Q1: October 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021
Q2: January 1, 2022 - March 31, 2022
Q3: April 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022
Q4: July 1, 2022 - September 30, 2022
And the winners are:
First Place – David Henrickson from Virginia
Second Place – Jennifer Johnson from Ottawa, Canada
Third Place – Elaine Midcoh from Florida
Finalists:
J.C.G. Goelz from Louisiana
Chloe Macdonald from Utah
Kathleen Powell from Missouri
Eliza Quentin from New Zealand
Cliff Winnig from California
Semi-Finalists:
Elaine M. Arthur from New Mexico
Taran Bainter from Missouri
R. Paulo Delgado from Germany
P. Dupree from South Africa
Todd Jones from Michigan
Robert J. McCarter from Arizona
Nathan Slemp from Michigan
Teya Sorenson from Washington
J. R. Totten from Nevada
Robert Luke Wilkins from Nevada
Silver Honorable Mentions:
Brandon Scott Argetsinger from New York
Matt Athanasiou from Illinois
Alexis Aurol from Canada
Hannah Azok from Ohio
Christopher Baxter from Utah
Rick Bennett from Utah
Glenn Bering from Michigan
GL Bertram from California
Carina Bissett from Colorado
Ceci Black from Virginia
Alexandria Blaelock from Australia
James Blakey from Virginia
Spider Blake from Utah
Yasmine Bonatch from Pennsylvania
B.A. Boose from Washington
Seth S. Bradford from Virginia
Sierra Branham from Utah
Michael D. Britton from Utah
Leith Brooks from Colorado
Spearman Burke from Missouri
E.A. Burnett from Ohio
Kody C from California
Riley Card from New York
Brandon Case from Nevada
Joanne C Chapman from Utah
Joe Coates from New Zealand
Noah Copley from West Virginia
Peter Coughlin from New York
Yelena Crane from Pennsylvania
Crystal Crawford from Florida
Jason P. Crawford from California
Jeffrey C Cross from Canada
Raul Caner Cruz from Florida
Jesse Cunningham V from Maryland
Rachael Cupp from Arizona
Kate Dane from Minnesota
Emily Dauvin from Canada
James Dodds from Washington
David R. Downing from New Mexico
Carl Duzett from Utah
Mark English from New Zealand
Kat Falk from Idaho
CL Farley from South Africa
JD Fister from Washington
Ben Fitzgerald from Connecticut
Theresa Flannery from Idaho
Jennifer Fleck from Washington
SL Field from Maryland
CL Fors from California
Monalisa Foster from Texas
Adam Fout from Texas
Katherine Gail from Minnesota
E.H. Gaskins from Colorado
Cara Giles from Utah
Nate Givens from Virginia
Ana Haen from Netherlands
Pam Hage from Netherlands
Kelly Harmon from Maryland
E.K. Hassan from California
Lillian Haynes from Diplomatic Post Office
Christopher Henckel from New Zealand
Michelle Henrie from Utah
Daniel Kamin from Illinois
Kristina Kelly from Indiana
Geoff Kemp from Australia
TJ Knight from New York
Karen L. Kobylarz from Illinois
Nicholas Kotar from New York
Ryan Kunz from Utah
Michael La Ronn from Iowa
M. Scott Lee from Colorado
Dugan Lentz from North Carolina
Willadean Leo from Canada
Karen A. Lin from California
M.N. Lloyd from Massachusetts
Django Mathijsen from Netherlands
Christian McDaniel from Georgia
Job Merkel from California
Devin Miller from North Carolina
Miranda Morrissey from California
Aaron Moskalik from Michigan
John Arthur Neal from Colorado
Jan Nerenberg from Oregon
Kristin Nergaard from Colorado
Kiera Dove Nyland from Utah
J.C. Pillard from Colorado
M.O. Pirson from Belgium
Caitlin Quinn from California
S. A. Raben from Nebraska
Drew Rogers from California
Amanda Sherlock from Florida
Neil Shieldman from Utah
Michael Simon from Canada
Jacob Stilby from Ohio
Preston Mark Stone from Maryland
Ramya Suresh from Washington
Stephannie Tallent from California
Stephan Train from Colorado
Steven Trice from South Carolina
Eric Vonder Haar from California
Kianah Waters from Tennessee
J. Watt from Texas
Catherine Weaver from California
Nathaniel Webb from Maine
Amanda White from Texas
