Discussion: Q1 Volume 43

sigh. How can we be here already? I felt sure I was going to be in vol 42. 42 being the answer to life, the universe and everything... 😉

I guess I should get back to my qtr 4 and get that in.

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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sigh. How can we be here already? I felt sure I was going to be in vol 42. 42 being the answer to life, the universe and everything... 😉

There's still a chance for vol 42. But what was the question, again?

I'll be more excited about Q1 Volume 43 once I have my Q4 Volume 42 story written and submitted, 😉

Posted by: @physa

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I'll be more excited about Q1 Volume 43 once I have my Q4 Volume 42 story written and submitted, 😉

And 43 will be waiting. 😍 

Posted by: @physa

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I'll be more excited about Q1 Volume 43 once I have my Q4 Volume 42 story written and submitted, 😉

Agree!   

Posted by: @toddsjones

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Posted by: @physa

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I'll be more excited about Q1 Volume 43 once I have my Q4 Volume 42 story written and submitted, 😉

Agree!   

 

I don't want to make anyone jealous, but I'm ready to submit my Q4 story 😜  

I'm going on holiday next week, so I needed to get it in early.

Bumping, because we are LIVE!

The submission portal is now open. https://writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/

Maybe this is the year I'll be really smart, and complete my Q1 months early ahead of the holidays.

Anything can happen, right?

But that does mean it's time to find a plot to go with the cool story vibes in my head.

Posted by: @folkloremipsum

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Maybe this is the year I'll be really smart, and complete my Q1 months early ahead of the holidays.

Anything can happen, right?

But that does mean it's time to find a plot to go with the cool story vibes in my head.

That is a great plan. I like the use of 'maybe' and want to join you on this herculean journey of finishing a story early. That is, of course, 'maybe.'

Good luck, and keep writing. I'm rooting for you. 

My QTR1 is in, and now I can focus on the upcoming holidays. I will still be writing though.

I thought I would be able to finish the story by the end of October. I haven't even started my research for it properly (it's a secondary world, but I want it to be HEAVILY inspired by history and certain cultures).

Posted by: @craydimensional

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My QTR1 is in, and now I can focus on the upcoming holidays. I will still be writing though.

From what I've heard, Q1 is the lightest, likely because folks get caught up in travel and holidays. Glad you're already in. 

Posted by: @haganenoedward

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I thought I would be able to finish the story by the end of October. I haven't even started my research for it properly (it's a secondary world, but I want it to be HEAVILY inspired by history and certain cultures).

Man, I am so stuck right now.  I've started writing 3 different stories, and all of them have stalled out.  The first was kind of a fun story prompt... but didn't really have any depth, and felt too young.  The other two... I really liked the concepts, but can't seem to turn them into an actual story arc with action, conflict, and a resolution. I've tried looking up some random prompts, but nothing's really sticking. 

Hope your Octobers are going smoother than mine  

Posted by: @bootzenkatzen

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Man, I am so stuck right now.  I've started writing 3 different stories, and all of them have stalled out.  The first was kind of a fun story prompt... but didn't really have any depth, and felt too young.  The other two... I really liked the concepts, but can't seem to turn them into an actual story arc with action, conflict, and a resolution. I've tried looking up some random prompts, but nothing's really sticking. 

Hope your Octobers are going smoother than mine  

I planned to do a more history-inspired short story this quarter (in a secondary world, but HEAVILY inspired by one historical period and real-world cultures). But one day, after hanging out with friends (we celebrated my semi-finalist placement from Q3 🤣 ), an idea for a short story in a genre I wanted to write something in for a looonng time just popped into my head. I thought it will be a tiny, little story I'll manage to write during one weekend and then I could polish it. 
I've been writing for a week, I'm barely a fifth/quarter into the story and the "short" story already has around 3.5k words. While I don't think it's on the level of my Q4 entry (I'm "hammering" this one down, while with the other one I actually tried to play with the prose a bit), but I like the story, even though it has only very light speculative elements, I enjoy the characters much more than I though I would at first and I'm having a lot of fun with writing it. 
Hopefully I'll be able to finish this one and the first short story by the end of the year and then send out one of them :). 

My day job sapped all my energy in October with no progress made whatsoever. But in the best spirit of Novel Writing Month I'm turning up the wick. Of course 100% improvement over October would still be a word count of .............0.

