Discussion Q2 Volume 39

@physa Congrats, Amy! I know you've been working hard to improve and it shows. Your first HM!

My fourth in a row! Glad to not be getting worse. Wouldn't say no to getting better at some point though. Glad the wait is over! 

Congratulations to everyone!

@brandoncase1235 congratulations 

Posted by: @lost_bard

 

 

 

 

<Hollywood, CA>

 

...

 

 

<Hollywood, CA>

 

...

I am pleased to announce that I am no longer eligible to submit to Writers of the Future.

3rd Place, Volume 39, 2nd Quarter

I was wondering. Well deserved. Congratulations 

Posted by: @lambenttyto

Congratulations to all of you guys, and anyone who gets some nice results back. Now that we're getting the results, I'll let the cat out of the bag. My story was written in the fashion of a folk tale with heavy influences from The One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. The narrative is also old in style with more "telling" elements rather than using sensory description. I thought it was pretty unique in that it allowed me to fit a lot of content, but it's far from "modern" for how stories are told today. Guess that's a good reason for a rejection. :p

In my opinion, I wish more stories were written in the style of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edgar Allen Pie’s The Tell Tale Heart. It’s more telling too but they’re somehow able to make almost every sentence exciting. 

I think having a unique voice matters in story telling. ?

Silver HM, here, first contest result that wasn't an R (or just a Never Replied) and just about where I figured this one would place.

Congratulations and commiserations all around. If anyone with a “rejected with comments” would like a crit, shoot me a DM. 

First submission!

Posted by: @brandoncase1235

I did not expect this bawdy little tale to make it so far. Congrats to the winners and all who entered!

Congratulations! Strong Forumite Showing!

Posted by: @lost_bard

<Reads Kary's post that finalist calls are going out>

<Writes a funny little post about burning marshmallows while twitching>

<Giggles to self>

<At the EXACT moment of hitting 'add reply,' phone rings>

<Hollywood, CA>

<OMG-OMG-OMG>

...

<Twitches through ten days of enforced silence>

<Phone rings>

<Hollywood, CA>

<OMG-OMG-OMG>

...

I am pleased to announce that I am no longer eligible to submit to Writers of the Future.

3rd Place, Volume 39, 2nd Quarter

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so so so soooooo happy for you! Can't wait to hear your hilarious speech on the stage and read your story.

Posted by: @lost_bard

<Reads Kary's post that finalist calls are going out>

<Writes a funny little post about burning marshmallows while twitching>

<Giggles to self>

<At the EXACT moment of hitting 'add reply,' phone rings>

<Hollywood, CA>

<OMG-OMG-OMG>

...

<Twitches through ten days of enforced silence>

<Phone rings>

<Hollywood, CA>

<OMG-OMG-OMG>

...

I am pleased to announce that I am no longer eligible to submit to Writers of the Future.

3rd Place, Volume 39, 2nd Quarter

That enforced silence is so hard - HUGE Congratulations!

Posted by: @annax

Since everyone here has already turned in for Q2, has there been a time after your submission that you suddenly questioned your story? Which part did you worry about (as in grammar and spelling or mistakes, someone else having a better story, etc)?

...

I’m finally back into believing what I entered was great because I loved it and I wanted to share a story I loved with everyone. 

Does comparing your work to other’s make you worry or does it have the total opposite effect?

These are some great personal insights, Anna X! I think getting to know yourself as a writer is a major part of becoming a better writer. I used to submit my stories and hole up in my own pillow fort and cringe and cross my fingers and count down the days until the results and make bargains with God. "I swear, Lord, if you'll just help me win it this time, I'll keep ALL your commandments forever and never ever sin again. EVER."

I love every new story I write, and with every new story, I think to myself, This one right here is my new favorite. And that's as it should be. Will it win the contest? <shrugs and makes "meh" noises> There are some amazing writers and stories out there, and this competition is fierce, and only twelve stories will be published every single year (plus one or two published finalists). That's 12 out of more than @ 15,000 stories submitted every year.

I keep writing stories and entering — not with the hope of winning anymore because, really, that's 100% out of my control — but because I love the process of creating new stories, love writing them, love sharing them. And that's also as it should be. Over the years, I've discovered that the more I throw myself into the writing and creating, the more I fall in love with the process and the experience, the less I really care about whether or not I win.

Don't get me wrong though...I would LOVE to win this thing and to get published professionally, which is why I keep submitting and making deals with God, but I find that I worry far less these days about the results. Write, submit, forget about it (until it comes back, then keep sending it out), and throw myself into the next project. Ad infinitum.

Posted by: @rschibler

Re: writing long and voice. Learning to write short and tight makes your longer works stronger, because each word is used intentionally, I think. I see a lot of value in honing our craft to a point we can write capably at any length, but for me, learning to write short made my longer pieces that much stronger. You learn to layer meaning, make each word do multiple things, imply meaning, etc. As the editor for a microfiction contest I've seen pieces that developed whole worlds in 250 words while packing enormous punch with voice. I love novels and the novelette length in particular, but I am still glad I worked on flash and shorter pieces in addition to lengthier works.

