ACFW Book of the Year judging

Captain’s Log, Stardate 04.30.2005

I just got my ACFW Book of the Year judging packet. Looking over the score sheets, I realized that this is very much like a contest for an unpublished writer. The authors are receiving anonymous feedback from readers who can freely give opinions on things like character, conflict, motivation. Many times, I’ve read a book where the character is inconsistent, or the conflict isn’t strong enough, or the motivation isn’t quite believable, but I’ve never written to the author to complain.

I can see how this might be scary for an author. I know I’d be freaking out.

I was just talking with a friend of mine last night about Christian fiction. While much of it is excellent quality, there are a few that really disappoint. It doesn’t even matter sometimes if the authors are new or multi-published.

Some things are blatant and unprofessional--I recently read a Christian book where the heroine had absolutely no goal and no conflict with characters in the first several scenes. There was conflict between the secondary characters, but I didn’t like any of them and I certainly wasn’t rooting for any of them. I couldn’t go on--it was just too boring.

Some things are more subtle, but I still wonder how this got past various critique partners (if the author had any) and the editor. I read several books with strong characters who would then do something horribly dumb with not enough good motivation to do it. I call those “Too Stupid to Live” moments. Or else a character will do something and I really can’t understand why, it just doesn’t make logical sense.

However, that being said, I am praying God gives me wisdom and love in judging these books, to be honest in both my praise and criticism. I don’t anticipate poor writing in any of these books, but I guess the sudden freedom of saying exactly what I want has me feeling a bit nervous, just in case I don’t like the book for whatever reasons. I’m probably being silly.

Writing: I got a bit done last night on outlining my wip, but then I read the guidelines for Barbour and I’m freaking out. My storyline is more like a Chicklit, since this is a Chicklit anthology, but I wonder if I need to write it more like a straight romance. Can I write in the straight romance elements and still keep the Chicklit atmosphere? Will I be happy with the finished product?

Diet: I ran for four days this week, and I’m hoping to run a little today with the dog before going to Youth Group meeting. I weighed in and I’ve lost about a pound. I need to work on my portion sizes.

I haven’t felt hungry or deprived the past week, and I think it’s because I’m kind of careful with my food choices, and my lapses are made up for by the exercise. I can’t eat whatever I want, whenever I want, but I think I can indulge sometimes in not-so-good things for me as long as I’m careful with my portions and I keep up an exercise regimen.

Comments

Camy Tang said…

Thanks for stopping by, Sarah! I can't believe you actually have a blog for LIT CLASS. That's so . . . wierd. But cool. And remember, being a Trekkie is NOT A BAD THING.

Camy

Sun May 01, 10:57:00 PM 2005

Brainstorm - character occupation

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.23.2009 Hey guys, I could use some help. In my current manuscript, The Year of the Dog , which is a humorous contemporary romance, I have a minor character, Eddie. He’s my heroine’s ex-boyfriend, and they’re on good terms with each other. He’s a bit irresponsible, but not so much so that he’s a complete loser. He’s got a very easy going attitude, he forgets to pay his bills sometimes, he’s friendly and charming. He’s adventurous and fun to be around, but he’s a little forgetful sometimes, and he tends to spend a little outside his income. I need an occupation for him. What would a charming, easy going, slightly irresponsible guy do for a living? He’s not too irresponsible, because otherwise readers will wonder what in the world my heroine saw in him to date him in the first place. She was attracted to his charm, his easy going attitude (her family’s uptight, and he was a nice contrast), and his adventurousness. But his forgetfulness and irresponsibility ...

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