Stupid said!

I have lost my title, been dethroned, am now the runner up and only needed if the winner - for whatever reason - is unable to fulfill his duties. I am no longer Reporter of the Year, which I am totally ok with. Except. EXCEPT I got to read the judges comments.

I feel like a singles figure skater (pre the new judging system) who was happy just to make it through qualifying for a chance to compete at the Olympics only to lose after the long program based on one tenth of a point for artistic merit from one judge. A situation where the skater has no control, where she could have done nothing differently because it all comes down to one person's opinion. It is oh so subjective. And it SUCKS!

My equivalent of that situation is being told I lost by one point and I lost that one point because of my use of the word 'said' after a quote. The judge would have preferred 'stated' or 'explained'. This is an acceptable critique except, EXCEPT, not more than a month before starting the criticized piece I was at a workshop or conference where I was specifically told to use said. They explained it was because the reader runs right over it and it doesn't register, doesn't break up the flow of the piece like 'explained' or 'stated' do. See subjective. Subjectivity sucks!

(In happier news I did win the best rural/agircultural story. This is kinda funny because I grew up in the city, knew nothing of farming before beginning the piece and I don't eat red meat.
Ok, so I don't know how that last point has anything to do with it, but I like lists of threes...)