Discussion: Q3 Volume 41

Okay, I gave it a last minute effort and I'm for Q3 with a new story.

I really wish I would have been able to review the story more, but it is what it is.

Goal for a new story each quarter achieved, even if I'm not really happy with the story.

You have to take the little wins. I wrote, I had fun, and I submitted it.

Now I have to wait and see.

@toddjones Good job. I hope yard work jeopardizing the fate of the universe figures prominently in this new one. 

Best of luck to everyone working desperately to enter before the deadline. I've been there a number of times. Breathe. Push yourself. Finish.

Have fun tomorrow.

I'm in.  This was a hard one.  I don't think it's as good as my Q2, but hopefully, Jody sees both and will decide.  I'll be reviewing my process of choosing a story to write before Q4.

Posted by: @kent

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I hope yard work jeopardizing the fate of the universe figures prominently in this new one. 

Funny you mention that. It doesn't for this story.  I have been working at consciously thinking about a story subject when I go places.  Yard, Barbershop, Dentist, etc. I have notes for each of them. Even if I don't write the story, it's a fun exercise that gets me through the wait/pain/

Congrats to everyone who made it in for Q3. I skipped Q2, but I'm all in for Q3.

Posted by: @kent

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Submitted for the forty-fourth time.

3 finalists so far, right?

I'd say I lose count, but I usually don't.

I'm eagerly waiting for #4...

Posted by: @tj_knight

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Posted by: @kent

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Submitted for the forty-fourth time.

3 finalists so far, right?

I'd say I lose count, but I usually don't.

I'm eagerly waiting for #4...

 

Yep, 3, including two in a row Q2 & Q3 last year.

I'm making a flip-book with all of my certificates. It's a dragon eating a quill pen, which is its own tail; kind of a WotF ouroboros. 

Posted by: @kent

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Yep, 3, including two in a row Q2 & Q3 last year.

That is awesome. Congrats on the 3 finalist certificates.

I bet the waiting period after hearing your story is a finalist to the announcement of winners was a twitching nightmare.

Do you receive story feedback on a finalist story?

Todd Wrote:

That is awesome. Congrats on the 3 finalist certificates.

I bet the waiting period after hearing your story is a finalist to the announcement of winners was a twitching nightmare.

Do you receive story feedback on a finalist story?

Thank you. 

The twitching with each was harrowing, especially since I'm usually phone indifferent (Nomophobics will have it way worse). I had my phone ringer on max volume and had it with me wherever I was (uncharacteristic of me). I worried about reception. I worried about charging. It updated once and I worried that I'd miss the call during the seconds it was off to install the updates. And of course, worried that the updates may have changed my settings. Why all of this? Because I have missed Joni's first call every time. V40, Q3 I missed so many times that results came in and I hadn't received an email. I emailed Jason for my result (He wrote back to touch-off my "Duh" moment). (So, I made the first call in Q3. This should be our secret. I'm counting on you, Todd.)

Over and above hyper phone obsession, I reread each story and determined where the glaring errors were (Oh, god, what if they see that I omitted a comma there. Right there! RIGHT THERE!). Who is judging? What do they like?

And then I received three disappointing second calls. But it's not as bad as anyone might think. Joni is the best. I can't say that enough. If you make finalist, your story has been judged by a professional editor to be publishable and Joni will remind you if you need that reminder.

Remember that if you make Finalist, your story is publishable! Take your colors to the top of "Good Enough" hill and plant that flag. 

Which feeds into the answer to your second question: No, Finalists do not receive feedback because those stories are considered pro quality.

Have fun.

@kent Your brain thinks like mine. It is hilarious to read it the way you wrote it. There could be a story just in that experience. What if the call wasn't for a story, but for life/death like some futuristic way of controlling population. That seems dark, maybe something lighter - clown school, okay too light.

Thanks for the info. That makes sense about finalist stories. My SF feedback was spot-on. Basically, fix a few holes with a couple of sentences and too much of a cliffhanger at the end. My idea was always that it was P1 of 3 short stories to make a whole. I have/had plans to write the 2nd part this year, but go sidetracked. haha 

Did you end up selling one or all the finalist stories to another market?

I made it in for Q3.  Had a problem logging, but I solved the issue.. @craydimensional any scones or coffee left?

