I finished a draft for Q3 by accident. I was writing for a different anthology submission, but I got some strong feedback and decided that if the first draft had that extra spark, I'd hold it for WOTF instead. Going to give it another couple of weeks to simmer, then I'll go into polish mode...
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." ~Hemingway (maybe)
V41 Q2:RWC Q4:R
V42 Q1:HM Q2:SHM Q3:WIP
@mgamblesee That sounds promising! The couple-week break is a solid idea. Great for the three mental reset. Have you tried any of the Text-to-Speech options in any of your software? The audio won't skip over things like your eyes will. Scrivner is able to do that, which is what I use. It's super helpful. I catch a lot of grammatical blunders that way.
F:0 / SF:0 / SHM:0 / HM:1 / RWC:2 / R:1
Previous Submissions: Q2V40, Q3V41, Q1V42, Q2V42
Q2V42 Window: Submitted
www.sagaheim.net
The past couple of weekends have been super productive coffee shop visits! My Q3 is drafted! I've already got the first couple of chapters polished, so now I'm working on the back 2/3s and addressing continuity issues. I'll probably finish next weekend!
F:0 / SF:0 / SHM:0 / HM:1 / RWC:2 / R:1
Previous Submissions: Q2V40, Q3V41, Q1V42, Q2V42
Q2V42 Window: Submitted
www.sagaheim.net
I finished a draft for Q3 by accident. I was writing for a different anthology submission, but I got some strong feedback and decided that if the first draft had that extra spark, I'd hold it for WOTF instead. Going to give it another couple of weeks to simmer, then I'll go into polish mode...
I'm happy to look at the first 2-4 pages during the downtime.
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
The past couple of weekends have been super productive coffee shop visits! My Q3 is drafted! I've already got the first couple of chapters polished, so now I'm working on the back 2/3s and addressing continuity issues. I'll probably finish next weekend!
Same offer to read the opening once you've shored things up.
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
@tj_knight Hey, Dustin! That would be awesome! I really appreciate that. I'll send it over shortly.
F:0 / SF:0 / SHM:0 / HM:1 / RWC:2 / R:1
Previous Submissions: Q2V40, Q3V41, Q1V42, Q2V42
Q2V42 Window: Submitted
www.sagaheim.net
@jtwrites Congrats on the progress.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
I have my Q3 new outline done. What I thought was a good draft, needed a couple more tension points (try/fails). I'm working away. 
Good luck to everyone else that is working on their story.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
Q3 draft done. I need to let it rest a day or so before reading it out loud from top to bottom.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
I really need to get serious about my Q3 story. Like what will it be about? Hopefully, I'm entering a time with less distractions and worry [see update below].
WOTF results:
Vol 42: Q1 SHM, Q2 SHM, Q3 on final edits
running totals to date:
WOTF: 6 Rs, 3 RWCs, 8 HMs, 2 SHMs
IOTF: 4 Rs, 3 HMs
Check out my new website: https://www.amyrwethingtonwriterofspeculativeworlds.com/
According to Winston Churchill, "success is going from failure to failure with enthusiasm"
Somehow I lost my Guthington profile, but it's me. Amy Wethington = Guthington = Physa
^ Amazing!
I can't imagine the relief you must feel.
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
so, yay me (??) I think I finally got a story idea for q3. its kind of convoluted though, which is usually my weakness so we'll see if it works out. We'll also see if I manage to write it in time as though a month would normally be plenty, I'm moving house next week and into the following (its interstate so the furniture will arrive 6 days later) and starting a new job. So, we'll see....
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 82 submitted 4 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections
@physa with all you've been going through with 'real life', as for this competition, I genuinely hope you win this thing more than I even hope it for myself - you deserve a bright spot in a year like that. Go Q3! @physa for the win 
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 82 submitted 4 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections
@physa, I am sending you a muse and a leprechaun your way. I'm so glad you are feeling better, and I hope for a win for you.
Small steps add up to miles.
5 R, 5 RWC, 7 HM, 1 SHM
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" in Love is Complicated LUW Romance Anthology.
so, yay me (??) I think I finally got a story idea for q3. its kind of convoluted though, which is usually my weakness so we'll see if it works out. We'll also see if I manage to write it in time as though a month would normally be plenty, I'm moving house next week and into the following (its interstate so the furniture will arrive 6 days later) and starting a new job. So, we'll see....
Congrats all around. New job, story idea, and even the move to a new location can be exciting.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
[The hobbit scribbles her name on the submissions board for QTR 3. Then pops her head back into her writing tent to research for her next story.]
Small steps add up to miles.
5 R, 5 RWC, 7 HM, 1 SHM
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" in Love is Complicated LUW Romance Anthology.
@craydimensional Awesome. It feels good to cross a task off the list. Thing about lists, though, something always pops up right after you cross something off. I think it might be linked to the same magic that possesses gray hair; pull one, and two sprout. ???
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
gray hair; pull one, and two sprout. ???
so why am I getting balder...? 😉
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 82 submitted 4 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections
@toddjones I pushed out earlier, because I have another goal immediately following.