K.A. Wiggins from Canada
Shawn Vincent Wilson from California
Joshua Wilson from California
Elsa Wilson-Cruz from Alaska
Error Writes from Sweden
Danny Yang from New York
Laan Yeung from Maryland
Brad Zeiger from Oregon
Honorable Mentions:
Jeffrey Steven Abrams from Washington
Acestroke from Illinois
Linda Maye Adams from Virginia
Storm Adams from Arkansas
Bill Adams from Indiana
Teresa Aguinaldo from Illinois
Jason Akinaka from Washington
Zannier Alejandra from Great Britain
Van Alrik from Idaho
Jeremy Althof from Hawaii
Archivero from Missouri
Hamlet Arnott from Michigan
Artemis from Canada
Chelsea Aryeetey from California
A.R.R. Ash from Arizona
Seth Atwater Jr. from Missouri
Robert Bagnall from Great Britain
Don Mark Baldridge from Pennsylvania
Samantha Balliet from Canada
Lavender Bardley from North Carolina
Jake Barlow from California
Madeline G. Beaudoin from Michigan
SummerDale Beckstrand from Utah
T.S Beier from Canada
Joe Benet from North Carolina
E.J. Bennett from Maine
Ryan Benson from Georgia
Ian Bentwood from Great Britain
Daniel Blatt from California
Rodney M. Bliss from Utah
Clayton R. F. Bohle from Kentucky
Michael Bondies from Oregon
Robert A. Boyd from Washington
Aria Braswell from New York
Hui T. Brickner from Minnesota
David Bridge from Great Britain
Jennifer Brinn from Virginia
Morgan Broadhead from Ohio
Catherine Brogdon from California
C.E. Brown from Oregon
Daniel R. Burkhard from Utah
Christopher Busch from California
Sandy Butchers from Netherlands
S.K. Byrd from Maryland
Anna Cackler from Puerto Rico
Tanner Call from Maryland
Curtis Lee Cancino from Colorado
Aaron Canton from Utah
Theo Carr from Great Britain
Brenda Carre from Canada
Alicia Cay from Colorado
M.C. Chai from New York
M.T. Chambers from Florida
Samuel Chapman from Oregon
Addie Citchens from Louisiana
John Coffren from Maryland
Emma Cohen from Minnesota
Rick A. Coila from Washington
John Cole from Illinois
D.B. Corsi from North Carolina
Adrian Croft from California
Joshua Crowder from Georgia
Donald Daby from Great Britain
Madeline Dau from Florida
James Davies from Maryland
Kevin A Davis from Florida
Claire Davon from California
Giovanni De Lanoy from Florida
Ligia de Wit from Mexico
Benjamin DeHaan from Japan
Abigail Deland from Great Britain
Devon DeMille from California
Amanda D’Errico from Georgia
Anthony Deskins from Florida
Mary DeVries from Virginia
Cray Dimensional from Pennsylvania
Victoria L Dixon from Kansas
Nic Dobre from Romania
Nathan B. Dodge from Texas
Mira Dover from Virginia
Calliana Duke from Texas
Joshua Dyer from West Virginia
Douglas E Hamilton from Ohio
Jenna Eatough from Utah
Bill Eckel from Oklahoma
George Edwards from Indiana
Thomas Farringer-Logan from Oregon
Angelique Fawns from Canada
Alex Feak from Michigan
Greyson Ferguson from Michigan
Beatriz F. Fernandez from Florida
Samuel Finn from Washington
Dillon Flake from Missouri
Neil Flinchbaugh from Texas
Davalynn Foley from Texas
Shannon Fox from California
Tim Fox from Oregon
Jacob Frazier from Alabama
John A. Frochio from Pennsylvania
Becca Lee Gardner from Utah
Henry Gasko from Australia
RM Gayler from Nevada
Daniel Gedge from Georgia
Jasmin Gelinck from Netherlands
Melva Gifford from Utah
Cat Girczyc from Canada
Peter Glazebrook from Great Britain
Matthew Goldberg from Pennsylvania
Ian Gonzales from Washington
Mark Gordon from Florida
Gary Gould from California
Sandra M. Grayson from Wisconsin
O.V.Greenleaf from California
Justin Gregoire from Florida
H.Y. Gregor from Colorado
Jocelyne Gregory from Canada
Yvonne Gross from Florida
Kat Grunewald from New York
James E. Guin from Mississippi
Allegra Gulino from North Carolina
Colin Hacker from Colorado
Phillip Hall from Virginia
Kaylin Han from New Jersey
Dave Hangman from Spain
H. J. Harding from Virginia
Alex Harford from Great Britain
