Discussion Q4 Volume 38

It's so surprising when a story idea leads me down a path of endless possibilities. I'm sure I'll have at least one that will be good enough to enter the contest. One of the prompts I did the kyd on recently keeps pestering me with new story ideas.  

Posted by: @aliciacay

@jeschleicher 

Lol ... love the analogy.

Will DM you when the story is in good enough shape to be seen by others.

Also, PseudoPod is currently open for general submissions, from Sept 1-Sept 13. They do horror/darker stories and read them on their podcast.

~A.

As it were, I just submitted a horror story to them before hopping over to the forum.   That one, I'm all but certain wouldn't work for WOTF. I doubt it get handed to Dave. 

Posted by: @storysinger

It's so surprising when a story idea leads me down a path of endless possibilities. I'm sure I'll have at least one that will be good enough to enter the contest. One of the prompts I did the kyd on recently keeps pestering me with new story ideas.  

Awesome your focused work is paying dividends & then some! 

I keep tweaking my Q4 story. I'm probably at a point where I should simply leave it be for breath or more and get cracking on another story. 

Posted by: @storysinger

It's so surprising when a story idea leads me down a path of endless possibilities. I'm sure I'll have at least one that will be good enough to enter the contest. One of the prompts I did the kyd on recently keeps pestering me with new story ideas.  

Love it when that happens. Have fun with it!

Finished first round of edits on short story and sent out for reviews. Currently reviewing others. The fun part of the quarter.

Never have I ever had this much trouble thinking up names. I usually enjoy that part of the process, but for the life of me I can't figure out the right moniker for my main characters. I think I'm making this too hard.

@babooher 

oof. I've been there!

There are some good name generator sites, and if you use scrivener, it has one built in that show names by region, etc.
I also like to google popular names for the era that I'm writing in (I write a lot of historical speculative fiction), or the "feel" of the era I have in mind. I dunno if that helped, LOL, but I hope maybe.

~A. ♥

Hey all,

I know as a new writer we can't always afford to pay an editor or someone to proofread our stories. I wrote short stories for the first three or so years without letting anyone look at them first, and I cringe when I go back now and read them, LOL. So many typos!

So, as we get closer to the end of this quarter, if anyone is ready or about ready to send their story in to WotF, but you need or want a pair of fresh eyes for proof reading, I would be super happy to help.

Not a critique or any comments (I know we all have our own people for the big stuff), just eyes on for grammar, punctuation, repeated words, left out words, etc. The final cleaning stuff.
I'm really good at this kind of editing, and can also keep an eye out for continuity (ex: her eyes were blue in the first scene, then brown at the end).

I know I *always* find that ONE TYPO after I've sent it off, LOL! So, I thought it might be a nice thing to offer to others.

PM me and I'll send you my email address, or we can do google docs. And as I get a lot of down time at work, I can do fast turnarounds.

I'll post this again closer to the end of the month when we are all panicking! LOL.

Best of luck!

~A. ♥

You rock Alicia! I can speak to Alicia’s super ability here. She has helped my writing level up in so many ways. 

I, too, can attest to Alicia's wonderful skills as an editor (and also as a writer--and for more involved critiques, too!). We exchange stories all the time, and she always catches so much. I encourage you to take her up on this generous offer. And thanks, Alicia, for all the help you've given so many of us!

I hope all is going well, ya'll! Anyone wanting a critique DM me. 

Cheers!

John Eric

I'm in for 4th Qtr. Yahoo!

Posted by: @crlisle

I'm in for 4th Qtr. Yahoo!

    Woot! Woot!    

@aliciacay 
I'd find this super helpful, Alicia! I'll message you in a bit. If you're still free, that would be great.   

Nice work, crlisle and John!
May your stories do as well as you hope they will!

@scott_m_sands 

Absolutely!

@aliciacay Thanks for the offer! Sent you a PM. 

Posted by: @babooher

Never have I ever had this much trouble thinking up names. I usually enjoy that part of the process, but for the life of me I can't figure out the right moniker for my main characters. I think I'm making this too hard.

Among other things, when I'm stuck for a name, I go to an online translator and start plugging in character attributes in English and then look at what comes out in other languages. Anime or Manga in general, use names that are often literal.

