WRWA Newsletter.pub - Wisconsin Writers Association

Page 32
Article - Jennifer Brantley
Positives: It was an honor for me to read these submissions
and I thank all of the entrants for their work. Overall, I
thought the contributions were quite interesting and very enthusiastic.
Of the top 10, it was difficult to make the sometimes
minor distinctions among award winners. All the essays
were rich with information and some of the essays that did not
win awards were still very moving, even you want moving me
to tears, but I looked for a blend of professionalism good writing
and emotion.
Negatives: In the midst of good writing, clichés and grammatical
mistakes, as well as proofreading errors, can mar an
otherwise good submission. Some of the submissions seem
too brief to give this reader a full flavor, providing instead a
surface treatment of what could be some interesting subjects.
Perhaps my biggest complaint, however, has to do with source
of information. If an article is factual-based, then the sources
need to be clearly delineated. In some cases, the writer is relying
on interviews and personal knowledge. These seem clear.
In other cases, the source of the information is very unclear.
Essay - Carolyn Wedin
It is an indication of the high level of the set of essays that I
had a terrible time choosing the winners. They are all winners
in various ways, and I would have had no trouble writing winning
paragraphs about any one of them. There is a lot of variation
in writing style and in subject, which is as it should be,
and different essays would be effective with different audiences.
A couple of things I noticed might be of some help or
interest in the non-stop, never-ending task we all face of improving
or writing. First, many essays had, I thought, relatively
ineffective conclusions. It is difficult to come up with
the right sentence or phrase to pull the whole thing together
and yet not say too much. Second, in the abstract, but all too
real matter of tone, there was sometimes a bit of a "tin ear," I
thought, with the author coming off as haughty or judgmental.
This was especially true in the essays on poetry, which tended
to dismiss or condemn whole undefined categories, such as
"academic poetry." Perhaps, it bears repeating that one can
more effectively comment negatively on something very specific,
but better yet, convey the positive and let the reader supply
the other side.
Nostalgia - Wilma Bednarz
Your subjects and ideas were good. However, some of you
showed little knowledge of preparing a manuscript, even using
single spacing. Chances are, with the number of manuscripts
an editor must read in a day, they would not read a
single-spaced manuscript. Always set your first manuscript
aside for a few days and then go back to it. Read it aloud to
yourself while taking notes. Now is the time to make changes.
Listen to your verbs. Are they strong enough to make the
reader see how, for instance, "the trapped bird flutters in his
cage" Are you using too many "was" and "were" Get rid of
them with a strong verb. Remember, strong verbs are more
Judges’ Comments on the Jade Ring Entries
descriptive than nouns or adjectives. Also, I want to remind
you that your first sentence should hook the reader. Read
books on writing. One of my favorites is William Zinsser’s
"On Writing Well." Good luck to all of you.
Adult Short Story – Anthony Bukoski
As judge of the adult fiction competition for 2006, I faced a
daunting task—to read 43 manuscripts totaling 430 pages,
then to choose the several works I fell to stood out. As you
know, rules limited judges to selecting first, second, and third
place winners, plus three honorable mentions, a difficult undertaking
when I found at least 10 manuscripts, I thought especially
worthy of notice. Each of the 43 submissions, by the
way, pleased me in some way, so I want no one to leave discouraged.
I also want you to know I am grateful for the opportunity
to have read your work, which was filled with humanity,
goodness, and warmth.
On the other hand, I can offer these general, critical observations
that might be of use to you. I thought that too many
stories relied on unlikely plot coincidences or introduced characters
that were merely types, not fully developed characters. I
felt that too many stories dealt with "big" problems (love and
death, for example), a difficult thing to do convincingly, especially
with stereotypic characters. And finally, I felt that conflicts
were sometimes too easily, too patently, resolved, and
thus lacked the mystery of accomplished artistic creation, or
that stories concluded with unearned surprises.
Juvenile Short Story – Cornell M. Brellenthin
it is always exciting to read what young voices are writing
today. Perhaps the most significant strength in this group of
2006 fiction entries is the appreciation these writers have the
skills, crafts, and labors of their own family enterprises: readers
who have never worked in a bakery or on a bass boat can
learn a great deal of what it must be like to live and work in
such environments. Many young writers, too, are able to
imagine themselves beyond familiar places, finding themselves
behind the eyes of so many of our four-legged friends,
whether wild or domesticated, to observe the human condition
with objective eyes. Some writers are able to travel even further,
into fantastic places and times where we learn that the
power of "magic" is in love and compassion—all the time
keeping readers grounded with reminders of the mundane.
These 2006 fiction entries display remarkable innovation and
the writers have a knack for descriptive writing, richly engaging
the the senses—sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste—and
the use of simile and metaphor is fresh and exciting. Perhaps
what sets the winning an honorable mention stories above the
rest is the additional attention to all the formal elements of
fiction that are so critical in telling a good story—plot development,
characterization, setting, and a strong sense of voice.
Each of these elements must work together to underscore the
theme, and in a winning story will also create just enough
attention to keep readers turning the page! #