Sometimes it doesn't have a single thing to do with your writing. Sometimes, people just don't like your story.

Or they might have liked your story if they hadn't read a bunch of similar themed stories already.

Bemoaners?

Quoted from AnthonyCawood But the scripts that do reasonalbly well in terms of decent reviews then do well in the voting, so bias or not it seems to be the liked scipts that ascend in each OWC.

I think this is the most important thing, the cream will rise to the top regardless. In my time I don’t remember there being a really surprising Writer's Choice. A good script is a good script and despite everything that will show as the end of the day.

Quoted from Warren I think this is the most important thing, the cream will rise to the top regardless. In my time I don’t remember there being a really surprising Writer's Choice. A good script is a good script and despite everything that will show as the end of the day.

No, not always.  There's always a few surprises that pop into the faves, and I just have to wonder how that happens.

As for mine not making it, I have to blame it on Beaver Moons.  

I think they may only be surprises for you Jeff based on your personal taste and the reviews you gave, just because you bail after a couple of pages doesn't mean everyone else does

So I'll re-phrase...

In general, excluding the odd outlier review(er), those that get mostly positive reviews do well.

Quoted from ericdickson Yes.  The idea is to master both.  But that's hard

Ain't that the truth!

Quoted from AnthonyCawood I think they may only be surprises for you Jeff based on your personal taste and the reviews you gave, just because you bail after a couple of pages doesn't mean everyone else does So I'll re-phrase... In general, excluding the odd outlier review(er), those that get mostly positive reviews do well.

How many scripts did I bail on this time around?  Not very many at all, and I gave every single entrant a real chance...many I struggled through to the bitter end.

Quoted from Warren I think this is the most important thing, the cream will rise to the top regardless. In my time I don’t remember there being a really surprising Writer's Choice. A good script is a good script and despite everything that will show as the end of the day.

I agree with this. There have been a couple of times where I could have argued over who I thought should be first versus second. But that's only my own taste. I have never seen an instance where an undeserving script won the challenge

Quoted from Warren I think this is the most important thing, the cream will rise to the top regardless. In my time I don’t remember there being a really surprising Writer's Choice. A good script is a good script and despite everything that will show as the end of the day.

I agree with this. There have been a couple of times where I could have argued over who I thought should be first versus second. But that's only my own taste. I have never seen an instance where an undeserving script won the challenge

Quoted from DustinBowcot Sometimes it doesn't have a single thing to do with your writing. Sometimes, people just don't like your story.

Yup

Jeff - does you browser not show the winking smiley emoticon I intentionally added to the sentence to denote I was teasing you?

Quoted from PKCardinal As to subtext and subtlety... I agree, this particular group, for the most part, prefers straight-forward storytelling. Part of that, I think, is that when not done well, subtext and subtlety just look like lazy writing. Done right -- it's amazing to see.

I completely agree with this.

I’ve struggled with this since my very first script. I like making the reader think, giving them just enough to come to the conclusion themselves. There is nothing better than subtext done well in a script, but there will always be an argument about how much is too much. The writer obviously knows the script’s meaning, so when a reader doesn’t get it how do we really know whose fault this is?

This is especially difficult in an OWC. So we've already discussed how people may or may not be looking for faults. Subtext is a really easy one to pick on, it's really easy to say I don’t get it when there is every chance that they don’t because it’s subtext you may not actually get it. I do think the other issue, especially with OWC's is how quick people may or may not be trying to get through the scripts. Subtext my very well be missed if you are just trying to get your pile for the day done.

So I think there are a lot of ways you can increase your chances of making it closer to the top of the pile. I'd like to believe that story is everything, but in OWC's that is never going to be the case. Some readers will stop reading if the format, spelling, grammar is bad. So make sure the fundamentals are there. Write a story that everyone can understand, keep the subtext to an absolute minimum or at least keep things as straight forward as possible, don’t give people a reason not to understand your script. Going back to a very controversial topic, give your character’s motivations and your story meaning, sure not everyone might care if things don’t add up, but others will, I will be one of those people. And then of course write a great story (obviously the hardest part ).

Note that when I say making the reader think, I don’t mean about the meaning of a word, or the character’s motivations.

I like making a reader think by using a word they're not familiar with, it's good for increasing their vocabulary

Quoted from AnthonyCawood Jeff - does you browser not show the winking smiley emoticon I intentionally added to the sentence to denote I was teasing you?

OOOPS.  You never know, though, Anthony.

It's funny, cuz peeps sometimes/usually hate what I have to say, but when I look back at all the feedback on any script, mine is usually the longest and most detailed...even when I bail very early.

I really wish I could just say, "Great job, really enjoyed this", and move on...but alas...I can't.