Discussion: Q2 Volume 37

Saw Dave make a post on FB that he's reading all your stories today to get results out ASAP. So he's still reading and deciding.

Awesome, thank you; waiting is particularly hard when you love the piece. Good luck, all.

The best cure for the anxiety is to write your next.

Workin on a doozy! Also mid-PCT, which manages to be both creatively stimulating and also incredibly resource intensive.. so it’s been a slower process these last few months :).

Saw Dave make a post on FB that he's reading all your stories today to get results out ASAP. So he's still reading and deciding.

LOL. So that just popped the bubble.

Do we know if he and Kary tag-team first-reading or is she the slush reader and Dave reviews what makes it past her?

Saw Dave make a post on FB that he's reading all your stories today to get results out ASAP. So he's still reading and deciding.

LOL. So that just popped the bubble.

Do we know if he and Kary tag-team first-reading or is she the slush reader and Dave reviews what makes it past her?

Kary's the first reader, so she reads every entry, then determines which ones she should send to Dave.

Saw Dave make a post on FB that he's reading all your stories today to get results out ASAP. So he's still reading and deciding.

LOL. So that just popped the bubble.

Do we know if he and Kary tag-team first-reading or is she the slush reader and Dave reviews what makes it past her?

Kary's the first reader, so she reads every entry, then determines which ones she should send to Dave.

Ooof! What a big job.

LOL. So that just popped the bubble.

Do we know if he and Kary tag-team first-reading or is she the slush reader and Dave reviews what makes it past her?

Kary's the first reader, so she reads every entry, then determines which ones she should send to Dave.

Ooof! What a big job.

Dave used to do it all on his own, too. O_o

What HermoineLee said. As first reader, Kary is Dave's gatekeeper. Stories must pass her scrutiny, and she only sends him the good ones. If you get an HM, you know for certain you got past Kary by writing professional first pages. If you've ever read slush, you will know how rare that is to see.

Getting sent to Dave does not automatically mean you get an HM, however. He's the judge, and he could discover a writer did a polished opening, but failed to tell a polished, well-crafted story within.

Winners must have the whole package. Thus, all those Secrets I wrote for you guys.

Happy writing while you await the news!

Moon

WULF, I foresee a time when the number of entries becomes voluminous and overwhelming, and the obvious solution would be to employ a SECOND READER.

I can't think of anyone more qualified to fit the role of this task – you already critiqued many of your Forum Challenge Beasties; you've seen numerous submissions; you're familiar with the Coordinating Judge's preferences as to story type, you're a Best Selling Author, and a Critters Poll winner.

Therefore, if and when top brass at WOTF require the services of a SECOND READER to assist their FIRST READER, I NOMINATE Wulf Moon.

Besides, it would look fabulous on your curriculum vitae.

Best,

Retro

WULF, I foresee a time when the number of entries becomes voluminous and overwhelming, and the obvious solution would be to employ a SECOND READER.

I can't think of anyone more qualified to fit the role of this task – you already critiqued many of your Forum Challenge Beasties; you've seen numerous submissions; you're familiar with the Coordinating Judge's preferences as to story type, you're a Best Selling Author, and a Critters Poll winner.

Therefore, if and when top brass at WOTF require the services of a SECOND READER to assist their FIRST READER, I NOMINATE Wulf Moon.

Besides, it would look fabulous on your curriculum vitae.

Best,

Retro

Agreed

WULF, I foresee a time when the number of entries becomes voluminous and overwhelming, and the obvious solution would be to employ a SECOND READER.

I can't think of anyone more qualified to fit the role of this task – you already critiqued many of your Forum Challenge Beasties; you've seen numerous submissions; you're familiar with the Coordinating Judge's preferences as to story type, you're a Best Selling Author, and a Critters Poll winner.

Therefore, if and when top brass at WOTF require the services of a SECOND READER to assist their FIRST READER, I NOMINATE Wulf Moon.

Besides, it would look fabulous on your curriculum vitae.

