NEW USERS! INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!

Hi, my name is Greg, and I am new to this forum. I am the author of the book; 75 Quotes of Inspiration for Today, Creative Inspire Word Search, Gardening Word Search for the Enthusiastic Gardener, and a few other books. In addition, I am an author, blogger, and poetry writer.

I hope to learn more about writing through this forum.

Thanks so much,

Greg

Posted by: @ellis

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

Welcome, Sade! The workshop is a great experience, and it'll certainly give you some insights into what the judges look for in a good contest entry. Have you entered the contest before, or are you going to use the workshop to rough up your first?

Posted by: @gregtheauthor

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Hi, my name is Greg, and I am new to this forum. I am the author of the book; 75 Quotes of Inspiration for Today, Creative Inspire Word Search, Gardening Word Search for the Enthusiastic Gardener, and a few other books. In addition, I am an author, blogger, and poetry writer.

I hope to learn more about writing through this forum.

And welcome, Greg! In addition to general conversations you'll have here with other writers, and the option to exchange your stories for critique as contest entries, there are some wonderful long-term resources that have been here for a while--in addition to the workshop that Sade mentioned above, which is one, there's a long-running thread called Super Secrets that was founded by Wulf Moon (himself a winner of the Contest). There is a LOT in there, which can make it seem intimidating, but it has a curated first post that links to each of the major tips and tricks that Wulf shared. Some of them you may already know or use, but there will likely be things in there that you haven't considered, and his workshop is geared towards writing to win the Contest, so even if you just want to dip your toes in and skim through, it's worth a look.

@undreamedages I will offer mostly agreement but also a little contradiction; I am able to squeeze in 4 hours a day when I ignore everything else in my life. Once the laundry starts to ooze out into the kitchen do I realize it's probably time to be a responsible person again. I don't think prolific writers are known for being good housekeepers, or at least that's what I tell myself.

@doctorjest Hello! I have not entered the contest before, I've only read the books. I started consistently writing two years ago, wrote two books and realized I need a lot more training to become anything close to acceptable/successful as a writer. Since I'm only one monkey with a typewriter, the odds of producing Shakespeare are pretty slim unless I can educate said monkey.

I also have a battered, taped, dog-eared copy of Battlefield Earth hanging out on my bookshelf. I've been of fan of Mr. Hubbard for many years, even went as Countess Krak one Halloween.

@circle_shadow_star Welcome to the forum. 

@gregtheauthor Welcome

@toddjones thank you!

Posted by: @ellis

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

Welcome, Sade, and all the other new members!

Recognizing we have much to learn, and then doing something about it, is how we grow. I’m glad you’re enjoying the WotF Online Workshop. It’s taught by some of the best in the industry!

Look around in the many topics here. You’ll find this group knows much about writing, and are experts on the nuances of this contest.

Best of success!

Moon

@doctorjest Thank you for your kind words about the Super Secrets! I wrote all of those to help anyone here that was looking for extra help to level up. It’s really amazing how far it has grown, and how many it has helped to date. Another resource among the many here to aid aspiring writers! ?

@gregtheauthor 

Welcome aboard, Greg! 

I’m happy you wish to expand into fiction writing. This is a great forum that will help! 

Best of success to your worthy endeavor,

Moon

@gregtheauthor @circle_shadow_star

welcome to the forum!

I am Peter Spasov from Millbrook Ontario Canada, about 150 km north of Toronto. Recently completed the workshop and have completed a first-entry story. Began my career as an engineer, then travelled the world, attempted to become an astronaut but was cut by round two of the selection process. Following that I taught at a Peterborough college, was married, had three daughters and enjoyed various outdoor activities. Also enjoy reading in general and science fiction in particular, especially the ones with compelling ideas.

@pspasovnexicom-net Welcome! Sounds like you have some fantastic life experience to draw from for your stories. Jump in, join the conversation, and best of success!

@pspasovnexicom-net Welcome

Welcome to the forum Peter. With your background I'll bet you have some good ideas to put to use.

@lost_bard Thank you for your kind words.

@storysinger Thank you for the inspiration and hope.

@pspasovnexicom-net 

Welcome, Peter!

I’m sorry you got cut in round two of the astronaut program, but if you can’t go to space, you can certainly write about space, and this is the right place! ?

Good on you for taking the WotF Online Writing Workshop, and sending your first story in to the contest! Keep writing, keep learning, keep sending your stories out, and never surrender!

Welcome aboard!

Thank you Wulf, certainly this is the place where one can write about space. Much appreciated.

Peter

@pspasovnexicom-net welcome!

Hey all! Seeing a forum like this feels like a nostalgia blast, I’d assumed social media had wiped out BBS sites like this long ago.

I’m Andrew, two months shy of a midlife crisis at 30 and hailing from the foothills of North Carolina. I’ve been an IT Managed Services tech for only half a decade but addicted to writing spec fic for a little over two!

My writing journey has recently felt like I’ve reached the start of another full “turning of the Wheel”—I started out all those years ago by banging out nonsense on an old typewriter; yesterday I received the Olympia SM9 I’d been waiting impatiently for. It feels a little like fate that I received it the same day I received a Silver Honorable Mention for my first ever submission to this contest.

I’d been getting disheartened lately as the story has been receiving Rejections for months. Now I wish more than ever that I hadn’t waited until this year to start submitting work to pro markets. I’ve got some time to make up for! I’m hoping that joining this forum will end up helpful on this journey and, somehow, let me help others on their own.

