Discussion: Q3 Volume 37

Well, I just pulled a Wulf...I just submitted my latest story this quarter with a few minutes to go:) lol....
Good luck everyone...

And after revising from 12K to 4K, I am in for the quarter. And lost to the world for another day or two of sleep. Good luck to all and to all a good night!

I went from 18,600 words to 8,600 words.

(Never underestimate the value of KYD exercises)

And I'm in! Just a few minutes to spare. This was a story I did not succeed at entering last quarter, so I'm glad to get it done.

Good Luck everyone!

And after revising from 12K to 4K, I am in for the quarter. And lost to the world for another day or two of sleep. Good luck to all and to all a good night!

Wow that's awesome! You too, Henkel.

And after revising from 12K to 4K, I am in for the quarter. And lost to the world for another day or two of sleep. Good luck to all and to all a good night!

Wow that's awesome! You too, Henkel.

With many thanks to all my critiquers, including yourself and my hubby.

Congrats to everyone that made deadline! I can't stress enough the benefits of getting a story in every quarter, come rain or shine...even if you have only one day to write it, and get it in minutes before midnight. I see you guys!

Nice KYD work, Henckel! THIS IS WHAT WE TRAIN FOR! Massive reduction with yours as well, empressed! May it pay off with leaner, meaner stories that take the gold!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

Not being American comes with a certain disadvantage when it comes to word choice. Just found out a word I used in my story has racist connotations in the USA, yet in Australia it's seen as innocent. =(

Not being American comes with a certain disadvantage when it comes to word choice. Just found out a word I used in my story has racist connotations in the USA, yet in Australia it's seen as innocent. =(

I've run into some similar things myself. The one that stands out is, where I grew up (England), the word "fag" is a cigarette, while "faggot" is either a hunk of firewood (note: I looked this up to confirm, and turns out that it can be either sticks or bundles of sticks, but I only ever encountered the word in use as a way of describing a unit of firewood) or a particularly large type of meatball. Discovering what it meant in the USA came as quite the surprise to nineteen-year-old me.

I've lived in the USA for a while now, though, so I mostly side-step those by now -- though that being said, even now, not completely. Even after a long time here, there are a surprising number of words that you just don't encounter, and I wonder how much of that is to do with the fact that, coming here as an adult, I mostly have only spoken with other adults. I suspect that children will be willing to say things that adults have long since learned are inappropriate -- certainly, I remember that being true when I was growing up -- so there's likely a fairly fertile realm of unexpected language still lying out of sight, tucked away in odd little corners of the culture, just waiting for me to trip over them unexpectedly.

Not being American comes with a certain disadvantage when it comes to word choice. Just found out a word I used in my story has racist connotations in the USA, yet in Australia it's seen as innocent. =(

I've confused people with my British English usage of wallet and purse.

In British English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by men.
In US English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by women.

Not being American comes with a certain disadvantage when it comes to word choice. Just found out a word I used in my story has racist connotations in the USA, yet in Australia it's seen as innocent. =(

I've confused people with my British English usage of wallet and purse.

In British English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by men.
In US English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by women.

I'm in the US and have always used "wallet" as a generic term for what both men and women use. Purse, on the other hand, I use to mean the bags women (some women!) carry. I usually keep a wallet in my purse, but my husband has a wallet he keeps in his pocket.

But... yeah. Terminology can differ, for sure! I will say, as a US reader, if I catch a word that's being used in a way I'm not familiar with, I assume the author must be from somewhere else and it's usually not too difficult to readjust my understanding of how it's being used based on context. With this contest being international, I'm sure Kary and Dave are familiar with the fact that usage of words vary--I doubt it would ever count against anyone to use a word in an unfamiliar way due to cultural differences.

Not being American comes with a certain disadvantage when it comes to word choice. Just found out a word I used in my story has racist connotations in the USA, yet in Australia it's seen as innocent. =(

I've confused people with my British English usage of wallet and purse.

In British English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by men.
In US English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by women.

I'm in the US and have always used "wallet" as a generic term for what both men and women use. Purse, on the other hand, I use to mean the bags women (some women!) carry. I usually keep a wallet in my purse, but my husband has a wallet he keeps in his pocket.

I'm from the US, and sometimes this happens to me too, especially since I didn't go to public school or hang around with people who tend to speak that way. Then I find out . And it keeps changing too.

And I would like to confirm that in the US, a wallet is a small container (leather, etc.) usually with no handles, used for money and credit cards, etc. by men and women. However, since women's pants pockets are lamentably small, we usually can't fit them in there like men do, and we have to put it in our purse, which is larger and has handles. Lol

In British English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by men.
In US English, a wallet is a small container for money usually used by women.

Here on the western side of the pond, a wallet could be a wallet, or a man-purse, a backpack or a briefcase.
Over in the UK it's: Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet and Watch
Oh, wait...I'm probably not allowed to say spectacles - might offend someone.

