Oct 29, 2022
To:Armorien
I don't really have much criticism to vent. I've been doing reads focusing on the positives, looking for things I can improve upon in my own writing. I also don't want to give feedback that might tempt writers into editing their works during the judging period.
I do think you did more than just character writing well. The situations and trials you came up with for them were good too. I think you could improve a lot by planning the overarching story a bit further ahead, and making character motivations more obvious earlier.
Take Rainee for example. I think it's a great to have a character arc for him that shows him getting over his social hesitancy and awkwardness, but his story takes a backseat to the students. When you have a lot of characters, one way to approach it is to outline character arcs for each of them individually, then try to combine them in a larger outline, so you can decide how many words to give to each character's story, and how to distribute them throughout the book.
If you want, after the contest is over, I'd be happy to re-read a chapter and provide more detailed criticisms and feedback. Just get in touch.
