In her last post, Maili claimed “Romance’s worst enemies are the reviewers who won’t criticise romances.” Can’t say that I agree. If I was going to pick romance’s worst enemy, I’d have to pick RWA unpublished contests. Yep, contests – or least the way we have them structured.
Here’s my reasoning: When you pick up a book, why do you do it? To escape, right? For pure enjoyment. You want to curl up in a chair and immerse yourself in the world that writer created, you want to forget the writing and just experience the book. But when you sit down to judge a manuscript you are forced to do the opposite.
The problem, as I see it, is the rules. Too many rules. I don’t want to read a book written by the rules, but when I am asked to judge for a contest I am handed a little check sheet telling me what makes a good romance – no head hopping; no back story; hero and heroine appear in first chapter; goal, motive, and conflict apparent; and my personal favorite – properly formatted (cause heaven knows an editor will throw a good submission directly in the trash if it isn’t typed in Courier – not).
This really started to bug me when I realized the manuscripts I liked the most weren’t necessarily the ones that came out of this little box-checking fest with the highest scores. And you know what else? When I pick up a book and decide whether I will buy it, I’m not checking for any of these things. I’m looking for a connection, a voice that yanks me in, characters I want to get to know, a setting I want to wallow in – nothing that can be guaranteed by playing by the rules.
Now I know a lot of Golden Heart contestants were upset this year because they were just given one round score, instead of it being broken down by a list of dos and don’ts, but in my opinion, this is much more the reality of book buying than the lists. If you just break a book down by its part and then try to add it back up again, there will always be a piece missing, and often it is the key piece. The piece that makes authors who break the rules soar to the top of the most important lists – readers’ auto-buy lists.
None of this is to say that some great books don’t win contests. They do. But how many great books never make it past our rules? In our quest to be fair, and to offer useful feedback, are we cheating ourselves out of some fabulous reads? Are we creating a world where reviewers now judge books by their parts (too many point of views, not enough conflict) and our rules instead of the overall experience? Are we forcing ourselves into a formula (hero’s journey)? Are we are own worst enemy?
Writers, do you dare to break the rules, or feel guilty/sloppy/lazy when you do? Readers, can you name books that break any of the rules mentioned here, but that you still love? Or am I all wet, and the only good book is one written with all the rules firmly met?
No related posts.
I can’t say whether or not rules are broken, but I can tell when a book is a winner. When I stop reading the book for “critiquing” and I start reading it just because I’m enjoying it. When the author can make me forget I’m judging and just suck me into her world, I’m there. And that’s what counts, in the end.
You go, Lori! You’re dead right. There is no formula for the perfect book, there’s no guaranteed set of rules that will produce a great read. There’s craft, you bet, and it matters, but writing is an art form, too. And you don’t get art painting by numbers. Without the breath of life in a story, all the craft in the world won’t save it. Too often the rules crush out any sign of life a story has.
And that most of the rules miss the point. The point of good writing is not losing the reader. Did the reader understand what was happening when POV shifted? Did they follow it easily and without losing the thread, without having to go back and reread to figure out what was going on? Then it worked. That’s the only rule that matters.
Yes! Great post, Lori! And exactly why I don’t enter contests.
You’re very right, Lori. The books that do not follow the rules, don’t final. And my personal opinion is that the contest scoresheets are becoming out of date. I don’t think the h/h have to meet in the first chapter to be a romance. I don’t think the conflict has to be presented in the first pages. Or that your h/h really have to show their best qualities to the reader right off.
Unfortunately, a list of contests for some agents and editors is what they look for in a writer, but is that okay when romances are breaking out into sub-genres and pushing limits?
I am not knocking contests in general, and I’m happy contests are there to help some writers make their first sale. But if romance is moving forward, shouldn’t romance contests as well? Great post!
Well, first and foremost, contests are NOT there to help some poor schmuck of a writer break into the ranks of the published. No chapter sits down and says, hey, let’s help a worthy author by running this really cool contest. They have a contest because it’s a money maker. Any author they actually help is just icing on the cake and used as a carrot in their NEXT contest.
Secondly, they let ANYONE judge. A very few, and I mean few, try to be somewhat selective, but generally they beg on writing lists and people volunteer. So literally anyone can sign up and judge entries. Which is why you get a lot of newbie rule Nazis flocking to the first of the line and running their red pens out of ink. Then there are the huge egos who merely want to prove they know more than the entrant and proceed to flaunt their ignorance all over a lame scoring sheet.
