Discussion: Q1 Volume 41

@toddjones Thank you!

@kz_richards Thanks so much!

@wulfmoon Thanks Wulf!

Well, got my call from Joni. Sadly, not the result I was hoping for. Still jazzed to have been a finalist (or I will be tomorrow, I'm sure).  

Good luck to Sandy and Gideon!! Fingers crossed....

@adrian Making finalist is a HUGE accomplishment! And if you did it once, you can do it again. Hopefully that win is in your future.

Oh, darnit, Adrian! Well, hopefully there's still a possibility of becoming a published finalist. They usually do choose one for each issue. And yeah, a fantastic accomplishment. Here's hoping you can sell that piece to a professional magazine. I know many finalists have done this. And there's always next quarter!

Thanks @kz_richards and @preston-e-dennett. Appreciate the kind words. And believe me, I do appreciate the placement, I wasn't kidding. I know it's not easy!

Posted by: @adrian

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Well, got my call from Joni. Sadly, not the result I was hoping for. Still jazzed to have been a finalist (or I will be tomorrow, I'm sure).  

Good luck to Sandy and Gideon!! Fingers crossed....

Sorry to hear it Adrian! Unfortunately, I know exactly how you feel - I too received the news I had been hoping *not* to receive - finalist but no win. 

Hopefully the fact @sandy hasn't reported in means she got *good* news and is just under the cone of silence until all results are finally released.

Thanks to everyone for the support earlier. Means a lot to me.

Anyway, we;ve all got this right? On to Q2!

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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Posted by: @adrian

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Well, got my call from Joni. Sadly, not the result I was hoping for. Still jazzed to have been a finalist (or I will be tomorrow, I'm sure).  

Good luck to Sandy and Gideon!! Fingers crossed....

 

Sorry to hear it Adrian! Unfortunately, I know exactly how you feel - I too received the news I had been hoping *not* to receive - finalist but no win. 

 

Hopefully the fact @sandy hasn't reported in means she got *good* news and is just under the cone of silence until all results are finally released.

 

Thanks to everyone for the support earlier. Means a lot to me.

 

Anyway, we;ve all got this right? On to Q2!

 

 

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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Posted by: @adrian

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Well, got my call from Joni. Sadly, not the result I was hoping for. Still jazzed to have been a finalist (or I will be tomorrow, I'm sure).  

Good luck to Sandy and Gideon!! Fingers crossed....

 

Sorry to hear it Adrian! Unfortunately, I know exactly how you feel - I too received the news I had been hoping *not* to receive - finalist but no win. 

 

Hopefully the fact @sandy hasn't reported in means she got *good* news and is just under the cone of silence until all results are finally released.

 

Thanks to everyone for the support earlier. Means a lot to me.

 

Anyway, we;ve all got this right? On to Q2!

 

 

Commiserations, Gideon! And yes, fingers crossed for Sandy and the cone of silence!!

@adrian @gideonpsmith  Hard luck both. Take encouragement in reaching the last 8. You're getting there.

To @adrian and @gideonpsmith, my condolences. You were there, in the final eight, and Jody believed any of these stories were worthy of being in the anthology—it’s why she chose them. Feel good about that. You didn’t nick the bullseye, you hit it fair and square. Well done! That’s a mighty accomplishment.

Where you got edged out was with the four secondary judges that ranked their preferences. This can be a matter of personal preference, including favored genre—Joni told me when I got the second call the judges almost never agree. This is good for you to know. With a different mix of the four, the outcome likely would have been different. That’s contests. What makes a winning story is subjective, even among writers as esteemed as the ones judging for WotF. 

But it’s also worthy of recognizing the winning stories nosed ahead yours, and there may be technical or storytelling reasons that caused this to happen. These judges are the best in the biz. Like I teach writers, in the Indy 500, wins can be by mere seconds, even fractions of a second. The fine tuning of the Formula One race car and the years of experience on the track can give you an edge over other drivers. I’ve read some finalists that didn’t make it, saw some areas that needed tuning up that I told the writer about, and they won with a subsequent story where I know they fixed the issue that I believed was holding them back. 

My advice? Pull your Formula One back into the shop and if you can, get other pro eyes on it that have won the race. They might recognize something that could be improved in your technical proficiency or story that you cannot see. You are obviously writing at pro level. It may be just fine the way it is. Or there may be something another pro could show you that is adding a few seconds to your clock time around the track. It’s worth the check. 

Congratulations again on your marvelous achievement. Coming in as Top 8 in an international contest with thousands of entries is no small feat. Be proud of what you just did. And after a look under the hood of this story, go write your next. Stay the course! At this level, you’ve proven you’ve got the chops necessary to win this.

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

@wulfmoon Thanks for the thoughtful words. Great insights, as usual.

@time Thanks!

Posted by: @adrian

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@wulfmoon Thanks for the thoughtful words. Great insights, as usual.

@time Thanks!

You’re welcome. I understand the struggle, I was at it long enough. 😁

@storysinger thank you!!!

I…I won illustrators!   Four times a charm! I am so giddy right now. Thanks you everyone that was rooting for me to get it this time 🥹✨

@adrian and @gideonpsmith I’m sorry you didn’t get your win but wow, I can only imagine getting finalist as a writer. I haven’t been there yet. I do know how hard it is to get finalist and then not win it so I hope you can still feel the accomplishment joy of being a finalist. Even more I’m rooting for you to get finalist again next quarter and win! 

Hoooorayyyy Cherrie!!!!

And Butterfly = Sandy = first place. Woo!!

Posted by: @clfors

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I…I won illustrators!   Four times a charm! I am so giddy right now. Thanks you everyone that was rooting for me to get it this time 🥹✨

Amazing!! Great job and obviously well-earned!

Congrats @sandy! Amazing job!! Enjoy

Congratulations on making Finalist Gideon and Adrian.

Making the elite eight is an awesome accomplishment, keep it up.

Congratulations Sandy on your win, and you for your illustrator win CL.

This forum is amazing, someone always finds their way to the top.

Posted by: @clfors

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I…I won illustrators!  Four times a charm! I am so giddy right now. Thanks you everyone that was rooting for me to get it this time 🥹✨

Awesome news. Congrats!

Congrats @sandy!  

Congratulations @clfors and @sandy!! Hollywood-bound!

Posted by: @clfors

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I…I won illustrators!   Four times a charm! I am so giddy right now. Thanks you everyone that was rooting for me to get it this time 🥹✨

congrats @sandy ! SO great to see a fellow forumite win!! 

Posted by: @clfors

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I…I won illustrators!   Four times a charm! I am so giddy right now. Thanks you everyone that was rooting for me to get it this time 🥹✨

SO well deserved! I may have felt disappointed by being finalist, but you have gone through that with the illustrations competition FOUR TIMES and just kept going!! My hat is off to you. You clearly have the persistence, grit, determination to succeed that this industry requires. I believe this is just the first of many successes for you, no one can stop you with that positive attitude! So happy for you.

Posted by: @clfors

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I…I won illustrators!   Four times a charm! I am so giddy right now. Thanks you everyone that was rooting for me to get it this time 🥹✨

Congratulations! I'm so excited for you. And you write as well. So talented!  

It still doesn't feel real.  

Thank you all for your good wishes.

I'm over the moon. My sincere thanks to the judges and all those who work so hard running the contest and helping us all learn. Everything I've learned on the Forum, the online workshop and from all of you is a prize in itself. 

@adrian and @gideonpsmith I so wished to see both of you there as well. The next story could be the one. I know you'll get there.