4 in 36

I'm committed. Barely got something in for Q1 but got an HM so that was exciting. Much happier with my Q2 submission but it was still pretty last minute. I've got a completed draft of my Q3 done, so I have a lot more time for revisions this time!

Fight the good fight all. We're already halfway there with Q2 submitted =)

I'm committed. Barely got something in for Q1 but got an HM so that was exciting. Much happier with my Q2 submission but it was still pretty last minute. I've got a completed draft of my Q3 done, so I have a lot more time for revisions this time!

Fight the good fight all. We're already halfway there with Q2 submitted =)

HM is good. Top 10% or better. I'm happy to take a look at your Q3, if you're short of critiquers.

I'm signing up for 4 in 36. I don't like to commit to things I don't think I can achieve, and starting the year it looked like I'd enter 2 or 3. Now it's looking like I can enter all 4. Also, a couple of Wulf Moon's posts inspired me.

Good going, Alex. Things changed for me four years ago when, at the bottom of the barrel in my personal life, I told myself to commit to entering WotF every quarter. It was a reasonable goal. Then, as I tried to upgrade HMs to Finalist and failed, I committed to writing fresh stories. And that's where all my growth came from that finally garnered my win. But the key thing is to write. Write A LOT. Because the people that win are doing just that. So you have to as well. As much as they are. More than they are.

If you want to win. Committing to 4 in 36 is a great step. It should be everyone's goal.

And those ones that come back? Send them out to other markets. Keep 'em rotating. I sold a semifinalist upon return from the gala. One that Dave had written in his critique that he believed would sell elsewhere. Those critiques from Dave are gold. Another benefit of submitting, even if you don't win but come close.

Best to all on setting goals that push your writing skills to their limits. Congrats on pushing yours, Alex!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

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Have you noticed that at certain times of day, when sentences are cool, light is low and shadows soft - a certain presence tiptoes through the forums?
Her footprints fade fast and you have to move quickly to trace her steps.
Some might think of her as the after-hours headmistress - checking desks are straight, tutting at faulty grammar in hurried posts, and making sure the class are behaving.
But there's another rumour. There's an old tale of a ghost-writer - I mean, writer-ghost. The guy who should and would have won the Golden Pen. The John Keats of speculative fiction who disappeared mysteriously, leaving heart-shaped holes in castles and space-ships. No one knows what happened to this writer. Does he too haunt the forums? Do either ever post?

I wish I had planned around doing this. But I missed submitting anything in Q2 because I hadn't really started participating or giving much thought to how valuable it could be to work with that kind of goal in mind. Besides I had pretty much all my finished stories out on submission at that time. But I am going to manage 3 out of the 4 because I already have my Q4 entry ready (it is a revised version of my Q1 entry).

For 37 I think I am going to work on submitting a newly completed story each quarter. Of course I'm hoping that I will win Q3 or Q4 for v 36 which would necessitate me coming up with different writing goals ;).

I like the idea of completing at least one short piece each quarter. It seems like an achievable goal. The nice thing for me at least is that I think it will really help my "finishing" skills. And I find that inevitably as I work through some backlogged/partially finished piece I usually come up with some new ideas as well. So it is kinda one of those two birds scenarios.

For the rest of you who are working on this challenge I hope you find some great words flowing

Having struggled with and finally abandoned my initial idea, it would be easy for me to miss Q3 now. But I think committing to entering each is worthwhile. Maybe I'll have learned how to more quickly recognise when a story needs to be dropped.

TimE hopefully whatever new idea you work on for Q3 will go nice and smooth. And who knows, once that other idea percolates in the back of your brain for a while maybe it will end up almost writing itself at some future date (just with fixes that you don't see right now).

Have you noticed that at certain times of day, when sentences are cool, light is low and shadows soft - a certain presence tiptoes through the forums?
Her footprints fade fast and you have to move quickly to trace her steps.
Some might think of her as the after-hours headmistress - checking desks are straight, tutting at faulty grammar in hurried posts, and making sure the class are behaving.
But there's another rumour. There's an old tale of a ghost-writer - I mean, writer-ghost. The guy who should and would have won the Golden Pen. The John Keats of speculative fiction who disappeared mysteriously, leaving heart-shaped holes in castles and space-ships. No one knows what happened to this writer. Does he too haunt the forums? Do either ever post?

Maybe it’s Jeff Carlson or KD Wentworth.

TimE hopefully whatever new idea you work on for Q3 will go nice and smooth. And who knows, once that other idea percolates in the back of your brain for a while maybe it will end up almost writing itself at some future date (just with fixes that you don't see right now).

Ideas and characters usually show up somewhere else. I'm a firm believer in recycling.

Ideas and characters usually show up somewhere else. I'm a firm believer in recycling.