I think a “head-hopping” guideline is important because, when POV switches aren’t done well, it’s annoying as all get out — at least to me. That said, there are writers who bend the rule with great success and it’s done smoothly that I barely notice. (Some authors who accomplish this are Nora Roberts and Sherrilyn Kenyon) Unfortunately, in unpubbed contests that I’ve judged (chapter level as well as Golden Heart) I’ve read more entries where the POV switches were ham-handed and greatly detracted from the work. On the GH practice of awarding a score w/o comments and feedback, I like being able to judge the whole package on the overall impression it made on me as a reader.
Breaking da rules….
I started out writing YA and there are SO many rules. And then I wanted to write some romance, and more rules! But when I started writing for Ellora’s Cave, I broke all kinds of “rules” and it totally set me free. I let myself write stories the way I wanted to and just let loose. I think that’s one of the reasons why my editor at St. Martin’s approached me–because I wrote the stories I wanted to write and ignored the rules. And those rules about courier font? St. Martin’s sure doesn’t care. I send in my mss with Times New Roman. I asked if she wanted computer work count or traditional work count and she said computer. The editors aren’t the ones putting all these restrictions on us. Other romance writers are, IMO. I think that they can really hold you back and keep your true writing ability from shining through if you let them.
Here in the UK we don’t get the opportunities to enter the kind of contests that are run in the U.S unless we join the RWA. IMO looking on from the sidelines I see lots of writers who seem to specialise in entering contests, often finalling etc but still with no sale. A contest win may serve to attract an editors attention in the first place bt a good story will get bought regardless.
Like Nell, I come from the UK – and I write for HMB Modern/Presents – one of the lines that’s edited by the offices in Richmond. We only have one rule really – write the best damn book you can. And write it whatever way it needs writing to make it the best damn book you can make it.
To be honest, I really don’t know what ‘the rules’ are. You see, I’ve never come up against them until I started roaming the internet and picking up snippets of information aboutformatting, word counts, cute meets, head hopping . . . Nope – never been asked to implement any of those – and I wouldn’t do it if I was! I write because my characters tell me their story and I write it down – and my editor checks for logic, for pace, for sympathetic characters – and we don’t talk about any rules at all.
I suspect in any American contest I would be penalised right away because I go head hopping all over the plpace – i tell the story from the POV of whoever the reader needs to know about. There isn’t a right place to change POV – end of scene, end of chapter or whatever – but there is a right way to do it – it takes practice – but it makes a better read.
I don’t ‘bend’ or ‘break’ the rules because I just don’t believe in them. I write the way I do because it’s my natural style and no editor (and I’ve had over a dozen of them) in the UK has ever tried to impose a different way of writing on me. And my books have been selling in their thousands for 20 years so what I write must be pleasing the readers.
So I’ll stick to my one ‘rule’ – I’ll write the best book I can , the best way I can. And when I judge any contests that’s the way I judge them too.
My first lurk on your site (not a member – I’m a guy) and thought your post was excellently written. I’m blogging a romance novel (which the thought of probably breaks every writing rule ever conjured) and will be stopping by more often. Your group has something really valuable going. Thanks.
Lori, you’ve tackled a subject near and dear to my heart!
As a former contest slut, I entered just about everything and never learned about *rules* until after I started getting back entries where one judge gave me near perfect scores and another trashed me.
I learned a lot from contests when I first started entering, so they did have a hand in helping me hone my skills, but at the same time, I have a strong, love it/hate it voice.
Fortunately, I also have a thick skin and was able to discern what advice was good and what I should ignore. Not all writers have developed that. If some people received some of the comments I have, they could become discouraged and either stop writing or try to fit their writing into the *rules* (and I know alot who have i.e. “this isn’t marketable you HAVE TO have the H/H meet in the first chapter; this won’t sell, you CAN’T have a beta hero; this won’t sell, you CAN’T describe a dead body; this isn’t marketable you CAN’T write in first person; this won’t sell you CAN’T have the heroine in bed with any man but the hero) and on and on and on.
