoughts
If judging books was a completely objective process, you could probably get computers to do it.
(Click above to read more.)