I have tremendous respect for people who write flash and micro. I've tried it and found it beyond my ability (so far). Hard for me to keep it short and still pack all those punches. Props, yo!

Posted by: @ehonour

Posted by: @wahlquistj

Posted by: @martin-l-shoemaker

Every editor will tell you that what they most want is a unique voice.

Some editors will also tell you to cut, cut, cut, with newspaper terseness.

They cannot see the contradiction here. They're cutting voice.

I agree with @clfors, I enjoy tasty words. To me, the author’s voice is as important as any other part of the book. At the same time, I’ve been enjoying making my writing ‘tighter’, shuffling the building blocks of sentences around to create the most empathy in the least amount of space.

I don't think they're mutually exclusive. I know that I've gone back through some of my "best" writing and found lots of excess words, often unnecessary, that I could cut easily without changing my voice. 

Ex after editing: They're not mutually exclusive. I've gone through my writing and found many words I could cut without changing my voice. 

Lots more impact in the same statements after editing.

Clarity is king. Say whatever you like, in whatever voice pleases you, with as many words as necessary — just don't confuse the reader.

I just found my email. It had gone to the SPAM folder.  

I am so happy with this result. It's been a bad few weeks on a personal level and this perked me up in so many ways. My thanks to the judges and the contest coordinators. 

Big congratulations to the winners! You worked hard for it.  

Now to decide what to do with the story. Try to figure out if it could be better or send it out to another market as is?  

@lost_bard Awesome! Very happy for you. Looking forward to your reports from Hollywood.

Double congratulations (@clfors). Nice work.

Congratulations all around! 

Posted by: @lost_bard

@physa Congrats, Amy! I know you've been working hard to improve and it shows. Your first HM!

Thanks David! I appreciate your kind words and encouragement. And I'm so happy you took third this quarter!!! Congrats!!! 

A reworked SHM became a HM. Oh well! Onto the next story.

Congrats to all who placed, including @lost_bard for the win and @physa for her first HM!

congratulations everyone!!!We made it through an intense twitching session and have another two ahead of us for this year! 

  Been forcing myself to write new stories for each quarter, which seems to be helping.

@henckel 

Thanks, Chris.
Appreciate that.   

@BrandonCase - that's awesome! Congrats!

@DavidHankins - wooooooooooaaaaaahhhhh! Amazing!

Massive congratulations! That's so awesome!   

@lost_bard - WOWIE! 3rd Place!!!! That is bloody AWESOME! Congrats.

@brandoncase1235 - Finalist!!! More bloody AWESOMENESS! Congrats to you, as well.

@clfors - Congrats on that very sweet SF for Illistrator. The win, my dear, is just around the corner.

Congrats to all the HMs and SHMs.

And a congrats to everyone [else] as well. It takes courage just to submit those babies of ours. And takes determination to do it over and over again. Keep moving forward and don't look back. Who knows what the next story might bring.

As for myself . . .

HM for me. It is so awesome to see so much success from everyone.  

Congratulations David Hankins on winning.  

[dances around the tent]

[party confetti and streamers everywhere]

[huge cake, huge congrats, and lots of pats on the back for the finalists]

[Well done Brandon and David!!!]

[and well done to all who placed!]

[everyone looks like they could use some sleep]

[thank goodness it's way too early to twitch for Q3]

[I don't think my little heart could take it]

[So happy for David and his win and his upcoming trip to Hollywood!!!]

@morgan-broadhead 

I really love your outlook. I read every word you posted and I know it takes time to write, so thank you for taking the time to respond that much. 

I agree that you should just submit and forget about it, focus on the next thing. I forget too sometimes that it’s not about winning, it’s about doing what you love.

I love writing. I’m probably at 2 million words just writing since the first time I wrote back in my teenage years. It’s crazy the amount of stories I’ve lost over the years. They’re still in my head. I’m just weary about rewriting them because at the time I wrote them, I was in a flow state. I should still write anyways. I think things happen for reasons so who knows if the stories will get better? They could do I shouldn’t be afraid of rewriting. 

I think your new favorites are always the new stories you wrote, but honestly, they’re all your favorites. You know every character. You know their strengths and weaknesses. You see the difference between two characters with the same name from out of two different stories. You don’t get them confused. They're like your classroom of children and you love them all the same no matter how many new children you add to the class. They’re all yours, so you love them all. 

I can understand the making deals with God. Lol. ? It’s funny, but it’s true. We each do that in our own ways from promising ourselves things if we win, like we’ll help others more and be kind to everyone. Lol. I haven’t made any deals yet in regards to writing because no matter the outcome, I’ll still end up always writing. I just can’t help myself. ?

Posted by: @brandoncase1235

I did not expect this bawdy little tale to make it so far. Congrats to the winners and all who entered!

So many congratulations for you too! ?