Best,

Retro

I like this idea

WULF, I foresee a time when the number of entries becomes voluminous and overwhelming, and the obvious solution would be to employ a SECOND READER.

I can't think of anyone more qualified to fit the role of this task – you already critiqued many of your Forum Challenge Beasties; you've seen numerous submissions; you're familiar with the Coordinating Judge's preferences as to story type, you're a Best Selling Author, and a Critters Poll winner.

Therefore, if and when top brass at WOTF require the services of a SECOND READER to assist their FIRST READER, I NOMINATE Wulf Moon.

Besides, it would look fabulous on your curriculum vitae.

Best,

Retro

Oh, the power, the POWER! Could I withstand its insidious temptation?

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Oh, the power, the POWER! Could I withstand its insidious temptation?

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Easy tiger! Down boy. You don't have the job yet. But when you do . . .

Would that mean the Wulf would Kary the English to Dave that lives in a Farland?

And on the Thurs day, Dave said, let there be results.

And the results were shared across the email and the forum and the facebook.

And they were good.

And on the Thurs day, Dave said, let there be results.

And the results were shared across the email and the forum and the facebook.

And they were good.

Really? Good to hear!

Hey!

I am been lurking here for weeks! I thought I'd finally get around to making an account. This is the second time entering the contest, but this time I specifically wrote a story for the contest. The COVID malaise is making this wait particularly brutal. I have nothing else to think about lol

Your posts in this thread of been an alighting and entertaining form of solidarity and solace.

Keep being wonderful people and writers, Fitz.

Hey!

I am been lurking here for weeks! I thought I'd finally get around to making an account. This is the second time entering the contest, but this time I specifically wrote a story for the contest. The COVID malaise is making this wait particularly brutal. I have nothing else to think about lol

Your posts in this thread of been an alighting and entertaining form of solidarity and solace.

Keep being wonderful people and writers, Fitz.

Be welcome, Fitz!

This forum is a great place to meet other writers - all struggling with waiting for results! - and a great place to practice and learn. Our Fearless Leader: The Great and Powerful Wulf Moon, has proffered us the Write-O-Nomicon, the Holy Grail of tips and tricks to help us become powerful wizards of word in our own right.

And the best way to not think about world issues is to write about something other than. Make the world a better place (or not) with the words you pen.

I got HMs for my first two entries to the contest and am awaiting Q2 results with interest as the story I submitted for it I think is better than the first two. Watch me get my first rejection now...

This is in contrast to my Q3 entry, which I really don’t like very much at all.

I got HMs for my first two entries to the contest and am awaiting Q2 results with interest as the story I submitted for it I think is better than the first two. Watch me get my first rejection now...

This is in contrast to my Q3 entry, which I really don’t like very much at all.

Don’t feel discouraged! You can always revise a story that you don’t like and make it better, right?

I got HMs for my first two entries to the contest and am awaiting Q2 results with interest as the story I submitted for it I think is better than the first two. Watch me get my first rejection now...

This is in contrast to my Q3 entry, which I really don’t like very much at all.

From my experience, some of my favorite stories are the ones that receive flat out rejections from the contest.

In most cases, a straight R means your opening didn’t check all the boxes. The rest of your story could be excellent, but the opening didn’t work. I’ve rewritten my opening to a few of my R’s and turned them into HM’s based on that knowledge.

Good luck on both your Q2 and Q3 entries!

Thanks to both of you

This forum is a great place to meet other writers - all struggling with waiting for results! - and a great place to practice and learn. Our Fearless Leader: The Great and Powerful Wulf Moon, has proffered us the Write-O-Nomicon, the Holy Grail of tips and tricks to help us become powerful wizards of word in our own right.

And the best way to not think about world issues is to write about something other than. Make the world a better place (or not) with the words you pen.

The Super Secrets as the Write-O-Nomicon? Heh, pretty funny, Dragonchef!

I got HMs for my first two entries to the contest and am awaiting Q2 results with interest as the story I submitted for it I think is better than the first two. Watch me get my first rejection now...

This is in contrast to my Q3 entry, which I really don’t like very much at all.