L.M. Hatchell from Ireland
E. Hawthorne from Texas
James A. Hearn from Texas
Cody Hegel from California
Ivan Helsel from New Hampshire
Amy Herring from Alabama
Reynaldo George Hinojosa Jr. from Michigan
Robert Hoffman from California
Ben Holden from Great Britain
Doc Honour from Florida
Mark Howard from Ohio
Cathy Humble from Oregon
Chris Hunter from Canada
Kelsey Hutton from Canada
Marc Hyden from Wisconsin
Adelehin Ijasan from Scotland
Matt Ingoldby from Great Britain
Guendolen Jacobs from Virginia
Shawn Jacobson from Maryland
Stephan James from Missouri
Gideon Kalve Jarvis from Illinois
Jeepers from California
Jaysee Jewel from Texas
Eva Jobse from Netherlands
R.A. Johnson from Pennsylvania
Eli Jones from Oregon
Kent Jones from Minnesota
William Paul Jones from California
Ron Kaiser from New Hampshire
Angela Kayd from Massachusetts
Jared Kerr from California
Aaron Kilgore from Michigan
Kari Kilgore from Virginia
Hannah Kirk from Alabama
Samantha Kiser from North Carolina
Johnathan Knight from North Carolina
Chris Kok from Netherlands
James Krake from Michigan
Jason Lairamore from Oklahoma
E. M. Lamdan from Iowa
Angela Lancaster from Australia
Mindy Lawrence from Virginia
William Layton from Mississippi
Rachel LeAnn from Maryland
Colt Leasure from California
R.J.K. Lee from Japan
Hermione Lee from Taiwan
Steven T. Lente from Colorado
Tracy Leonard Nakatani from Arizona
P.J. Levy from New York
Mike Lewis from Great Britain
Michelle Liggons from California
Akis Linardos from Great Britain
Anton Lindoff from Great Britain
Bonner Litchfield from North Carolina
Susan Lloyd-Davies from Florida
Morgan Lockhart from Washington
Charlie B. Lorch from France
April Lott from Minnesota
Robert F. Lowell from California
Francesca M.E. from Pennsylvania
Lucas Marcum from Pennsylvania
Nick Marone from Australia
Ian Martinez-Cassmeyer from Missouri
Zoe Mathers from Canada
Daniel Joseph Matusicky from Ohio
S. M. McAfee from Maryland
Russell McConnell from Texas
Morgan McIntyre from Great Britain
Stephen McMurray from Great Britain
Jessamin McSwain from Missouri
J.D. Mitchell from Canada
Daniel K. Morgan from Great Britain
Vincent Morgan from Canada
Michael Morton from Colorado
Hannah Moseley from Minnesota
Elizabeth Napier from Great Britain
Rey Nichols from North Carolina
Ruth Nickle from Arizona
Waverly X Night from Washington
A.R. Nitus from Massachusetts
R. J. Novotney from Wisconsin
Ari Officer from Illinois
Rosie Oliver from Great Britain
B. A. Palmer from Florida
Ryan D Palmer from Massachusetts
Cherise Papa from Texas
Stephen Patrick from Texas
Barbara Patten from Minnesota
Jacob Perez from California
Willem Peters from Canada
Jared Peterson from Utah
Jason Pfister from New York
M.E. Pickett from Virginia
Vicky Pointing from Great Britain
Sara Porcaro from Rhode Island
J.F. Posthumus from Virginia
Beth Powers from Indiana
Ed Prestwood from Arizona
Timothy Reynolds from Canada
Dru Richman from Texas
Dhyane Robinson from Canada
J.F. Acosta Rodriguez from New York
M Rojas from California
Johanna Rothman from Massachusetts
Hannah Rousselot from California
C.A. Rowland from Tennessee
Seth Russell from Kentucky
Max Russell from Oregon
Robert Russo from Ohio
R. Sadeh from Texas
Manisha Sahoo from India
H. E. Salian from Washington
Scott M. Sands from Australia
Braden Savage from Hawaii
John Schleicher from Montana
Marcus Schmidt from California
Adeline J. Schultz from Illinois
Willow Seymour from Nevada
S. E. Sherwood from Australia
Alexis Shrewsbury from California
Pierre-Alexandre Sicart from Taiwan
Joseph Sidari from Massachusetts
Claudio Silvano from Australia
Ihsan Sim from Singapore
Rick Simms from Georgia
Sandra Skalski from New Jersey
Justin Slavinski from Florida
Thomas K. Slee from Australia
Kimberly Smiley from Mississippi
S. Daniel Smith from Virginia
