By Danielle M. Angeline
(From the January 2005 issue of the Update.)
Last year at this time, I was about six months into my membership with RWA and WRW when I nonchalantly answered our group email to volunteer as a judge for the Marlene. “What’s a Marlene?” I wondered, yet, I sent my information to Diane Perkins, the contest chairperson. As the holidays lapsed into New Years and the judge’s training meeting neared, anxiety caused me to questions my previous actions. “Who am I to judge?” weighed heavily on my mind, and that was just the beginning. The day of our January judges meeting, I was greeted with the same cold everyone else seemed to have, and to top things off, I overslept and missed the morning session. Still, I dragged myself out of bed and arrived just in time to be handed a package of information that overwhelmed me. I listened tentatively and took notes to better guide myself through my apprehension of, “What am I getting myself into?”
Once the entries arrived, my pounding heart and sweaty palm affliction had been replaced with anticipation and excitement. I opened the package and scanned through the submissions. Being a “title” person, I looked at those first. One of the entries that caught my eye had a title that was the same as a popular Dixie Chicks’ song. Being a lover of country music, I immediately set that one aside, wanting to save it for last. Perusing through the other titles, I chose one that didn’t really tickle my fancy. Why? You may ask. When I was in elementary school, my mom taught me to tackle the subject I dislike the most first. To this day I apply that wisdom in much of my daily routine from work to house cleaning.
Back to the first manuscript entry. Judging was tough, no doubt about it. The first four pages rambled on and on until—Eureka! A great sentence drew me into the plot. Quickly, I uncapped my red pen (with an eraser) and circled the sentence. That was the hook, and I had to tell the author so, but I was quite hesitant to suggest it would be best placed on the first page. Again the Doubting Thomas in me questioned, “Who am I to judge?” But I forged on fighting that little voice in my head. When I finally finished reading and making notes on the first entry, I breathed a big sigh of relief. I had actually judged a Marlene entry! Woo-Hoo!
Over the next three weeks, I took my time with the other entries and even returned to the first one just to make sure I wasn’t too harsh or too lenient. It was interesting and exciting to examine the work that other authors had devoted hours to perfecting with their blood, sweat and tears. I wanted to applaud these brave writers for taking the risk to have their labor of love read, evaluated and the bottom line—judged. All in all, it was a rewarding experience. But in the end, I didn’t necessarily learn how to be a judge, but I did learn two things about myself: one, it’s important to put myself out there and get involved—whether it is volunteering as a judge or entering a contest. I will never know what the results will be until I try. And two—"Who am I to judge?” I still cannot answer this question because when it comes to trying something new, I will always be a novice, and it is with time, patience, and a little confidence that I will eventually become an expert.
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Danielle M. Angeline is one of the new associate editors for the WRW Newsletter and along with Courtney Hunt, a judge recruiter for the 2005 Marlene.