I entered the GH one year (2003) with a futuristic and received scores from 9 (perfect) to 4 (less than perfect *g*)
I finaled in 15 contests with 13 different manuscripts, but I entered three times as many contests as I finaled in. The book I SOLD was trashed in a romantic suspense contest (it’s romantic suspense-duh) and only finaled in a mainstream category in another contest.
Judges need to forget the rules and judge based on whether the story grabs them. Is it fresh, exciting, do you feel invested in at least one character, to you want to know what happens next? Is the writing strong, vivid — even if they forgot to put the chapter heading 1/3 of the way down or didn’t introduce the hero in the first ten pages? That’s how I judge. If it grabs me, it gets high scores across the board. If it doesn’t grab me, it gets 2s and 3s.
I broke the rules and I sold. This isn’t to say you can write sloppy or jump heads every paragraph or don’t introduce the hero until the final chapter; it means that if you have strong characters and a compelling story, you can pretty much do anything you want provided you know what you’re doing.
(I was told my different judges that they expected my work to be on bookstore shelves soon, or that I’d never sell. My first two books for Ballantine were both praised and trashed by different judges. So writers, take heart: contests are just a tool. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!)
This topic is timely for me, since I just got my first contest results for my second manuscript back today. (Last year I entered my first ms in several contests without coming close to finaling, though individual judges here and there loved it. It was a first person historical where the h/h don’t meet in the first chapter. If I’d known going in how frowned upon both those elements were, I’d have saved my entry fees.)
The new book is in 3rd person, and the h/h meet on p. 3, so I figured it was worth trying again. And for the first time I got consistent, high scores, so I guess that means something. In terms of placement, I wasn’t that close to finaling, but my score wasn’t that much lower than the finalists’–scores in my category were bunchy toward the top. And I’m still trying to decide if contests are worth it, but I’m so competitive it’s hard for me to stay away!
In general, as both a judge and an entrant I prefer contests with shorter, less specific scoresheets–three I can think of off the top of my head are the Molly, the Royal Ascot, and Book of Your Heart. Because it’s like you said, Lori–I never pick up a book at a bookstore and judge it for how clear the central conflict is by page 20, or how soon the hero and heroine meet. It’s all about whether or not I’m intrigued enough to want to keep reading. All the craft skills in our toolbox are to create that intrigue in our readers. And if you can’t do that, it doesn’t matter if your h/h meet in the first paragraph, you’ve avoided every hint of head-hopping, and you’ve ruthlessly eradicated every adverb from your text.
Thanks for your comments everybody!! I have been at our local conference all day and this was my first chance to log on.
I was thinking about this some more, trying to figure out a better way for contests, and it is difficult. I wonder if it would be as simple as adding a category for “voice” or something else that had a bigger weight than other areas – enough that it could give a book that broke a few rules the edge it would need to final. I know some contests have a category for “voice”, but I’ve never seen one where is was given any more weight than any other category. I wonder, would that help?
Or what if the the second tier of entries in each category was passed on to a “second chance” contest that was only judged by a single score? So if the top 3 manuscripts in a category get sent to an editor/agent, the second three in each category get sent to another group of judges who just read with no guidelines and give each manuscript one score like the GH. Then the top three of those also got sent to an editor/agent.
It might be interesting.
Lori, I’ve always liked the idea of taking the “overall impression” questions you often see at the very end of a scoresheet–typically “How intriguing did you find this entry, despite any flaws?” and “Would you be willing to read the rest of the story?”–and weighting them much more heavily. Make them, say, 1/3 of the score instead of just another pair of 5-point questions on a 150 or 250-point scoresheet. Because those are, after all, the questions you ask yourself when deciding whether to bring a book home from a bookstore or library.
Intriguing post, Lori.
A contest is kind of like a standardized test for students: It expects and encourages a particular level of competency but doesn’t necessarily reward brilliance and in fact sometimes punishes it. So we end up with lots of writers creating “contest entries” rather than “marketable, publishable books.”
When I first got into romance writing, I discovered myself in a group of writers where it was basically the blind leading the blind. I got consistently trashed because my voice was too mainstream, my heroine too independent, and my sentences too complex. These turned out to be, of course, my main selling points. Thank God I had the gumption to turn my back on that stuff and know when I was headed down the right path for me.