Benjamin Smith from Pennsylvania
Jefferson Snow from Utah
Blake Soder from Idaho
Katlina Sommerberg from Oregon
Ronni Souers from Colorado
J K Stephens from Florida
Jennifer Stuart from South Carolina
Keegan M. Stull from Florida
P.L. Sundeson from Louisiana
Liviu Surugiu from Romania
David Swint from Texas
L.D.B. Taylor from Utah
Hope Terrell from New Jersey
Kelly Thomas from California
Charles Thompson from South Carolina
Evan Thorn from Virginia
P R T Thurston from Great Britain
C. Tindall from Mississippi
Rebecca E. Treasure from Texas
Crystal Troback from Canada
Lauren Tucker from Florida
Annie Tupek from Oregon
Jessie E Turner from Oregon
Owen Tyme from Kansas
Elizabeth van Holland from Illinois
Rene Vecka from Colorado
Phoibe Vega from Florida
Janani Venkat Ramanan from Illinois
Odin Vestch from Canada
John Vicary from Michigan
Lea Waits from Georgia
Terrance Ward from Texas
Brenton Washington from North Carolina
Markus Wessel from Germany
Galen Westlake from Canada
Amy Wethington from South Carolina
Avery Whelan from Estonia
Don Wilburn Jr. from Texas
Mark Wilkinson from Utah
Michael J. Wine from California
Chez Wise from Nevada
Brandy Woldstad from Minnesota
William R.D. Wood from Virginia
Nathan Wood from Germany
Austin Worley from Oklahoma
Mike Wyant, Jr. from New York
Marianne Xenos from Massachusetts
Ramez Yoakeim from Australia
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
For those who are awesome enough to be secure with Q2, whatcha got cooking for Q3?
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
This startles me every.time. You think I’d expect it by now. I’m in for Q2, and l know what I’m subbing for Q3. Looks likely I’ll have 3 pending at once!
V34: R,HM,R
V35: HM,R,R,HM
V36: R,HM,HM,SHM
V37: HM,SF,SHM,SHM
V38: (P)F, SHM, F, F
V39: SHM, SHM, HM, SHM
Published Finalist Volume 38
Pro’d out Q4V39
www.rebeccaetreasure.com
Managing Editor, Apex Magazine
For those who are awesome enough to be secure with Q2, whatcha got cooking for Q3?
Got two first drafts ready to edit. Been too busy staring stunned at the news lately if I'm honest.
R:6 RWC:1 HM:9 SHM:3
My Blog
Small Gods and Little Demons - Parsec Issue #10
This startles me every.time. You think I’d expect it by now. I’m in for Q2, and l know what I’m subbing for Q3. Looks likely I’ll have 3 pending at once!
Imagine my surprise when I almost missed it! I mean, 1pm? Dang. Usually I'm up and hacking away at the dates at 5am. ☕
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
For those who are awesome enough to be secure with Q2, whatcha got cooking for Q3?
@axeminister for me, it's a debate between a revision and resubmit, or finishing this half-drafted thing sitting in my story tank.
SHM: 1
HM: 9
R: 1
www.reynichols.com
I’m not sure yet, I’m 1/3 done with quarter 2. I have a couple other stories I want to write but have them planned for other venues. I also have a previous submission I might polish and resubmit. It’s one I submitted to a professional market and got a personalized rejection with feedback on.
Volume 41 Q1 Illustrator Winner!
4x Finalist Illustrators
5x Semi finalist Illustrators
1x HM Illustrators
7x HM Writers
3x SHM Writers
https://clforsauthor.com
Author of the Primogenitor series: Cradle of Mars, Adaptation, Reunion, Schism: Available on Amazon under CL Fors
I'm actually in the process of getting everything square for my upcoming quarters. Q2 will be a new story, then I have one brand-new and one new-to-the-contest story (one I originally wrote for the Contest, but left out in favor of a different story) lined up for Q3 and Q4, and then I'm intending to look at a revisited HM or SHM for Q1 of volume 40.
(I reserve the right to shuffle the order of those four around, though, in case I have any genius ideas about a Submission Strategy.)