I'm currently revising a story I got an HM for back in '23 to submit again before I start revising my Q1 story that I wrote on holiday a few months ago. I'm not as stressed about it as some other stories I've entered because it's already written, I just need to revise it to improve setting, description, 5 senses, and to go a bit deeper into the MC's motivation and emotion changes at the end. 

I think I've finally picked a story to really knuckle down on.  It's one where I had an interesting concept, but I was having a hard time translating it to actual storytelling. My mind just kept coming back to it though, even after I tried starting a couple others, so I finally decided to just throw my MC into the middle of a conflict, and figure out the details from there.

Right now my only issue is knowing when to break from the "now" to go back and better establish the characters so we really care about them and know who they are.  It's interesting being thrown into a swordfight, but you're not gonna care who wins, unless you know who's fighting, right? There's some world building that needs to be done, but I know I probably shouldn't lead with that 😅

Another quarter looms, nothing ready.

Basically figured out film (says me), almost, now Kevin J Anderson is not cooperating as I try to figure out novels. But I will get there.

I have one of those stories that is a neat idea, for about a page. Trying to figure out how to fill up the rest.

May need to throw in an old story to flesh it out.

But having an inkling of what's going on with film, likely novels, I'm also hesitant to get too involved until I have it fully figured.

But I can see how LRH and co. could pump them out, especially  with little editing. 

I think I can get there.

Eventually. Maybe next quarter.

Posted by: @nova

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Basically figured out film (says me), almost, now Kevin J Anderson is not cooperating as I try to figure out novels. But I will get there.

I have one of those stories that is a neat idea, for about a page. Trying to figure out how to fill up the rest.

If you're used to film, maybe thinking about the "set design" in your story would help. In short stories and novels, we can't inherently see where your characters are, so you'll need to describe the setting somewhat, and give colorful descriptions of the action, rather than stage directions (though "exit, pursued by a bear" is pretty colorful). Maybe trying to fill out the location will give you a detail you can dig into to add meat to your story.  For example, instead of just describing your good witch descending in a bubble, you dig into why she has a bubble, and how it works, which maybe leads you into things lurking behind the scenes. 

Also, I found out recently, that just telling someone your concept and having them ask questions about it can be a good way to build up your world.  I hadn't quite figured out how my antagonist had come into  being yet, and then being asked various questions about how other things worked, I was able to weave them into my story better.

Life got messy and in the way, so I didn't have the time I needed to work on my writing. However, I'm going to push to get this story done and submitted. As for my RWC story, I won't abandon it until I feel that it's 'finished', if that makes sense. As long as it's still getting anything less than an honorable mention, that means I haven't tinkered with it enough. I was pulling my hair out working at it, and I definitely need a break before looking at it with fresh eyes again, but if I can't get this monster of a novelette finished by the end of December, I may have to return to that story so I have something to submit.

Posted by: @bootzenkatzen

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Maybe trying to fill out the location will give you a detail you can dig into to add meat to your story. 

That's a good, and obvious, idea.

Posted by: @bootzenkatzen

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telling someone your concept and having them ask questions about it

And another!

I don't talk about it much though.

Looking into the setting, as so far it's just a couple of rooms really, is a good idea.

Posted by: @shounenbat

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. As long as it's still getting anything less than an honorable mention, that means I haven't tinkered with it enough.

I feel your pain.

It was a wizz bang story, shamelessly padded in the middle. 

The guy responsible for the success of Harry Potter and Twilight thought it good enough to read.

Certificate sits mint, unopened, in a cupboard.

A treasured item.

Posted by: @shounenbat

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Life got messy and in the way, so I didn't have the time I needed to work on my writing. However, I'm going to push to get this story done and submitted. As for my RWC story, I won't abandon it until I feel that it's 'finished', if that makes sense. As long as it's still getting anything less than an honorable mention, that means I haven't tinkered with it enough. I was pulling my hair out working at it, and I definitely need a break before looking at it with fresh eyes again, but if I can't get this monster of a novelette finished by the end of December, I may have to return to that story so I have something to submit.

Life does that, and yes it can get messy.

In regards to your RWC, consider reaching out to others in the forum to swap a story. Maybe you can help each other and find that missing element. I've found it very helpful and sometimes all a story needs is a few paragraphs here or there and moving existing stuff around in a more logical progression order.