But my point is, even inside the RWA and even with that organization’s excellent resources, there’s some bad (read: well-intentioned but narrow-minded) advice and squelching of natural talents. Many contest scoresheets sound to me as if they’re targeting purely category romance and its conventions, which is likely to squelch the subtleties and nuances of mainstream, chick lit, and other non-category subgenres. (Or even some category subgenres like Bombshell, which I write for. We constantly get spanked in contests for breaking rules.
)
I really like Susan’s idea mentioned above, about weighting the overall impression scores more so that wonderful stories don’t get axed just because the hero doesn’t show up until Chapter 3.
Either that or completely overhaul the entire system. (What a nightmare.)
I have thumbed my nose at writing rules by naming my blog No rules. Just write. But I don’t believe we should abolish all rules; we should learn them and then stomp to smithereens the ones that don’t improve our (individual) writing.
And while it sounds very nice to say we ought to judge unpublished manuscripts the same way we judge books–”good” or “not good”–I don’t think that’s particularly helpful to the unpublished writer who is struggling to understand why her work isn’t impressing editors.
Rules-meant to be broken. Tools-utilized.
I harken back to Stephen King’s “On Writing.” Have I mentioned I love that man?
All writers must use TOOLS to write. Those lovely spelling, grammar, and structure issues. But it is HOW we use those tools that makes or breaks the work.
Everyone must know how to utilize their tools the best. And rules? They can be tweaked. Bent. Flexed. And sometimes utterly ignored.
It’s the content. Always the content.
Grins*
I’ve judged a lot of contests. I’ve entered a lot of contest. I’ve won or finaled in some of them. I’ve done less well in others. I love the fact that contests exist because it’s so hard to get a manuscript in front of an editor’s eyes and ANY chance, even the slim one of ‘if I win the contest’ is better than none. Sure, if you can make it to conferences or have a gift with query letters, you have other routes. But some people who write beautiful books write lousey query letters, and many people can’t afford to attend conferences.
The contest is an opportunity for the unpublished and, being one, I cherish them.
That said, I totally agree about the downside of contests that’s mentioned here. ‘The Rules’ have the effect of making every book sound the same. They homogonize the books, and I don’t think that’s what makes for an exciting genre.
As a READER, I’m looking for the book that gives me that romantic ‘zing’. I’m looking for the book that gives me all I expect AND does it in a unique and different way. I’m looking for the boundry pushing book.
But to win contests you have to structure you book (or at least the chapter you send in) to fit a certain, very middle-of-the-genre template. And that’s NOT the book that is going to make you a star. It’s not the book that will create a buzz. Why? Because it’s predictable and average. It’s exactly what everyone expects. It’s just by-the-book. And that’s boring.
I try to avoid both entering and judging contests that give me too much in the way of ‘forms’ for judging. I’d rather judge, and be judged, on the gut instinct of the person reading it as to whether this book is a ‘winner’ or not.
Anyway, just my .02.
–June
Brenda, but do the list of rules really tell a writer why an editor doesn’t buy their manuscript? or is it that elusive something else that isn’t in the rules?
I talked to an editor recently who said when she gets contest entries to judge she always sends the forms back asking about “external conflict”, “internal conflict”, etc. back with “I don’t know these terms.” written on them. She isn’t buying by the rules.
And, June, excellent point. I have talked to other self-proclaimed contest sluts that they sometimes send one version of the manuscript to the contest and then if they final send a different version to the editor/agents. To win you have to write for the contests! I give my friends this advice myself. If you want to final in a contest you have to study the judging form and think like a judge. You may have a great innovative story, but there are things that really lower your odds of getting past enough judges to make it to the finals.
I entered a fair number of contests as an unpublished writer, finaled in a fair number–never won any of them. Never finaled in the Golden Heart–but I sold anyway. So maybe I’m not the best one to comment here, since I never did that well in the unpublished contests.
Now I judge a fair number of contests, and if a person has a good voice, that’s going to leak over into most of the other areas as well. Voice helps in the creation of character, in showing conflict–a lot of things. If it’s good, a contest entry is going to be good all round. If it’s bad…and face it, a lot of contest entries are really bad…well then…
Readers, can you name books that break any of the rules mentioned here, but that you still love? Or am I all wet, and the only good book is one written with all the rules firmly met?
My first thought: what rules? I wish I was joking, but I am not. Most of you talked about rules, but what rules are they?