The rationale for this is that I'm trying to have everything lined up in plenty of time, so that I can give my energy fully to novel writing for the remainder of the year. In large part, that's because I don't know how much time and energy I'm going to need to deliver on what I'm trying to write. It's been some time since I last took a swing at writing a novel--I have previously finished and then abandoned two novel drafts, and gotten two thirds to three quarters complete on another two--but I feel like it's really something I can engage with now. I've been brainstorming and world-building for it for the last month or two, I feel ready, and I'm excited by how the project has come together so far.
But I'm also determined not to be leaving myself out of the Contest running while I do it! So I have all my primary drafts, excluding any crit revisions that may come, complete as of about half an hour ago.
It's been a push, but a very deliberate one, and I'm feeling really satisfied with how it's been coming together.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus
I'm sitting on a couple of first drafts and will be editing a novel that I realised I'd been letting stew for two, yes two years. Think it's time I edited it
R:6 RWC:1 HM:9 SHM:3
My Blog
Small Gods and Little Demons - Parsec Issue #10
I'm envious of you having a draft worth the effort! I'm pretty sure my previous novel first drafts have more value in terms of the experience of having written them than they do in terms of the actual drafts themselves. That being said, while the stories aren't great (and, for one of them, has wildly inconsistent tone throughout), they do have some pretty fun ideas in them that I'll be plundering to use in better stories.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus
So, tonight's writing was spent finalizing my Q2 entry, and brushing up my intended Q3 entry, a revision that I cut around 1200 words from in edits. I'm happy with both of them, so with my Q2 submitted, I'm just waiting for the Q3 window to open so I can throw it into the mix too...
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus
Just starting to polish these two 1st drafts. One is definitely for q3.
R:6 RWC:1 HM:9 SHM:3
My Blog
Small Gods and Little Demons - Parsec Issue #10
whatcha got cooking for Q3?
Well, I got my Q2 in very early, and I recon to do something similar for Q3. Maybe this won't be a common feeling, but it seems to me, having it in well early eliminates any kinda, whadayacall it? "twitching" later. By the time judging comes around, it's already been in the cue so long, I can just keep on forgetting about it. So... I should chose something now, hum?
@DonMarkmaker
Well, I got my Q2 in very early, and I recon to do something similar for Q3. Maybe this won't be a common feeling, but it seems to me, having it in well early eliminates any kinda, whadayacall it? "twitching" later. By the time judging comes around, it's already been in the cue so long, I can just keep on forgetting about it. So... I should chose something now, hum?
But nay, 'tis not so. The actual formula for twitchiness is:
# days submitted early
x pi
x r ^ (# current quarter)
The earlier you get your story in, the higher the twitching factor. Which is why I ALWAYS submit after 11PM the night of the deadline, or else just wait until the NEXT quarter, which is very likely what I'll end up doing this quarter.
"You can either sit here and write, or you can sit here and do nothing. But you can’t sit here and do anything else."
— Neil Gaiman, Masterclass
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
SFx1
HMx5
R/RWCx5
Well, I got my Q2 in very early, and I recon to do something similar for Q3. Maybe this won't be a common feeling, but it seems to me, having it in well early eliminates any kinda, whadayacall it? "twitching" later. By the time judging comes around, it's already been in the cue so long, I can just keep on forgetting about it. So... I should chose something now, hum?
But nay, 'tis not so. The actual formula for twitchiness is:
# days submitted early
x pi
x r ^ (# current quarter)The earlier you get your story in, the higher the twitching factor. Which is why I ALWAYS submit after 11PM the night of the deadline, or else just wait until the NEXT quarter, which is very likely what I'll end up doing this quarter.
Sir, I fear your formula is flawed. Take the following:
- X = Number of days submitted early
- Y = Number of days that have expired since the actual deadline
- N = Number of days during which we do not expect judging to ever be complete (eg, 30)
- B = Equal to Y-N, but never less than zero
- σ = Personal Early-Entry Neurotic Quotient
- Θ = "This is the One, this is the Best Story I Ever Wrote in my Entire Life" adjustment factor
Then, assigning µ as our Calculated Twitch Factor, we can derive approximately the following formula:
µ = (X × σ)² + (B + Θ)²
Thus, while the early-entry quotient initially results in high twitchiness for an entrant with a significant neurotic quotient, as the number of days begins to pass, the impact of early entry starts to be surpassed by the growing wait-time and the personal, individual belief in the fact that our immaculate story is surely almost guaranteed to nail it this time.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus
So going by the above my odds of winning are 50/50. Either I will or I won't.