Here on the western side of the pond, a wallet could be a wallet, or a man-purse, a backpack or a briefcase.

I wonder if there's regional variation. I'm in the Southeast US and it would feel surprising or archaic to hear "wallet" for anything with a strap. I picture a leather billfold when I hear "wallet" but I also apply the word "wallet" to containers large enough to hold a checkbook and coins in addition to cards and paper bills, and I think this is where British usage starts to apply the word "purse" earlier than American English, and purse is the term I'm aware of having diverging meanings and a strong feminine connotation in American English that it lacks in British English.

...as for places to carry your wallet, I bet "fanny pack" doesn't translate well at all.

by GlibWizard » Sat Jul 04, 2020 9:07 am

Dragonchef wrote:

Here on the western side of the pond, a wallet could be a wallet, or a man-purse, a backpack or a briefcase.

I wonder if there's regional variation. I'm in the Southeast US and it would feel surprising or archaic to hear "wallet" for anything with a strap. I picture a leather billfold when I hear "wallet" but I also apply the word "wallet" to containers large enough to hold a checkbook and coins in addition to cards and paper bills, and I think this is where British usage starts to apply the word "purse" earlier than American English, and purse is the term I'm aware of having diverging meanings and a strong feminine connotation in American English that it lacks in British English.

...as for places to carry your wallet, I bet "fanny pack" doesn't translate well at all.

Glib Wizard, the British would be appalled at a reference to "fanny pack." It does not mean the same thing in the United Kingdom. "Fanny" refers to a part of the female anatomy.
The best reference book on the subject is The U.K. to U.S.A. Dictionary British English to American English, by Claudine Dervaes and John Hunter

Best,

Retro

Glib Wizard, the British would be appalled at a reference to "fanny pack." It does not mean the same thing in the United Kingdom. "Fanny" refers to a part of the female anatomy.
The best reference book on the subject is The U.K. to U.S.A. Dictionary British English to American English, by Claudine Dervaes and John Hunter

Best,

Retro

In Australia we call those things Bum Bags.

Glib Wizard, the British would be appalled at a reference to "fanny pack." It does not mean the same thing in the United Kingdom. "Fanny" refers to a part of the female anatomy.
The best reference book on the subject is The U.K. to U.S.A. Dictionary British English to American English, by Claudine Dervaes and John Hunter

Best,

Retro

In Australia we call those things Bum Bags.

They are (or were?) called that in the UK too -- caught me quite by surprise when I was in the US the first time.

Sent in my first ever submission this quarter!

It was all of 16,872 words ... and of course, I submitted before I read Moon's SUPER SECRET Posts.
(I'm guessing I should probably focus more on submitting a true short story in the future than an excerpt of my larger novel???)

The true benefit of this though is I finally was forced to revise a chunk of my novel/epic-sci-fi-project, get it in the hands of some critique partners, and then clean and edit some more before submitting, so . . . no experience in writing is ever wasted, am I right?!

I do have several short stories in the back cabinet of my brain that would be perfect for future submissions too. Some in the same universe as my larger novel project; some as stand-a-lones. We'll see which one starts screaming for recognition and wants to be submitted for Q4.
I'll leave it up to them to decide. They'll have to battle it out in the back of my brain and the winner might just get shared with the world!

Good Luck everyone and Keep Writing!

Cheers,

James Hargreaves
Twitter: @Jimforxst

Sent in my first ever submission this quarter!

Virtual hi-five coming at you, James.

Sent in my first ever submission this quarter!

It was all of 16,872 words ... and of course, I submitted before I read Moon's SUPER SECRET Posts.
(I'm guessing I should probably focus more on submitting a true short story in the future than an excerpt of my larger novel???)

The true benefit of this though is I finally was forced to revise a chunk of my novel/epic-sci-fi-project, get it in the hands of some critique partners, and then clean and edit some more before submitting, so . . . no experience in writing is ever wasted, am I right?!

I do have several short stories in the back cabinet of my brain that would be perfect for future submissions too. Some in the same universe as my larger novel project; some as stand-a-lones. We'll see which one starts screaming for recognition and wants to be submitted for Q4.
I'll leave it up to them to decide. They'll have to battle it out in the back of my brain and the winner might just get shared with the world!

Good Luck everyone and Keep Writing!

Cheers,

James Hargreaves
Twitter: @Jimforxst

Congrats and good luck on your submission:)
What I really regret about my first submission (for wotf) was not reading (or knowing about) the super secrets moon wrote (and I ended up being rejected) I didn't know about the forum then.

Of for the love of...

Don't you guys hate it when you get your months mixed up? This whole quarter I've been looking back at the story I submitted in late March and thinking, "I've got Qtr 3 squared away. Don't need to think about which story to submit until July."

Just tonight I realized that March was in fact in Quarter 2, not 3. And I'm an idiot who didn't submit this quarter after all.

