NEW USERS! INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!

@natdok Awesome! Welcome to the club!

@tashari Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy glad to see you here!

Hello, everyone. I'm a junior in High School who's been writing for about four years at this point. Sent in my first submission a few months ago, and was absolutely shocked to see that I made SF. Super excited to keep submitting and honing my writing skill here!

Hi there,

My name's Bonnie, born and raised in England and now living in Tasmania, Australia. I'm pretty new here, only submitted one story so far, but loving the challenge already. I'm a Mum of two little'uns that keep me busy, and I'm studying for a degree in conservation and land management. Every other minute is spent writing fiction, primarily fantasy. I had regrettably put off writing for so long, because of lack of confidence and general procrastination I suppose, reasons I'm sure many fall prey too. Luckily my partner believed in me and motivated me to finally start, and since then I have been obsessed! I didn't realise how much I needed it, how much I had missed it, until I began. 

Very grateful to find such an amazing, motivating community here, and looking forward to being a part of it.

Welcome to the forum Bonnie. Explore and enjoy the community.

Greetings everyone!

Silas Moody reporting for duty. I’m a proud millennial from the Great State of North Carolina. I met Scott Card in 2015 and that’s where I first heard about the WOTF. Thanks for the advice Brother Card. I’m a nurse’s aide to pay the bills but I live to write and write to live. I have several projects in the pipeline including an epic fantasy trilogy, a science fiction dystopian post apocalyptic series, and two fiction novellas. Can you submit part of a novel to the contest or does it have to be a short story all and of it’s own? Could it also perhaps be a short story inspired by the greater novel project?

I’m looking forward to exploring this community more and to submitting by January 1st. 

Cheers!

Posted by: @selsozhu

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Hello, everyone. I'm a junior in High School who's been writing for about four years at this point. Sent in my first submission a few months ago, and was absolutely shocked to see that I made SF. Super excited to keep submitting and honing my writing skill here!

Hi Irene,

Your first entry was a Semifinalist? Incredible. You were at the top! That’s a great sign for you, and you’re just starting out. Keep learning all you can and keep writing to get that edge that puts you in the lead. And don’t miss out on the WotF Online Workshop—the best in the biz teach in that.

Oh, and since you’re still in HS, do submit to Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. It’s a national contest with huge scholarships and recognition. I won it when I was fifteen with an SF story, and it led to my first pro sale. It sounds like you have what it takes to win it! 

Welcome to the forum!

Wulf Moon

@bon 

Welcome to the Forum, Bonnie!

When you’re a writer, you must write. It’s the only way to be true to who you are. I’m glad you now recognize that, and setting a goal of writing and sending in a fresh story every quarter is a great way to keep you committed to your cause!

Dont miss the WotF Online Workshop where you can hone your skills. 

We’re happy to hear you have support in your endeavor, and you’ll find it here as well. 

Welcome aboard!

@silasmoodybooks 

Welcome, Silas!

Why wait to sub in January? You’ve still got about two weeks open on this quarter. Get a story in and see what happens!

This is not a novel contest. It’s a short story contest, although you can submit up to 17,000 words. But it must be a story with a beginning, middle, and an end with some form of resolution. So farm a chapter from your novel and turn it into a short story, if you wish. Patrick Rothfuss did that; so did David Farland. 

We’re happy you’ve found us. Best of success and welcome aboard!

@anonymous you have an interesting background. I think your army background will affect your writing a lot. Have you seen the show Barry on HBO max?

Posted by: @selsozhu

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Hello, everyone. I'm a junior in High School who's been writing for about four years at this point. Sent in my first submission a few months ago, and was absolutely shocked to see that I made SF. Super excited to keep submitting and honing my writing skill here!

Welcome to the forum.

Congrats on the SF. That is fantastic news.

Posted by: @bon

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I had regrettably put off writing for so long, because of lack of confidence and general procrastination I suppose, reasons I'm sure many fall prey too. Luckily my partner believed in me and motivated me to finally start, and since then I have been obsessed! I didn't realise how much I needed it, how much I had missed it, until I began. 

Welcome to the forum. It is never too late to reach for your dreams.

I'm 52 and became serious about my writing two years ago. I found this forum and love the interaction and knowledge that exists here.

Welcome @silasmoodybooks.

Sounds like you have a lot in the works. Set goals for each quarter and dig through the forum for all the knowledge that exists here. Reach out to others for support and guidance and you will be surprised on how helpful the members of this forum are.

