Tudor Ghost Story Contest Judge’s Report

By Wendy J. Dunn

Tudor Ghost Story Contest

This is the second year that the Tudor Ghost Story Contest has been part of the wonderful Tudor offerings at On the Tudor Trail, after the very lovely Natalie agreed to keep going a contest I started years ago at my long retired Suite101.com Tudor column. Whilst entries to this contest have always made for enjoyable reading, working out the best stories is usually not too difficult. But this year we received a field of real contenders – stories that really impressed me. It made judging very, very hard.

Before I announce the winner, I would like to encourage all those who entered the contest to please enter again. I cannot stress enough that many of this year’s entries came from writers of true talents and gifts. Many began so strong, so beautifully, but then stumbled at the hurdle that challenges many historical writers at the beginning of learning their craft – exposition. How do you weave your historical research into your storytelling without taking your reader out of the story?

This is not an easy feat to achieve, but comes with experience, and through embracing the power of the drafting process; this not only polishes and tightens writing (another flaw I saw in our otherwise impressive entries), but takes us deeper into the writing process where magic often happens. By drafting, writers nail their stories. Dialogue between characters also provides a way in historical fiction to provide the back-story – but even then writers must be careful to do this with a light touch.

My advice for writers planning to enter again next year is to take your story through the drafting process not once, not twice, but at least three times. With every new draft, mark those sections that stray into too much telling and work out ways to show the reader through the painting of words.

One last bit of advice – when you check over the story, try to make certain that you have used the right word, rather than a wrong one that looks similar but has a different meaning…that kind mistake can result from trusting the spell check!

The winning story for 2012 is Ghost Boat, a “what if?” story about Anne Boleyn that deeply moved me – not surprising considering my lifelong devotion to Anne Boleyn. But the story also rang true to the voice of Anne I hear in my imaginings – the Anne who spoke in my first novel, and speaks in my new work, The Light in the Labyrinth, a YHF novel about Anne’s niece Kate Carey, now ready for the eyes of publishers.

I congratulate Debbie Fenton, the author of Ghost Boat, for her truly lovely story – a story that touched my heart!

I also congratulate Cynthia Green, our second place getter, who did a wonderful job evoking the language and time of the Tudors in her excellent story The Final Rose.

Thank you everyone for your entries and for giving me a delightful feast of Tudor reading. Thank you, Nat, for asking me to judge the contest again, but please, oh please, can we have third and commended place getters in 2013??

All the best, Wendy.

Read the winning entry, Ghost Boat, here.

Read the 2nd place getter, The Final Rose, here.