Right there with you. I felt so much better about my Q2 entry. Then I read the TOC for this thread to where it says something along the lines of First Person POV is the kiss of death. Now I know I'll be rejected. I've also realized that I used a stereotype, so yeah, where's the beating my head against the computer emoji?

I got HMs for my first two entries to the contest and am awaiting Q2 results with interest as the story I submitted for it I think is better than the first two. Watch me get my first rejection now...

This is in contrast to my Q3 entry, which I really don’t like very much at all.

Right there with you. I felt so much better about my Q2 entry. Then I read the TOC for this thread to where it says something along the lines of First Person POV is the kiss of death. Now I know I'll be rejected.

It's only the kiss of death when done poorly. As much as some of the judges complain about it, a lot of the winning stories are in first person. First person, when done well, is more immersive than any other perspective. So don't stress it.

First Person POV is the kiss of death. Now I know I'll be rejected. I've also realized that I used a stereotype, so yeah, where's the beating my head against the computer emoji?

Wulfman won with his FP-POV. Let's not forget that.

Thanks, Dragon & Disgruntled! (Got to love our names.) I know he won and others have, too. I'm just edgy and seeing that yesterday made me realize I don't know what I don't know. I do know I'm doing something right to get the HMs. I'd hoped the Q2 was good enough to at least receive a SHM if not more, but now... I'm thinking I should have been more brutal with my cuts. I cut my Q3 story by half and I could have done more, so I doubt it will go the distance. I never did huge cuts to the Q2 story because I felt like I needed what I had. Seeing what I did with the Q3, I'm doubting and then there's the POV issue. So yeah. . . Beats head against the wall. The computer emoji seemed a little violent. LOL I can always rewrite it, but I'd kinda hoped to keep writing a new story for each quarter. Keeping up with Wolf's suggestions and all that. Well, we'll see. Right now, the well feels dry. The Q3 story took the mickie out of me. Sigh.

It's only the kiss of death when done poorly. As much as some of the judges complain about it, a lot of the winning stories are in first person. First person, when done well, is more immersive than any other perspective. So don't stress it.

Agreed. Many of the judges are on record saying first person POV is wrong, but if you examine the anthologies, it’s around an even split (if not more weighted toward first person).

I wouldn’t worry too much about first person. I wonder if anyone has put in the effort to figure out what % of the grand prize winners are third person. I might hypothesize that those are more likely to be third person past tense.

9 x HM
V38 Q4 2nd Place
Mike Resnick Memorial Award winner 2021 https://www.galaxysedge.com/
www.ztbright.com

 

I am going to submit a story that is second person, future tense. I am going to use my college education for evil. Anyone who reads it will die from excessive groaning and eye-rolling. Pompous writing as a weapon of war. I am a monster. I am death. I am the destroyer of worlds.

My Q1 winner is first person. About half my finalist pieces were. Well done first person is magnificent. As anyone who names himself FitzChivalry well knows!

Thanks, Dragon & Disgruntled! (Got to love our names.) I know he won and others have, too. I'm just edgy and seeing that yesterday made me realize I don't know what I don't know. I do know I'm doing something right to get the HMs. I'd hoped the Q2 was good enough to at least receive a SHM if not more, but now... I'm thinking I should have been more brutal with my cuts. I cut my Q3 story by half and I could have done more, so I doubt it will go the distance. I never did huge cuts to the Q2 story because I felt like I needed what I had. Seeing what I did with the Q3, I'm doubting and then there's the POV issue. So yeah. . . Beats head against the wall. The computer emoji seemed a little violent. LOL I can always rewrite it, but I'd kinda hoped to keep writing a new story for each quarter. Keeping up with Wolf's suggestions and all that. Well, we'll see. Right now, the well feels dry. The Q3 story took the mickie out of me. Sigh.

Hang in there, empressed! In less than two weeks, I'm going to share some of the secrets of prizewinning stories with you in my master class! You are sure to be encouraged.

We're almost there! Keep the faith!

Wulf Moon