Small steps add up to miles.
5 R, 5 RWC, 7 HM, 1 SHM
"Amore For Life" in After the Gold Rush Third Flatiron Anthology
"Freedom’s Song” in Troubadour and Space Princesses LTUE Anthology
"Experimenting with the Dance of Death" in Love is Complicated LUW Romance Anthology.
gray hair; pull one, and two sprout. ???
so why am I getting balder...? 😉
Because you're not pulling them out. My wife used to pull them out with tweezers (I think she enjoys the pain it causes, but little does she know I like the affectional attention - so, haha). Now, it would take her all night and my scalp would be a bloody mess. Or would it all grow back even thicker the next day? Hmmm. I'm not chancing it, but go ahead my friend and give it a try. Have your partner get the tweezer out and have a night of it. You may not get more hair in the morning, but trust me; the affectional attention is priceless.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
Thanks for the encouraging words @gideonpsmith and @craydimensional. I hope this will be our year! How awesome to share the stage with fellow forumites. I still have a month to get a Q3 story written and submitted. Thankfully I have at least 2 solid ideas. My hopes for June being more peaceful than a year's worth of preceding months are optimistic. I feel like I've come out on top after suffering a "dark night of the soul" moment in my life [several of them]. Just got to reclaim my energy I spent on survival, ;).
WOTF results:
Vol 42: Q1 SHM, Q2 SHM, Q3 on final edits
running totals to date:
WOTF: 6 Rs, 3 RWCs, 8 HMs, 2 SHMs
IOTF: 4 Rs, 3 HMs
Check out my new website: https://www.amyrwethingtonwriterofspeculativeworlds.com/
According to Winston Churchill, "success is going from failure to failure with enthusiasm"
Somehow I lost my Guthington profile, but it's me. Amy Wethington = Guthington = Physa
so after a surge of writing energy yesterday I went from loose outline to draft to... what may be final form on my Q3.
Shorter than my usual fare but well, thats how long the story ended up.
I will sit on it at least a few days see if anything pops in my head to change/tweak
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 82 submitted 4 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections
@gideonpsmith Good job.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
Well, I got to my Q3 pretty close to the finishline. I rounded up a lot of my loose threads and pulled them all together. It ended up being right around 12k. I thought the draft would be much longer and require me to trim back down below the maximum wordcount 😅 Glad it didn't turn out that way!
I've need to let it sit for a few days, but I don't think it lacks much before I'm in for Q3.
June 30 is right around the corner and will be here before you know it! Hope everyone else's is shaping up nicely!
F:0 / SF:0 / SHM:0 / HM:1 / RWC:2 / R:1
Previous Submissions: Q2V40, Q3V41, Q1V42, Q2V42
Q2V42 Window: Submitted
www.sagaheim.net
I have zero chance of making the Q3 deadline, so I'll happily push my story to Q4. There, that feels better. So much less stress now!
"There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
— W. Somerset Maugham
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
SFx1
HMx6
R/RWCx6
@morgan-broadhead I'm pretty much in the same boat! Last couple months has just evaporated, too much not-writing-related-stuff occupying the mind and time. Now all I mainly have is an idea with a loose outline and characters. Knowing myself, two weeks isn't going to be enough to have a finalized story. Instead of stressing and agonizing about it, I have decided this needs to be ready for Q4 instead, take the pressure off and enjoy the process instead.
@tiinag I agree - at the end of the day the worst thing you can do is not 'miss a quarter', its burn yourself out, destroy the fun of writing, or submit something thats just not yet ready.
You have to do whats right for you. I used to really struggle writing something every quarter. Then my writing got faster and it wasn't such an issue. But this quarter I was fully expecting to miss due to moving house and changing jobs. Sometimes, when life gives you lemons, its just asking too much to expect yourself to make lemonade 😉
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 82 submitted 4 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections
^^ Agreed. I missed quarters all the time. Bittersweet when results came out, but before you know it, you're in and your Thursday is just around the bend.
I'd have to check, but I don't think I ever missed two in a row. Even if you need six months per story, that's still two entries per year. 
Career: 1x Win -- 2x NW-F -- 2x S-F -- 9x S-HM -- 11x HM -- 7x R
Like me: facebook/AuthorTJKnight
I'm a slow writer and three months for a story is hard. When I'm in the zone I can kick out a story, but the editing part bogs me down.
Do what's right for you. Skip a quarter.
OR
If you have an older story that you can give a fresh take on to fix a plot hole, tighten up the storyline and focus on getting the MC to their goal, then do that and re-submit. You might be surprised and can turn an R into a higher achievement.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Ideas swirling about
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--
And I'm in for Q3. A quick turnaround for a story, but in some ways, my Q3 is a more typical WotF entry than either my Q1 or Q2, so I guess I'll see how it goes from here. Now it's time to fix my gaze upon the Q4 story that was, until very recently, going to be my Q3...
(Well, either that, or I write some flash fiction about teeth. We shall see.)
DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:2 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Pending: Q3.V42
