Discussion Q2 Volume 39

Posted by: @dragonchef

@wulfmoon I think I can safely say that we are all feeling it harder today. Long distance hugs for all.

We will miss you Dave! Of that there could be no doubt. Rest now. You deserve it.
A viking burial for you; Your boat sent out to drift upon the calm lake water . . . and our burning arrows sent in.
Farewell.

I told my wife this is like losing family. Rest in peace David Wolverton.

@storysinger It is losing family. WoTF has become my extended online family.

What heartbreaking news. 

And the last enemy that shall be defeated is death.

May Dave find himself safe on the other shore, and may peace and grace rest upon his family.

I was expecting myself to just dive right in to the next short story as soon as the previous was submitted and I did start it. The story is there in my head but it wants percolation time and I need that too right now, especially when thinking about the contest is tied to grief. 

So instead of continuing to try and force it I’m working on finishing Book four of my series that has been so patient with my short story breaks but wants to be finished now. 

So this quarter will be like the last few, a couple months working on my novel while my short story builds in my head on the back-burner and then a sudden shift once the short story demands to be written. 

I hope you are all finding ways to write this quarter whether it’s a previous work in progress, a contest story, or other work of wordsmithing.

The Five Senses

Life is an hourglass, every moment a grain of sand

An incredible journey offered every day

Whatever's given, cradle it in your hand

Explore your senses in a Dave-like way

Smell the flowers blooming next to the road

Hear bees pollinating all the needy plants

See hummingbirds flitting in full harvest mode

Feel harmonious as you slip into a trance

Taste the moment, savor the feel of this point in time

Smell, Hear, See, Feel, Taste

The Five Senses

I managed to find the heart on my short story and have started writing. I got back to just flowing while writing my first draft. One I have something on paper I can edit. I am doing sprint with a great group of writers.

@storysinger 

This is beautiful ❤️ I wish my poems were this good. And best of all, the lines rhyme!

My Q2 is being a little troublesome. I've hit a snag in the middle, where I like a lot of the story, but I'm not sure how happy I am with the major pivot around which the story is turning. I've gone through three or four variations on it now, and though the recent one is my favourite, I'm still not entirely delighted with it. I have a feeling that it may be closer to what I want for it, though, and I have a feeling I can probably tinker with what I get from that point, so I am going to let it soak, and then write it through to the end.

In the meantime, I had a couple of new ideas for stories over the last few days, one from watching a TV quiz show, and another from a random conversation in the car with my wife...and then last night, they kind of blurred together to become one more interesting idea. I woke with a very clear idea of what this story would be, and its entire arc from beginning to end, so I think I'm going to spend my Sunday roughing up this new story instead. Regardless, it doesn't hurt me to have a new story on the go!

I passed my last task for my Masters this week, think I figured out a concept to wrap a novel around, and finally got into my short story that I had everything but a plot for. I'd say it was a successful week.

Write on, write on, write on!

My Q2 entry is beginning to take shape. Here's hoping...  

This past week has been one of grieving the loss of the Contest’s beloved coordinating judge, David Woverton/Farland. He meant different things to each one of us, but he meant the world to all of us. He would want us to remember his teachings, and to keep striving toward excellence in our dealings with one another, and in our writing. This Contest is all about reaching your potential as a writer, and in sharing the results of that potential with others. It’s why Dave took so much pride in representing this Contest. It matched his own beliefs regarding mentoring and the support of aspiring writers.

The show must go on. The show will go on. May you find your path to go on as well. There’s still plenty of time in Q2 to create an original story that has the potential to win this Contest, or to be shared elsewhere if it does not. The point is, do not give up in your writing. Dave would not have wanted that, and did all in his power to help writers stay the course in spite of the many trials they faced.

I believe that’s one of the best ways to honor him, to stay the course and keep writing. And if you make it onto that WotF stage, you’ll have the chance to thank him before the whole world. That’s a worthy goal, too.

Keep writing. There’s a good reward for your hard work.

Wulf Moon

Forum Moderator 

Posted by: @babooher

I passed my last task for my Masters this week, think I figured out a concept to wrap a novel around, and finally got into my short story that I had everything but a plot for. I'd say it was a successful week.

Write on, write on, write on!

Woop woop! Congratulations! Masters programs are serious work. Take a deep cleansing breath and a deep drink of whatever soothes you. You've earned it!

@babooher Thats awesome.

What a weird week. Got a rejection on Monday. Kept my nose to the grind so as not to let the rejection get to me. Tuesday, got an email from an editor for an anthology that I had pretty much written off, and he wanted the story that was rejected on Monday. Cool. Wednesday, I got what I think is my first personalized rejection (unless you want to count the comments from Dave on my Semi-Finalist). It's been a ride.

Write on, write on, write on

Well, my alternate story came together nicely, and I have a draft zero for it all completed. I'm going to take a break from it now, and return to the original story, to see if I can finish up my draft zero of that one too before the month is done. It'd be nice to go into February with two finished base drafts available to consider for my Q2 entry. Whatever I don't pick, I'll probably punt out to other markets instead--I have a hankering to try something different for Q3, so I don't think my second choice here will make it into the mix, but at least I'll have it as something I can fall back to if things don't work out.