Exactly the same as the lottery
R:6 RWC:1 HM:9 SHM:3
My Blog
Small Gods and Little Demons - Parsec Issue #10
Sir, I fear your formula is flawed. Take the following:
- X = Number of days submitted early
- Y = Number of days that have expired since the actual deadline
- N = Number of days during which we do not expect judging to ever be complete (eg, 30)
- B = Equal to Y-N, but never less than zero
- σ = Personal Early-Entry Neurotic Quotient
- Θ = "This is the One, this is the Best Story I Ever Wrote in my Entire Life" adjustment factor
Then, assigning µ as our Calculated Twitch Factor, we can derive approximately the following formula:
µ = (X × σ)² + (B + Θ)²
Thus, while the early-entry quotient initially results in high twitchiness for an entrant with a significant neurotic quotient, as the number of days begins to pass, the impact of early entry starts to be surpassed by the growing wait-time and the personal, individual belief in the fact that our immaculate story is surely almost guaranteed to nail it this time.
Dude! I laughed SO HARD at this!
"You can either sit here and write, or you can sit here and do nothing. But you can’t sit here and do anything else."
— Neil Gaiman, Masterclass
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
SFx1
HMx5
R/RWCx5
Well, I got my Q2 in very early, and I recon to do something similar for Q3. Maybe this won't be a common feeling, but it seems to me, having it in well early eliminates any kinda, whadayacall it? "twitching" later. By the time judging comes around, it's already been in the cue so long, I can just keep on forgetting about it. So... I should chose something now, hum?
There is a significant strategic value to submitting early. When you're at risk of pro'ing out, early submission can keep you in the running. You don't pro out until the disqualifying story is published, not just accepted. Until that day, you can still enter; and that entry remains eligible for that quarter, even after you pro out. This isn't a hypothetical, it happened to me.
You might object that you're not at risk of pro'ing out; but to that I say, Not yet. I have confidence that you can be eventually. Keep submitting, and it can happen. So you might want to get the habit of submitting early.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
There is a significant strategic value to submitting early. When you're at risk of pro'ing out, early submission can keep you in the running.
This is the actual reason i sub early. I’m indeed poised to “pro out.”
I don’t really “twitch” - rather i look with dismay on a contest which can’t even get out rejections every time, apparently, after keeping stories five or even seven months.
It may be this jaundiced view which makes me think that “risk” is rather the wrong term, when confronting becoming a pro and leaving the contest behind. Rather than any contest, I urge others to focus on “career.”
@DonMarkmaker
Now that I've learned to write short stories in one sitting, I am hesitant to sub early. Especially after seeing stories written and subbed at the deadline. That is where I'm at this quarter. Somehow, I have a story ready for submission, but with so much time remaining, the winning story could be trying to make itself known. What a dilemma.
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
Now that I've learned to write short stories in one sitting...
Uh huh. Howyoudothat?
@DonMarkmaker
I don’t really “twitch” - rather i look with dismay on a contest which can’t even get out rejections every time, apparently, after keeping stories five or even seven months.
In all fairness to the contest, this only ever happened in that last, most recent block, and was caused by the switch-over to a new submission management system that ran into some rather foul-sounding technical issues. With those ironed out, I would not expect this to be a thing going forwards, as it never was before that. The finale of each quarter, with all successes and failures being shared, has been a pretty regular event here on the forum.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus
There is a significant strategic value to submitting early. When you're at risk of pro'ing out, early submission can keep you in the running.
This is the actual reason i sub early. I’m indeed poised to “pro out.”
I don’t really “twitch” - rather i look with dismay on a contest which can’t even get out rejections every time, apparently, after keeping stories five or even seven months.
It may be this jaundiced view which makes me think that “risk” is rather the wrong term, when confronting becoming a pro and leaving the contest behind. Rather than any contest, I urge others to focus on “career.”
We all know the reasons for the recent added results delays, angelslayah. We’ve discussed this here before when you made similar comments. Wizehive did a program update that caused a glitch that forced thousands of anonymous numbered WotF entries in one quarter to be hand-matched to the entrants’ names and emails. And on this Q1’s judging, you know our dear coordinating judge David Farland died, a new judge had to be chosen, and all that work had to be handed over to her. Everyone that’s thinking of others understands what a tremendous blow this has been to the Contest. Author Services did act swiftly to obtain a new coordinating judge to run it, but the death of a major figure in any organization will cause an upset to operations for a time. Not that this has, to Author Services’ credit. Q1 results normally come out after the April workshop week and gala end. They have both a book launch and major Hollywood red carpet event to coordinate during this time, along with all the travel arrangements for their winners, judges, and special guests. We all know this and understand.