Whenever there is a discussion among readers about how alike romances are, how overused a time period or setting is or that it seems heroines have to be a certain way, an author or two usually enters the discussion, saying that they have the freedom to write their stories however they like it. In other words there are no rules.
Now you all are saying that there ARE rules. Obviously you are talking about contests, but if these authors [and their editors] say that there are no rules [and there are some books that don't follow those "rules", e.g. the heroine doesn't meet the hero until second or third chapter, e.g. Theresa Weir's COOL SHADE], why are contests so focused on those rules? What’s the purpose?
Maili–thank you for posting my thoughts, much better than I would have.
Whenever there is a discussion among readers about how alike romances are, how overused a time period or setting is or that it seems heroines have to be a certain way, an author or two usually enters the discussion, saying that they have the freedom to write their stories however they like it. In other words there are no rules.
Well put. When authors pop up on reader boards and say this I want to scream “liar, liar pants on fire”, who are they kidding. Perhaps some authors don’t have “rules” once they are established, but obviously somewhere along the way these rules are used.
I watched this column wondering if a “reader” would chime in.
Tara and Maili, The rules we are referring to are completely self-imposed. You know how if you are told over and over again there is a “best” way of doing something it eventually becomes “a rule”? That is what we are talking about. As I said earlier in the comments, I don’t think it is for editors at all. It is writers doing it to each other.
I think it is human nature to try and simplify things so we can understand and conquer them. Unfortunately, with anything creative it just isn’t that simple. And sometimes the rules are totally about the contest and not the book. A good example of this is the hero and herione have to meet in the first chapter. Now there are obvious reasons this is usually best – it gets what should be the main plot line in a romance going the quickest, but is it competely necessary? Of course not. But many contest judges (not final round judges which are editors, but first round which are authors and aspiring authors) will mark an entry down if they don’t. Some contests may say it isn’t necessary, but we have engrained ourselves to believe it is better and so that is how we proceed.
Head hopping, the same thing. Some judges will mark down just because a writer switches around, but what is really wrong with that if it isn’t distracting to the reader? Nothing, but for many of us it has been simplified to the point of a “rule”.
Now what you are talking about is almost being handed a list of dos and don’ts by an editor. That is completely different than what we are talking about here. As far as I know, that isn’t done. But the reason you see similar books over and over is really for the same reasons these other issues become our “rules”. Writers go to conferences and they hear “Scottish historicals aren’t selling, but we’d really like to see more of X.” So, what happens? We all rush home, dump our Scottish historicals and start writing X.
Or an editor says “I really don’t like sports heros.” and through the loops, meetings, etc. this gets spread and becomes gospel–Until someone like Pat White sells a wrestling book, or Rachel Gibson sells a hockey book. And if one of those books makes a list like USA Today or NY Times then everybody (editors and writers) wants to get a piece of that and boom you see 100’s of sports heros.
I don’t think any of this is unusual. It is just the nature of business and life. We try to simplify success and that just isn’t an easy thing to do – especially in a creative field like writing.
Lori
Interesting post. I’m guessing that readers wouldn’t know the rules, but would know if they read something fresh and different, which may very well be a result of “rule” breaking.
Lori, you are my new hero.
I don’t enter contests anymore for exactly the reasons you state, and I’m not a big fan of rules. Learn them, and then learn that they can be broken effectively in the right situations.
Thanks for the post!
Brenda, but do the list of rules really tell a writer why an editor doesn’t buy their manuscript?
Lori, some rules are silly, and apply only to contests. For example, an editor isn’t going to reject a great manuscript just because it’s printed on pages with 3-4″ margins instead of the standard 1″. But let’s look at the ubiquitous “no headhopping” rule: Most of the time when a new writer head-hops, it’s because she has an inadequate grasp of point of view. She’s not head-hopping because she’s good enough to pull it off, she’s doing it out of ignorance. Yes, it’s unfortunate that a writer who is doing it intentionally is going to lose points. But many others will learn from the experience that unless it is done very well, readers (and editors!) tend to get annoyed with head-hopping.
Another example of something that can be done by the pros but isn’t usually effective when attempted by an unpublished writer is the delayed meet of the hero and heroine. Again, the majority of unpubs who make that mistake don’t realize it is a mistake. So a tip from a contest score sheet that it’s important to get that romantic tension simmering right away can be very helpful.