@babooher congratulations! I always tell myself no story is a waste of time or paper. They'll all find a home eventually 

Posted by: @doctorjest

Well, my alternate story came together nicely, and I have a draft zero for it all completed. I'm going to take a break from it now, and return to the original story, to see if I can finish up my draft zero of that one too before the month is done. It'd be nice to go into February with two finished base drafts available to consider for my Q2 entry. Whatever I don't pick, I'll probably punt out to other markets instead--I have a hankering to try something different for Q3, so I don't think my second choice here will make it into the mix, but at least I'll have it as something I can fall back to if things don't work out.

 

Always nice to have options!

Posted by: @doctorjest

Well, my alternate story came together nicely, and I have a draft zero for it all completed. I'm going to take a break from it now, and return to the original story, to see if I can finish up my draft zero of that one too before the month is done. It'd be nice to go into February with two finished base drafts available to consider for my Q2 entry. Whatever I don't pick, I'll probably punt out to other markets instead--I have a hankering to try something different for Q3, so I don't think my second choice here will make it into the mix, but at least I'll have it as something I can fall back to if things don't work out.

 

It's really nice to have multiple options. That's part of how I started getting early subs in--I had a lot of time to write in the first half of 2020 because the kids were taking two naps a day, and I built up a nice backlog of options.

@babooher Congrats on getting a story accepted! Your hard work is starting to pay off.

@babooher Congrats

Well, I'll miss my mark for getting my Q2 alternate together by the beginning of February, but I'll be close. I fought through some good writing on it today, and after deciding that I was completely content with my draft zero being horrible--something I'm not always mentally reconciled with--I was able to start grinding on the ideas, and just exploring the story to see where it'll go. That ended up unearthing an interesting angle on a part of the story, and overall I'm pretty happy with where it's now going. The arc feels like it's flowing more naturally towards the end than I was expecting it to, and that's nice.

I'm a bit torn over ending, though. I'm going to try writing two for this story, and see which one feels like it clicks for me. Both have a bitter-sweet tone to them, but the former is a little more bitter, the second a little more sweet. My writing often skews to the dark if I don't pay attention, so if I didn't give this much thought, I'd probably go with the first without thinking--but I quite like the idea of the sweeter ending for this story, and the sweeter one was the ending that made me first want to write this story. So I am very tempted to lean into it for a change.

And there we go--my alternate story's zero draft is complete as well. I'm going to break, take a look at Wulf's latest KYD exercise prompt and maybe do some novel brainstorming before I come back to start edits on these two. This one came together in a fairly clunky way towards the end, but at least feels like something I will be able to edit into shape.

Right, I'm in. I have a first draft ready and part way through a second, but have gone with a rewritten HM from previous years. I've got a lot on at the moment and so wanted to get something in while I can. The other two stories can go in future quarters.

Ha ha back on Dec 1 I was super confident I had a new story that would definitely be ready. Now I am pretty sure I am going to be tweaking an old story and submitting it instead. Ah how the tides of the S.A.D. months have rocked my writerly boat.

A little over 2k on first draft. Looks like Ill be catching up again.

Posted by: @czing

Ha ha back on Dec 1 I was super confident I had a new story that would definitely be ready. Now I am pretty sure I am going to be tweaking an old story and submitting it instead. Ah how the tides of the S.A.D. months have rocked my writerly boat.

Blurgh, I struggled a lot with SAD when I lived in London, and was working for several years in a basement office without any windows. I ended up with one of those daylight lamps that helped me out tremendously--it did wonders for boosting my mood and my productivity.

I got my opening and my closing figured out. Now I have to decide how my protagonist gets from point A to Point C. I’ve written my way into two corners. Let’s see if try three gets me there. 

I'm in full pants mode now. The adventure has begun, and I have a clear path for where the story goes.

I can see where this effort could yield upwards of 10,000 words, so after I reach the conclusion, the scalpel will be applied to bring this kraken to a more manageable size.

Posted by: @storysinger

I'm in full pants mode now. The adventure has begun, and I have a clear path for where the story goes.

I can see where this effort could yield upwards of 10,000 words, so after I reach the conclusion, the scalpel will be applied to bring this kraken to a more manageable size.

I started out confident that my story would be around 4k. So, now that I have an 8.5k draft zero, I have some editing to do...

Posted by: @doctorjest

Posted by: @storysinger

I'm in full pants mode now. The adventure has begun, and I have a clear path for where the story goes.

I can see where this effort could yield upwards of 10,000 words, so after I reach the conclusion, the scalpel will be applied to bring this kraken to a more manageable size.

I started out confident that my story would be around 4k. So, now that I have an 8.5k draft zero, I have some editing to do...

Story determines length, but most aspiring writers put too much in, thinking the story needs it when it doesn’t. That’s why I teach KYD. Kill Your Darlings really helps with this issue over time. ?