*facepalm*

That breaks a long streak of submitting each quarter. And don't I feel like a doofus.

Sent in my first ever submission this quarter!

It was all of 16,872 words ... and of course, I submitted before I read Moon's SUPER SECRET Posts.
(I'm guessing I should probably focus more on submitting a true short story in the future than an excerpt of my larger novel???)

The true benefit of this though is I finally was forced to revise a chunk of my novel/epic-sci-fi-project, get it in the hands of some critique partners, and then clean and edit some more before submitting, so . . . no experience in writing is ever wasted, am I right?!

Glad to hear you made it in, James! Every entry is a learning experience--and don't stress it if you get an R your first time out (which is not guaranteed by length, although length can certainly be a factor). As you said, no experience writing is wasted--every quarter where you put in the effort and learn from it is a win, regardless of the result. (Also, my second story sale was a revised R, so an R from WotF is not the death knell of a story by any means. It just means the story's worth re-examining before you send it to other markets.)

Of for the love of...

Don't you guys hate it when you get your months mixed up? This whole quarter I've been looking back at the story I submitted in late March and thinking, "I've got Qtr 3 squared away. Don't need to think about which story to submit until July."

Just tonight I realized that March was in fact in Quarter 2, not 3. And I'm an idiot who didn't submit this quarter after all.

*facepalm*

That breaks a long streak of submitting each quarter. And don't I feel like a doofus.

Oh, man, I'm sorry, Michael. *big hugs!* It can be easy to get confused about the various quarters, especially when stress becomes a factor (and I'm pretty sure just about everyone in the world is stressed right now). Just keep up the good work--you'll be back in your rhythm in no time.

(I'm guessing I should probably focus more on submitting a true short story in the future than an excerpt of my larger novel???)

You'd not be the first to have success with an excerpt if it worked out -- Patrick Rothfuss springs to mind, as I believe his winning entry was taken from The Name of the Wind. There was a whole hullabaloo about that later, as it meant that part of his novel had been published before, which excluded it from contention for one of either the Hugo or Nebula award categories (I forget which).

Can't imagine he'd be particularly upset, though, under the circumstances.

...as for places to carry your wallet, I bet "fanny pack" doesn't translate well at all.

I had no idea they even came in packs, I've only ever seen them in singles.

...as for places to carry your wallet, I bet "fanny pack" doesn't translate well at all.

I had no idea they even came in packs, I've only ever seen them in singles.

Would this be a bad time to mention concealed carry fanny packs for carrying your gun around in public without making a scene? Or that carrying said gun is commonly referred to as "packing"?

Would this be a bad time to mention concealed carry fanny packs for carrying your gun around in public without making a scene? Or that carrying said gun is commonly referred to as "packing"?

So, then, would carrying your said weapon of choice between your cheeks be considered as "Fanny Packing"?

Would this be a bad time to mention concealed carry fanny packs for carrying your gun around in public without making a scene? Or that carrying said gun is commonly referred to as "packing"?

So, then, would carrying your said weapon of choice between your cheeks be considered as "Fanny Packing"?

I don't know, but considering the only people I've seen carry that way are old dudes, I don't want to ask. (It's pretty obvious when you're a middle-aged guy wearing a fanny pack with a big NRA logo on it what you're doing...)

Can't imagine he'd be particularly upset, though, under the circumstances.

LOL-Indeed not.

I don't know, but considering the only people I've seen carry that way are old dudes, I don't want to ask. (It's pretty obvious when you're a middle-aged guy wearing a fanny pack with a big NRA logo on it what you're doing...)

Nah.

Those guys are appendix carrying, just to throw you off.

Either way, concealed carry FTW! MUR'CA!

A friend sent me a writing prompt from a group she's in. It immediately made me think of a short story, nearly completely formed. I wrote the first draft in one sitting. After reading it, and rereading it, I decided that I loved it.

I'm a sporadic WOTF contestant. I've had a few rejections and a few HMs. More HMs than rejections. Though I honestly don't remember how many. We'll see what my signature says when I post this. I sure wish I'd kept track like some people do here, so I could know which quarters I was rejected and which ones were HMs. It'll make for a better speech when I finally win.

Back to the story. I didn't write it for WOTF. But I realized it was nearing the end of the quarter and I had no idea what to do with it. I don't know that it's a WOTF story. But I don't know that it's not. It's certainly the shortest story I've submitted here. That more than anything makes me wonder if it has a chance, though I know some stories of this length have made it.

I'm rambling. I've been lurking in the Q2 thread which made me want to post over here. Also, I see that results are coming in now. 4.5 months after the quarter ended. So, I'll see all of you here mid-October. And a bit between now and then.

Scott,
I'm glad you got in at all! That's firing at the target...

I felt off-kilter writing-wise the past few months and missed it. Now I don't get to twitch with everyone this Q. I feel like I did something wrong. Working on Q4 now. Maybe you'll have one as well.