There is no single right way to create a good story. But let’s face it; a category romance editor is highly unlikely to buy a head-hopping, late-meet story from an unpublished writer. I think most of the contests for unpubs are simply trying to help writers by teaching them not to shoot themselves in the foot. They’re steering writers toward the middle ground, where the chances of success are greater.
No, people who flaunt the rules are not likely to win those contests. But I don’t believe there’s anything unfair about that. Because if all that rule-breaking were being done effectively, those renegade writers would be published, don’t you think?
Now what you are talking about is almost being handed a list of dos and don’ts by an editor. That is completely different than what we are talking about here. As far as I know, that isn’t done. But the reason you see similar books over and over is really for the same reasons these other issues become our “rules”.
I don’t think readers think there are a necessarily a written list of rules an editor hands out, but at some point most writers start to follow some list of “rules” written or unwritten. From what we can glean here, it starts in the contest vetting process for un-published writers who are trying to get published, but if an editor/publisher rewards authors who follow these unwritten “rules” by giving them contracts aren’t they in turn supporting the use of these “rules” at least until an author is established and break out of this mold?
Brenda, I don’t think it is unfair at all- a contest is a contest and the guidelines (rules) are usually clearly stated. However, wouldn’t it be better if instead there was a way for the books you enjoyed the most won, whether they obeyed all the rules or not? I just hate realizing I marked all my little boxes and the book where the voice really pulled me in didn’t do so well as another one that followed all the guidelines. Sure the second book technically did better by the contest standards, but (to me) it isn’t the better book.
And, I guess I resent being told the book I enjoyed the most isn’t as good because it didn’t come out on top when I am done checking the boxes.
It is the forest and trees thing. We are busy ticking off trees instead of enjoying our walk through the forest.
Of course you could do like I do, and make sure the one with voice and all the other elements is the one that gets all the points.
I think there are Two Rules.
1. Thou Shalt not Bore the Reader.
2. Thou Shalt not Confuse the Reader.
All the grammar and stuff fall under the second rule–grammar was invented to prevent confusion in communication. Hmm. Wonder if we can get a contest to use those two rules for the score sheet?
Some of these ‘rules’ I think exist simply because of contest problems. One book I’ve had uneven results with only uses the heroine’s POV in chapter one (what you can send to the contests). The hero’s POV shows up in chapter two and I am absolutely sure that readers of the book would be satisfied to wait that long to read his thoughts. However, some contest judges don’t seem to know how to judge him when they haven’t seen into his head — and thus they mark the manuscript down.
Some judging scoresheets are heavily weighted to sections on each character. If the hero doesn’t show up within the entry then all those ‘points’ which are set aside for the hero are lost, and the entry, no mattery how well it scores on everything else, will not do well.
I don’t think there’s a perfect answer to all this. Rather, I think it’s just something that entrants need to be aware of when they enter contests. I think they need to keep in mind the peculiarities of contest structure and not knee-jerk to changing their manuscripts because of contest judge comments.
Actually, I’ve come to the place where I prefer contests that offer no ‘comments’ from judges. I enter as a shot at getting more than a query in front of an editor or agent, not for feed-back. I have crit partners for feed-back, people who read the book as a whole and therefore are better equipped to make an assessment. Honestly, if I do get comments back from judges, I usually don’t even read them.
That may sound shocking, but the fact is that I don’t know who these judges are (they are usually anonymous these days). So, I have no way of knowing if the comments are coming from a multi-published best seller or from a novice who has yet to complete her first book. I have no way of knowing if this judges work is something I would admire, or something I would wall bang. Therefore, it’s difficult to derive real meaning and value from those comments. I find it better to just ignore them totally.
–June
I honestly think the RWA should have a national-level training and certification program for judges. I know for a fact that there are people judging contests who have written a couple of story outlines and a few pages of draft — and now they wanna be judges. Contests are major moneymakers for chapters, so I understand the temptation to proceed even when they’re struggling to find *anyone* who will agree to judge. I think it’d be better to cancel the contest (or at least some categories) than to go ahead with iffy judges. Idiotic feedback not only damages a contest’s reputation but also wastes the entrants’ time and money. Worse, some writers will be sent off on wild goose chases to fix things that weren’t broken.