Haha Me too actually. Unfortunately sometimes during revisions I recycle in a great sentence or idea just a paragraph or two before it originally appeared while thinking it was a fresh idea to add in that spot (this is mostly with my novel writing and mostly only with things I've left sitting for quite a long time). In the end I think it generally works out better worked in earlier but it doesn't remove my grumping when I get up to the later paragraph and go ohhhhhhhhh right.

Ideas and characters usually show up somewhere else. I'm a firm believer in recycling.

Haha Me too actually. Unfortunately sometimes during revisions I recycle in a great sentence or idea just a paragraph or two before it originally appeared while thinking it was a fresh idea to add in that spot (this is mostly with my novel writing and mostly only with things I've left sitting for quite a long time). In the end I think it generally works out better worked in earlier but it doesn't remove my grumping when I get up to the later paragraph and go ohhhhhhhhh right.

Haha, this happens to me a lot when editing something I've let rest for a while. Usually it's on a sentence/expression level, though. I'm like "oh, this sounds so much better" and in the next paragraph I'm already saying the same thing, or using the same words already, and suddenly I've got repetitions

I'm in for Q3, with a fresh story. I haven't missed a Quarter since my first time submitting the third quarter of 2017, so this marks two years of stories going into the contest.

I'm in for Q3, with a fresh story. I haven't missed a Quarter since my first time submitting the third quarter of 2017, so this marks two years of stories going into the contest.

Awesome! Way to go

Thanks for your response above Wulf Moon, and a belated congrats on the win if I didn't congratulate you elsewhere!

I almost failed this month, but I've submitted a new story, despite the easier way being an older revised one. It's a flash - there's no chance I'll finish one of my two longer pieces I was working on, even if I wasn't going on holiday tomorrow!

Best wishes to everyone else.

You're welcome, Alex. And thanks about the win. You can also hear me read it now at future-sf.com. Just finished that project and I'm happy with the results.

Good work on submitting fresh. It's easy to dust off an oldy and send it in, and that has worked for some, but you know my belief. You'll do better in the long run creating new stories, because you'll enhance your writing skills. Flash is a viable option, especially if it pushes into the short short story range, like "The Life of the Party" in Vol. 35. That story was just under 2000 words by my rough count, and yet it had a good revenge story and alien invasion story in such a small space. That indicates great writing skills. Pulling off big idea in small space takes skill, and can really impress the judges.

If you wish to analyze the nuts and bolts of Flash and how to build stronger ones, do check out my SUPER SECRETS topic. We are wrapping up some exercises on creating strong flash. I also show how I constructed a 999 word Flash, line by line, which will be helpful in understanding the beast.

Success on your Q3.

All the beast,

Wulf Moon

Three for three, so far! One more quarter to go.

Three for three, so far! One more quarter to go.

Well done!

And 3 for 3, all originals. Really thought I might slip in Q3 this time, but became very determined not to at the end.

Being here is very good for that, I find. Focuses the mind surprisingly well on the task at hand.

I'm in.

And 3 for 3, all originals. Really thought I might slip in Q3 this time, but became very determined not to at the end.

Being here is very good for that, I find. Focuses the mind surprisingly well on the task at hand.

I agree. The forums help keep the energy up. Plus, it is more fun participating in the fretting when you have a story in.

I'm In! 3 out of 4 so far

Just sent in 3/4. One more to go...

I just sent my story in for Q3. No doubt in my mind I'll be ready with another for Q4. Write on.

I'm in for Q4 as of 8/29.

For everyone else about to drop their final entry to this year: Congratulations!

Thanks to Dustin and storysinger to starting these challenges (and Wulf for stepping it up in his special challenge). I credit/blame you for my SF this year as well as finally breaking through several writing blocks I didn't know I had.

You're all awesome!

Congratulations to all of you for setting goals that push your limits and then working hard to achieve them. In any worthwhile endeavor, that is the key to success!

May the Force be with you!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

I finished the first draft of a new story for Q4. It has an edit or two or four in store before it is ready to submit, but I am closer than I was before this week.

All the best to my fellow forumites!

Finished and submitted for all four quarters.

It never fails – why do the best ideas flow at exactly 4 A.M. in the morning? Not 3:30, not 4:30, nor 5 AM. The sensation is always the same – a profound sense of annoyance at loss of precious sleep, mixed with a ray of hope maybe, just maybe, it might fit like a puzzle piece into a fresh story.

Thankfully, or not thankfully (I haven't decided) the 4:00 A.M. lightning bulb moment doesn't occur that frequently and I'm able to rest my soul into the arms of Morpheus until the Arizona sun screams out at 5:30 A.M. "Notice me! Notice me!"

I'm also in for all four now. 🙂 Can't say I'm running into that 4am issue at the moment, though...

In for all four! Mission accomplished.

Gahhhh! I'm working on it. We still have until Monday, right? Right?!? lol