Just received feedback from a different competition I entered. It was the same piece as I entered here, and was also waitlisted for Harper Collins Author Academy last month. I was absolutely disgusted by the completed disinterest shown by the reader/s and there was no attempt at finding positives in the extract. I don't usually grumble about stuff, but really the feedback was practically an insult. Compared to Issy's feedback, it was chalk and cheese! Anyone else had this from other competitions? It was a national one, so no excuse.

https://www.iaminprint.co.uk/competitions-2026/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Twelve different categories, ranging from PBs to Adult genres. You need the first 3,500 words of your story for most, plus some require a synopsis. Judged by agents and publishers. £16 per entry. DEADLINE IS 14th MAY

I had high hopes for this excellent idea to create a writers’ forum. But disappointingly your idea has provided yet another promotional platform. I guess that is what the authors’ ecosystem has become. Shame.

Quick 5-minute writing spark:Your reflection in the mirror stops copying you. Instead, it starts telling you the one secret you've been hiding from everyone—even yourself. What does it say? Write the first line of dialogue (or the whole short exchange) below.

Hi everyone! I had a conversation with one of my alpha readers (aka critique partner) around a sentence from my novel. Please see below. "I’m tidying up the last things before heading out. One final look at my inbox, then I grab the trench coat, and switch off the Sonos." According to my alpha reader, grabbing "the" trench coat is not grammatically correct, and the sentence should read "I grab my trench coat." Not having defined the trench coat or not having given enough context doesn't warrant the use of a definite article. Basically, we don't know anything about it, so it cannot be called THE trench coat. If, for example, I'd said "I look for something warm in the wardrobe. I grab the trench coat and leave", that would have worked, because we are already in the realm of clothing and the character is looking into a wardrobe. Now, I can totally see where this is coming from, but to me it feels there's enough context? And I struggle to see how it becomes a plain grammar mistake. The character is clearly heading out, and performs a number of actions typical of who gets ready to leave the office, including grabbing a coat that can just assume is his. I do trust my alpha reader, who is a linguist and a translator, but I wonder whether the precise, academic grammar might have got in the way of what we can and cannot say in fiction? Or I am simply plain wrong, which is equally fine, but I'd like to know why :D What do you think? P.S. I know this is an easy fix and not a biggie at all. At this point, it's mostly an intellectual curiosity for me :)