@wilsontd Absolutely just brought a fresh batch for qtr 2 twitching tent.

@kz_richards I swear it was an accident! Those darn clicky thumbs seem hard to click for some reason!

@toddjones I agree. I believe it means we're getting better! Every story is a new best.

@toddjones No sales yet. I would like to remedy that, soon.

Posted by: @clfors

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@kz_richards I swear it was an accident! Those darn clicky thumbs seem hard to click for some reason!

🤣🤣🤣 I don’t even know why this forum has a dislike button. We’re all friends here. ❤️

Argh. I suggest never reading your manuscript after you submit. Found 2 grammar errors so far.

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Argh. I suggest never reading your manuscript after you submit. Found 2 grammar errors so far.

I second that. However, it would defy the laws of physics. Newton's much lesser know fourth law states that the force of attraction to re-read is directly proportional to the number of errors  

Prate's Law: The ability to find errors in a manuscript is inversely proportional to the time remaining to deadline.

A month before deadline - Flawless

A week before deadline - Meh, a couple little things

A day before deadline - Geez, half of this thing needs a rewrite

Three minutes before deadline - Scroll and point, you are doomed.

@kent 🤣 🤣  So true!

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Argh. I suggest never reading your manuscript after you submit. Found 2 grammar errors so far.

Two isn't that bad. I know we want to put our best effort forward, but sometimes we miss stuff. I miss a lot of stuff, which explains why my HM collection is growing and other levels are not. I find so many every time I read my stuff. I'm one of those continual editors and have leave the story alone after X time. Editing burns me out on writing.

Posted by: @kent

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Prate's Law: The ability to find errors in a manuscript is inversely proportional to the time remaining to deadline.

A month before deadline - Flawless

A week before deadline - Meh, a couple little things

A day before deadline - Geez, half of this thing needs a rewrite

Three minutes before deadline - Scroll and point, you are doomed.

That is a great law. You should write a book of these.

I try to channel Edna Mode from The Incredibles: "I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now."

There's a little Edna toy on my desk to remind me.

Stray typos or not, you look fabulous anyway!

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Argh. I suggest never reading your manuscript after you submit. Found 2 grammar errors so far.

That's actually pretty good. A slusher will easily overlook those, unless they're in the first two pages and all in a row!
All winning stories undergo at least a couple editing passes before publication anyway. I wouldn't fret too much about a few typos or grammar issues.

Morgan's right, nobody's going to bust you on stray grammatical issues; emphasis on stray. 

When I'm in a creative state of mind, the pressed tuxedos of syntax and spelling avoid the party. When they knock at the door without an invitation, I will cover the computer screen to avoid the issue altogether. When finished, I copy the entire manuscript and paste it into the free version of Grammarly (TM), and open a split screen for a grammar pass in editing. (BTW, I don't accept everything that Grammarly wants me to do.)

For the outliners in the crowd: I take care of logic and continuity in the outline and then trust the outline while writing. When I pantsed all of the time, nothing made me slower than getting kicked out of my creative zone by a logic fault or discontinuity.

Have fun

@kent It's probably a tangent, but I used Grammarly a lot until they got into the AI business and I couldn't find any fine print saying they weren't using my content to train their story telling AI. I did look. I regretted giving it up, but oh well.

Posted by: @adrian

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@kent It's probably a tangent, but I used Grammarly a lot until they got into the AI business and I couldn't find any fine print saying they weren't using my content to train their story telling AI. I did look. I regretted giving it up, but oh well.

I left Grammarly and switched over to ProWritingAid. Just as good, and no AI training wheels!

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Argh. I suggest never reading your manuscript after you submit. Found 2 grammar errors so far.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but by the time I submit I'm often at the point that I never ever want to look at my manuscript again, so there is no temptation. 

Posted by: @morgan-broadhead

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Posted by: @adrian

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@kent It's probably a tangent, but I used Grammarly a lot until they got into the AI business and I couldn't find any fine print saying they weren't using my content to train their story telling AI. I did look. I regretted giving it up, but oh well.

I left Grammarly and switched over to ProWritingAid. Just as good, and no AI training wheels!

 

Good to know, thanks for sharing!

@morgan-broadhead Thank you for the tip. I don't use my Grammarly account because AI buggs me. I'll check out ProWritingAid.