When the foreign language word sounds right to my western ears (like D, G, and V words for bad guys), I tweak it to make sure that it's pronounceable and then go with it.

Have fun.

Posted by: @kent

Posted by: @babooher

Never have I ever had this much trouble thinking up names. I usually enjoy that part of the process, but for the life of me I can't figure out the right moniker for my main characters. I think I'm making this too hard.

Among other things, when I'm stuck for a name, I go to an online translator and start plugging in character attributes in English and then look at what comes out in other languages.

 

It's a good suggestion, but I'd use that with care. When I do that--and I often do it--I look for websites that suggest baby names. Online translators aren't that reliable. Also, if people that speak those languages read your work, they'll find it strange. See, as an example, Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, first book of the First Law Trilogy. There's a character called Teufel. I laughed the first time I read it because that's literally Devil in German, and I speak German. Someone named Devil is just silly and not scary at all.

That is, if you know the language.

Anime or Manga in general, use names that are often literal.

In Japan (and other East Asian countries), people's names have meanings. It's common practice for a transffered student to explain the meaning, pronunciation and how the characters of his name are written. "English names, on the other hand," and I quote Pulp Fiction (1994), "don't mean sh..." ? 

@alexvss 
Some of these names that mean things in other languages can change stories, yes. Take my good friend Darth Vader. Wait, his name means 'father'? Would kind of kill the surprise in Empire.
*Note, what on Earth was Palpatine thinking when he gave him this Sith name? Not super evil.     

Also, I spent a short while in Kenya. While there, I learned a number of kiswahili words and phrases. I then happened to watch Disney's the Lion King movie. Wow- so many of the character's names are straight translations of Kiswahili words! Eg- 'Simba' just means 'lion'. So it can work.

Kwaheri ya kuonana, rafikis wangu. 

Usually when I've used a translator to come up with name ideas I have made sure to modify them so they aren't really the word in the other language anymore. The translator piece is just for me to get ideas about the sound of something that feels like it works for the character.

Did actually end up 'making up' a name this way that I later found is a real name when I had to get a tooth implant post and the oral surgeon's name was one of my character names. Since then I do try to follow up with a search on my made up name to see if it turns out to be a real name or turns up anything problematic.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I've been using placeholder names so I can keep getting words on the page while and obsessing at night to lessen the amount of sleep I could get this week. I think I have my names.

Maybe.

I tend to write mostly fantasy fiction, so my characters usually have naming trends depending on what country they're from or what race they are. It provides at least some form of structure that helps me keep things organized when it comes to naming.

Doing some research out of curiosity, I discovered that this year's award ceremony is on October 22nd, a bare three weeks after the Q4 submission deadline (I'm sure that others were tracking this, I'm just catching up). That's a crazy fast turn-around considering that WotF has been taking 2-3 months to announce the winners of the the previous three quarters of Volume 38. At least we won't have much time in October for twitching!

This is my first year submitting to WotF. Is it usually this tight of a turn after the fourth quarter?

The awards ceremony is done for the previous year (usually). This year it is a combined ceremony for the last 2 years, delayed due to covid. The volume being judged now won’t be out until next April, when they’ll hold another award ceremony. 

Posted by: @rschibler

The awards ceremony is done for the previous year (usually). This year it is a combined ceremony for the last 2 years, delayed due to covid. The volume being judged now won’t be out until next April, when they’ll hold another award ceremony. 

That's so fantastic! I really hope Covid allows the ceremony to go as planned in October. What a cool event that will be to have winners from BOTH contest years attending together!

@morgan-broadhead Heh, I think only the California governor could stop it now. ? Safety protocols will be in place. Some cannot travel due to COVID, but they can attend the following year. 

Posted by: @rschibler

The awards ceremony is done for the previous year (usually). This year it is a combined ceremony for the last 2 years, delayed due to covid. The volume being judged now won’t be out until next April, when they’ll hold another award ceremony. 

Ah, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying!

I will not twitch today just because tomorrow is Thursday.

Found two typos in my Q3 submission. Can't change that now, but I can use that for motivation to finish earlier than last time and allow for more proofreading. Some days it pours. Just got to write on.