4 Writing Lessons from a Novel Contest Judge

Writing contests are a lot like dating: you have to put yourself out there and brave rejection, but in the end, the most important thing is that you love who you are. To cultivate that sense of writerly self-confidence, here are four writing lessons I learned as a judge for the Page Turner Awards.

Specifically, I judged the Young Writer Award for aspiring authors between the ages of 18 and 25. I read the first ten pages of novels across all genres — from fantasy and horror to literary and young adult fiction. I felt like the main character of Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler, doomed to read only the beginnings of novels.

These tips apply to any type of fiction writing, no matter your age or experience level. As a developmental editor and fiction writer myself, I’ve come across these problems in clients’ manuscripts and my own writing as well.

1. The most difficult writing problem to fix is narrative flow.

I define “flow” as the story’s emotional pacing, where the reader feels pulled in by the narrative voice and conflict between characters. There should be a subtle…