Now I just have to decide whether to revise and resubmit or to submit something wholly new. Decisions, decisions. 

Welcome aboard Andrew. Since you already have krakens in the nest, you might as well add some more.

I am Tell Hunting, currently living in Tennessee. I am a ten year Army veteran and work in the aviation industry. I have been writing off and on as a hobby for years and have decided to take it more seriously. To that end I have decided to submit quarterly to the contest until I place or I become ineligible by way of sales. I am working through the online workshop and am enjoying it thus far.

@allorch welcome to the forum, and many congratulations on the SHM! Some achievement, and I remember being in the same position when I first entered the contest. My first entry was an SHM too, and it served as validation at a time I needed it after a deluge of form rejections that left me no real idea if what I had written was terrible, or showed promise. This forum will help you on your writing journey and turns out plenty of winners in the competition too, so definitely worth putting the time in when / if you can.

Hello everyone. I'm Hannya. I'm a debut writer, meaning I have been at it for a year only. I have so much to learn, and I have been working hard at it everyday without a pause for more than 6 months now -- the six months previous to that being throwing word salad on the paper with no idea what I was doing. Not that I have any idea now, but I have decided to get more serious about it.

I started submitting to mags in May, with of course no result. But I keep on going and learning. I submitted to Q4 a story that was too long to have much of a market anywhere else and it got a HM. Now I'm going to dive in the forums to understand what a HM means lol.

I am mostly interested in meeting the community and learning from you all. I see a lot of published authors here, and workshops and advice. I hope I can contribute, but I'll mostly sit in the corner and cheer you all.

Posted by: @allorch

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Hey all! Seeing a forum like this feels like a nostalgia blast, I’d assumed social media had wiped out BBS sites like this long ago.

I’m Andrew, two months shy of a midlife crisis at 30 and hailing from the foothills of North Carolina. I’ve been an IT Managed Services tech for only half a decade but addicted to writing spec fic for a little over two!

My writing journey has recently felt like I’ve reached the start of another full “turning of the Wheel”—I started out all those years ago by banging out nonsense on an old typewriter; yesterday I received the Olympia SM9 I’d been waiting impatiently for. It feels a little like fate that I received it the same day I received a Silver Honorable Mention for my first ever submission to this contest.

I’d been getting disheartened lately as the story has been receiving Rejections for months. Now I wish more than ever that I hadn’t waited until this year to start submitting work to pro markets. I’ve got some time to make up for! I’m hoping that joining this forum will end up helpful on this journey and, somehow, let me help others on their own.

Now I just have to decide whether to revise and resubmit or to submit something wholly new. Decisions, decisions. 

Welcome to the Forum, Andrew!

Yes, we're alive and well, and sharing the knowledge that leads to publishing success here! Especially in regards to the largest talent search contest for speculative fiction writers in the world, Writers of the Future!

Even though you've been writing for awhile, I still recommend taking the free Writers of the Future Online Workshop. Great instruction there by the best in the biz to help you. Feel free to read and post here in the forum with any questions you have. We're happy to help!

All the best on your writing journey!

Posted by: @sackett12

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I am Tell Hunting, currently living in Tennessee. I am a ten year Army veteran and work in the aviation industry. I have been writing off and on as a hobby for years and have decided to take it more seriously. To that end I have decided to submit quarterly to the contest until I place or I become ineligible by way of sales. I am working through the online workshop and am enjoying it thus far.

Oh man, now I have serious Name Envy. Welcome, Tell! I really loved the little workshop here, and it's definitely a great place to get a grounding in what you can aim for when entering the Contest. Honestly, a great deal of the advice translates pretty well to other markets too, but it's particularly effective here--Joni, who administers the Contest, said that after folks started taking the workshop, picking Finalists from the entries suddenly became a lot harder! So you're definitely on the right path there.

Posted by: @hannya

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Hello everyone. I'm Hannya. I'm a debut writer, meaning I have been at it for a year only. I have so much to learn, and I have been working hard at it everyday without a pause for more than 6 months now -- the six months previous to that being throwing word salad on the paper with no idea what I was doing. Not that I have any idea now, but I have decided to get more serious about it.

I started submitting to mags in May, with of course no result. But I keep on going and learning. I submitted to Q4 a story that was too long to have much of a market anywhere else and it got a HM. Now I'm going to dive in the forums to understand what a HM means lol.

I am mostly interested in meeting the community and learning from you all. I see a lot of published authors here, and workshops and advice. I hope I can contribute, but I'll mostly sit in the corner and cheer you all.

In case nobody's filled in the blanks for that yet, HM stories are roughly the top ten percent of entered stories. A story that gets a HM is written well enough both to pass the eyes of the first-reader, Kary English, and for the coordinating Judge, Jody Lynn Nye, to think it's worth reading through. There's a lot of information on the forums to help you look at tips that may help you to raise the rank of your future entries, but getting to HM already means you're definitely doing something right!

Also, "with of course no result"--but it is never of course, and if you keep pushing to improve and keep submitting, that will change eventually! The main thing is that you are submitting. One of the best pieces of advice I ever saw is never reject yourself--never be afraid to submit to a market because you don't feel good enough, because of its prestige, or because of the prestige of its published writers. Markets are always looking for a wonderful story from a new writer too, and why not you? So it's great that you're doing that. Keep on going!

@sackett12  and @hannya welcome to the forum!

@joel-c-scoberg Thank you

Welcome to the forum Tell and Hannya. Enjoy.