Original

I had an incredible ah-ha writing moment yesterday.

You see, I had agreed to judge a writing contest--a fellow blogger over at Teen Fiction Cafe asked me to for the chapter of her RWA. Necessarily, then, I was reading one "first chapter" after another. When you read this way, I think it's a lot easier to notice flaws. It's also a lot easier to notice one that stands out because you're disappointed when the chapter ends. And it's a lot easier to mentally make comparisons between writers. Now I at least understand why some agents, and RWA chapters, and blog sites have contests for first paragraphs or first pages or whatever.

I was given a score sheet, and after I finished each first chapter, I had to score 20 different areas on a scale of 1-5 and then tally. Surprisingly (to me at least) the winner that emerged wasn't the one I would have kept reading--because it's not the type of book I would pick personally. But that actually showed me that I was being objective (as objective as possible given, of course, that I am a subjective human being, as we all are). If I had to give the authors a score of 1-5 on, say "Is the premise sufficient to sustain the length of the book?" and 19 other areas, and the author who won consistently scored higher even if it's not something I would read, then "objectively" (or at least as objectively as "judging" writers can be) she won.

But my real ah-ha moment was in understanding why so many writers with SUCH fierce talent struggle to get published. Because in some entries, I as an editor could see "Wow . . . talent!" The voice was there, it was polished, the details were vivid, the dialogue funny. But though the characters were engaging, they were just another variation on a thousand books before it--the city girl out of place in the country, the bad boy on a motorcycle, the Jane Austen-esque historical, the Manolo-clad heroine, the mother too busy for her own daughter, the . . . You get the idea.

Now bear with me for the ah-ha. Contest judging is VERY MUCH like being an editor or agent. Think about it. While you MIGHT read an entire book, most of the time, you are giving a writer two or three chapters--maybe even just one--to engage you. So necessarily, you, or your assistant, are reading first chapters after first chapters looking--and hoping--for the one that makes you tingle. The one that makes you pause--THIS is original, this is FRESH, this is high-concept.

We all know everything's been done before. But the task is to make your "what's been done before" sound totally original.

I talked to my new editor yesterday. I am SO excited about my new deal--a spring 2009 release. And I can tell you . . . in all honesty, you have NEVER heard of a story like this before. Yeah, there are a couple of familiar things. A distant father, for example. But nothing like it that I've ver heard of. And that made me excited, and I can't wait to announce it.

And so, I get it. Why you have to approach editors with something new. I saw talent in the contest, I really, really did. But to compete, you need something original. This is something we all need to keep in mind. Because as we compete in the greatest "First Chapter" contest ever--trying to get published--the competition is fierce.

Thoughts?