Each time I enter a contest, if I final or not, I usually find a comment or two a judge makes to be crazy or downright ignorant. Like the one a few years ago wrote there weren't malls in the seventies. She didn't say "she thought" but she told me without doubt there wasn't any. Well, Birmingham's Eastwood Mall opened in the sixties and was torn down just a couple years ago. Or the one who said there were only stone floors in castles. I'm sure she's been in every castle in England and knew this for a fact. ::snort::
If they're not giving incorrect information, they're trying to change my manuscript. Like the one who said the heroine's mother would never comment on how the hero is sexy. Hello! How would she know? I know the mom. She came out of my imagination. Goodness! I'm a mom of a two grown girls. They can tell you I'm very verbal about who is sexy and who isn't. Then there was one of the more recent judges who marked up my manuscript to the point little white remained on the pages. If she wants to write a paranormal, she didn't need to start with my book.
Some judges need to remember the basic story should stay, only the readable of the story should be scored. Thankfully more and more judges overall like my stories. Thus the reason I final in over 20% of the contests I enter. But after doing this for a few years, I've learned to toss out most of the junk they mention - like underline instead of using italics. Geez, like the editor would really care. It always amazes me what's so important to people.
Be prepared. If I enter any more, I'll be blogging on the stupid things they say. But be aware, I'm cutting back on contests even more than I did this year. They take up precious time I could be finishing or polishing books.
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