Entrants are treated respectfully, and they *are* informed of their results. Occasionally, one will slip through the cracks, but that’s because the Contest handles thousands of entries each quarter. I’ve had it happen when I was entering. It was a simple matter to write to Joni asking about my entry’s status, and she was quick to respond. Joni is *always* accessible and ready to help. I’ve entered many contests over the course of my career. I’ve only met one other coordinator as accessible and ready to help as Joni Labaqui. Most are next to impossible to reach. Joni cares.
I’m going to politely suggest once again that you cease speaking negatively about how this Contest operates to our members. If you’re unhappy with the pace of results, there are plenty of other contests you can enter. No one enjoys waiting for results, but there’s always been a good spirit here among Forumites about having to do so. They understand the challenges in running an international contest with thousands of entries each quarter, and understand that sometimes things happen beyond anyone’s control.
Thank you.
Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!
Now that I've learned to write short stories in one sitting...
Uh huh. Howyoudothat?
You'll get there. It takes different techniques for different people, but the essential technique is to get the story out without stopping to think. You can always revise it after, but get it out.
Easy, huh?
No, not easy, but it definitely gets easier with practice. When I wrote my 24-hour story at the workshop, it took me 24 hours to write 10,000 words. A lot of that was research and thinking to find a story in the prompts, including using my roommate as a sounding board (and acting as a sounding board for his). Some of it was sleeping. But when I started to see the story, the crucial element was to stay with it. It was a constrained, artificial scenario, with a deadline that short; but I did it. All or most winners do it every year.
Part of what makes it possible is we're encouraged to abandon any sense of perfection. At the end of the day, if the story doesn't work, throw it away! All you've invested was a day, and you were supposed to invest that day. It's part of the workshop you signed up for. So it's almost impossible for you to lose. The only losing is not writing.
And that's liberating. Because you're not worried, you can actually think about the story.
And thinking about the stories means some pretty good stories! Many 24-hour stories have been published. Mine was selected as a finalist in the Year's Best Science Fiction and Adventure Stories volume 4.
After that, it's back to practice. I wish I had tracked my progress more carefully, so I could give you an idea of how long one writer took to get to that point.
I can tell you that one year after the workshop, I sat down and dictated "Today I Am Paul" in a single session, a one-hour drive to work. That story has taken off like I never imagined, so it worked. But at the time, I still wasn't at a point where I could tell a story in one sitting consistently. It happened when it happened.
And over time, it happened more regularly. Today--seven years later--it's pretty reliable for me: when I sit down in my Jeep or climb up on my treadmill, I'm going to dictate somewhere between 2,500 and 4,000 words per hour. 6,000 on a great day.
Part of what makes that possible for me is dictation--another habit that took time to build. When I started, it was awkward and difficult. (Yet that first dictated story appeared in two year's best collections, so there was something there.) Now it's effortless. Last week I spoke at an online writer group; and afterward I participated in their writing sprints. I typed the first two sprints, because I didn't want my dictation to annoy them. Then somebody pointed out the obvious, that I could mute myself (Duh!), so I dictated the final sprint. The results showed why dictation works so well for me. The story was my current novel, something I'm very deep in mentally, so I was telling story with essentially no blocks. Best speed forward. Typing, I averaged 25 words per minute. Dictating: 64 words per minute. 2.5 times faster. That means I get 2.5 times as many words out in a given time period. 2.5 times more story before I stop and maybe lose the thread.
If dictation doesn't work for you, you can still get faster with practice. Give yourself permission to write junk--even if you throw it out--as long as you write a lot, and as steadily as possible. I'll bet you'll get faster in relatively short time. And I'm betting it won't be junk.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
And that's liberating. Because you're not worried, you can actually think about the story.
And thinking about the stories means some pretty good stories! Many 24-hour stories have been published. Mine was selected as a finalist in the Year's Best Science Fiction and Adventure Stories volume 4.
This is intriguing to me. When I look back at my writing, and the stories I've written, I'd say that I still feel often that I'm at a point where I frequently write pretty well--but the stories I'm writing are too often just so-so. More specifically, I have had a tendency to take an idea, and then select the wrong entry-point to exploring that idea, without really questioning that until I'm already well into the process of writing it. I get locked into trying to make this specific version of the idea work exactly how I want, when it's sometimes not the version of the idea I should be writing.