Good luck, have fun, and keep writing.

Hello! I like to be anonymous until I make a pen name. I write stories with themes of love and family. I usually add aspects of fantasy to make it more interesting. I hope to learn more and grow. Hope to read your stories.

@gobsiye welcome

Welcome to the forum (@gobsiye). When you win your anonymity will be over.

Posted by: @gobsiye

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Hello! I like to be anonymous until I make a pen name. I write stories with themes of love and family. I usually add aspects of fantasy to make it more interesting. I hope to learn more and grow. Hope to read your stories.

Welcome to the Forum!

We’re glad to hear you’re writing. Don’t forget this is a speculative fiction contest—the speculative element has to be strong and up front. The WotF Online Workshop will help you craft a solid story. It’s free, don’t miss that.

Best of success! 

So I've probably had this account for a few years now, but didn't spend much time on the forum until this week. After feeling the need to respond to another thread, I decided I should probably post an introduction.

Hi. I'm Marissa. I write and intend to start making money off it.

Welcome Marissa. You'll find a lot of help on this forum as you journey to your dream destination.

Welcome @atkirk

Hello, I'm Joseph. I discovered this contest a few years ago and made my first submission before the 9/30 deadline. Still new to writing fiction. It's so much fun but now I'm starting to see where my writing is weak. I should keep reading and writing to see what others do right and how to recreate it with my own flair. I'm still proud of myself for turning a 5,000 word rough draft to a 11,500 word third draft before 9.

Welcome to the forum Joseph. Now head over to the free workshop and see the cool story that you will write while taking it.

@storysinger Thanks. I will partake in the workshop once I finish a book on Kurt Vonnegut and writing, just 40 more pages. I'm excited for the stories the workshop will pull out of me.

@josephm welcome. There are a lot of good lessons throughout the forum and people willing to help.

Keep filling pages and have fun.

Posted by: @josephm

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@storysinger Thanks. I will partake in the workshop once I finish a book on Kurt Vonnegut and writing, just 40 more pages. I'm excited for the stories the workshop will pull out of me.

welcome, Joseph!

What’s that book? Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors!

@cweaver Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style. I really enjoyed it. Wish I could have been in the Iowa writing workshop in the 1960s. I left with a few good tips. Keep it simple, care about what you write, write for about 4 hours a day, try other artforms as a hobby. It was also a journey through why he wrote what he did and what inspired him.

@toddjones I'm 20% through on the workshop. It's highlighting stuff that seems like it should be obvious when making a story. I dunno. Maybe it helps that I've started daily writing so I can see where my writing is weakest.

@josephm four hours a day is a bit ridiculous. Especially if you have a family. Just consider the average person. Works at least 8 hours(probably a half hour lunch), has about 1 hours commute both ways combined. Needs to prepare dinner or at least buy it. Minimum is 30 minutes, more is realistic. Spend time with spouse and children, maybe help with some homework or other activity. Heck, many kids are in sports or other things.. Maybe even have to get them to and from school. This has got to be 1.5 hours min. So, now we're at 11.5.

Need basic hygiene time either before or after work. Another 30 minutes. I forgot breakfast and perhaps preparing a lunch. Another half hour if you rush.

So, we're at 12.5 using the absolute minimum amounts for the above core tasks before throwing in any random thing like shopping, laundry, maintaining the house. We're looking at throwing every other minute at writing and sacrificing sleep and/or family. And they also advise to pursue other hobbies. Lol

1960s? The people giving that advice either sacrificed having a family and other obligations, or had spouses that did everything else for them. I'm not normally one to mention privilege, but that seems appropriate here.

That four hours a day is for professional writers who don't have to work another job like these people:

https://famouswritingroutines.com/collections/daily-word-counts-of-17-famous-authors/

@undreamedages You're absolutely correct.

The book does touch on how it was much easier to make a living through writing. Today is not the same case. I'm in a lucky position to dedicate 4 hours of writing on my days off. I take it as I shouldn't exceed 4 hours of writing. I even work in 30 minute bursts with a small breaks. Also I'm very fortunate to work a night shift job with opportunities to write for a few hours.

Thank you for sharing the article.

Hello, I'm Sade, formerly unconscious incompetent writer now consciously incompetent. I'm working my way through the online workshop, and loving it.