I think this has improved for me recently--a product mostly of me forcing myself to look at my work's weakest points, and still too recent for me to have a lot of confidence in how much it has improved--but it's still where I believe I most need to improve. I'm stumbling around this, but trying. Of the stories I finished in the last few months, fully three-quarters are either complete rewrites of stories, or are shelved because they need such a rewrite. The same ideas, but with either new entry-points or some fundamental change in how the subject is being handled.
But I think the resulting stories either have been better, or will be better, as a result of this--and I think that what I'm learning by doing this may help me to get to a point where, in the future, I start the stories at this point, with the right ideas and the right frame.
I'm actually doing exactly this right now, though, with the novel project I kicked off. Writing scenes, sections, exploring characters, and all with zero expectation that anything I'm writing will need to be retained. And it is certainly liberating. I've still not done this often with my short stories--but I would like to note that the last story I wrote, truly expecting that it might end up being nothing more than throw-away nonsense that I would do nothing with, made Finalist here. So while it's purely anecdotal, it does feel like there's more than a hint of something to all of this.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus
After that, it's back to practice. I wish I had tracked my progress more carefully, so I could give you an idea of how long one writer took to get to that point.
I did keep track, so I can tell you.
My first year of writing (2017) I wrote 4 stories. One for each contest quarter. (and 2 books, because words is words, and practice is practice!)
My second year of writing, I wrote 5 stories. One for each quarter, and a bonus! Progress! (and a book and a half)
My third year, I wrote 5 stories. (and a book) But this year was a bad year for me personally, so holding the status quo was progress in a way. I also sold my first story. (and wrote a book!)
And then, a lot of the study and practice I'd done came together.
My fourth year, I wrote 14 stories. I wrote a story in a day during this year, and the quality was much more consistent.
Last year, I wrote 13 stories and a book, and while I'm not 100% consistent at quality yet, I can say that the quality is a lot better than it used to be, and I get better with every story and book.
Keep writing, don't give up! Grit will out!
V34: R,HM,R
V35: HM,R,R,HM
V36: R,HM,HM,SHM
V37: HM,SF,SHM,SHM
V38: (P)F, SHM, F, F
V39: SHM, SHM, HM, SHM
Published Finalist Volume 38
Pro’d out Q4V39
www.rebeccaetreasure.com
Managing Editor, Apex Magazine
You'll get there. It takes different techniques for different people, but the essential technique is to get the story out without stopping to think.
I think that's a good description Martin. Once I enter the story I follow it to the conclusion, unless the story is bigger than one sitting.
In the interest of staying healthy I get up and walk around the house frequently, going over possible story arcs.
I've done the opposite of you. I ditched the digital typing for qwerty because my cheap version of the dragon typed words I never said.
In the future I will definitely upgrade to the pro version of dragon so I can maximize my word count. Write on!
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
I'm actually doing exactly this right now, though, with the novel project I kicked off. Writing scenes, sections, exploring characters, and all with zero expectation that anything I'm writing will need to be retained. And it is certainly liberating. I've still not done this often with my short stories--but I would like to note that the last story I wrote, truly expecting that it might end up being nothing more than throw-away nonsense that I would do nothing with, made Finalist here. So while it's purely anecdotal, it does feel like there's more than a hint of something to all of this.
And the other liberating factor, much like our 24-hour stories, is it's a time-boxed experiment. If it doesn't work, you've lost only one session. Throw it away (or file it away), and try again tomorrow.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
In the future I will definitely upgrade to the pro version of dragon so I can maximize my word count. Write on!
Four factors can make a big difference in accuracy:
- Machine power (though this affects speed more than accuracy).
- Noise environment. In this quiet room here, my accuracy will be 100%, save for homonyms. If I dictate in my Jeep while traveling down a highway at 70 m.p.h. in a windstorm, my accuracy will be about 10%. Unusable.
- Microphone quality. In that same Jeep at that same speed in that same windstorm but using my high-end cardioid microphone, my accuracy will be a few wrong words per page. I spend more time correcting my own mistakes than Dragon's.
- Practice. I learned to speak more directly at the microphone.
It's not for everybody, but it's a game changer for me.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
I did try out dictation earlier this year, but then forgot all about it when some busy things happened in my life, and when I returned to writing again, I had clean forgotten all about it. This all just makes me want to return and give it another try, to see what happens.
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex
Currently on a writing hiatus