Discussion: Q4 Volume 40

Posted by: @ehonour

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posted on 1 July

OKAY!

[rubbing hands together with the light of creativity in my eyes]

Got my Q3 submission done at the last day. Now to get cracking on a Q4 story! Got to be ready for the last day three months from now.

But wait. There's another chapter or three to write for my second novel. And there's critiques to do for my f2f group. And more critiques for OWWW. And somewhere in here, there's also a life to live, golf to play, quilting to do, business, and...

Maybe I'll wait a week or so to start that Q4 story. It's only a week...

AND... Whew! Here I am, submitted with six hours to spare. And laughing at myself all the way.

WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!

REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT!

Patience... Patience... Patience... Patience... Patience...

You got this...

Rooting for everyone still writing!

I'm in for Q4 with three and a half hours to spare!

Thanks @Ease I took out all those exclamation marks!!!

All submitted for Q4...So many last minute checks, re-reads...I'm spent.

ya'll I'm shaking never had to rush this hard. I really thought I wouldn't make it this quarter but I am now free of this burden and can focus on my Q3 HM ? Cheers everyone! 

Phew! Made it with 2 minutes to spare! Yet again, I surprised myself and wrote more than half my story and edited it all on the day of the deadline. The best of luck to everyone!

I wonder if I'm the last one. That was not fun.

2023-09-30 23:53:56

Well, it's done now. Time to move on. I wrote 90% of it in the last 3 days, including the last six hours. I had the idea for over a month, but never had the time. I'm really uncertain about it. It's the first thing I've submitted anywhere that I didn't have someone read first. A bunch of people read the first several paragraphs a while ago and liked it. But that's all I had done until Thursday. There are parts of it I know are really good. It's the other parts I'm worried about. I think the beginning and ending are strong. Fingers crossed.

Worst case, in three months I'll look at it again and have a ton more time to edit and improve it to submit elsewhere. Best case, it'll be selected and I won't have to worry about that. 😀

I need to eat and drink now. Good luck everyone!

@undreamedages Woops, looks like I beat you for that record by 4 minutes ? Glad you made it in!

@cweaver

Congratulations on the last day/minute entries. Now, breathe the free air. I wrote my first finalist in three days and entered in the last hour.

Wasn't that fun?

Best of luck to everyone.

@kent that was exactly my timing. And no, it wasn't fun.  

I sure hope mine turns out the same way yours did!

Posted by: @undreamedages

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@kent that was exactly my timing. And no, it wasn't fun.  

 

I sure hope mine turns out the same way yours did!

You're telling me that the focused exhilaration of driving to meet a cherished goal isn't fun? Pfaa! You invited terror into your life and YOU LOVED IT! You made a demand of yourself and you met that demand. That is beautiful.

Was it comfortable - no. Was it the way you wanted to enter - definitely not. But you could have walked away from the high-dive at any time and yet, you took the plunge and followed through. And you were living a fast, incredible life through your story and your push to complete it in time to enter.

What more can any of us ask for than the passion to have a goal and the will to see it through? And you did it! And I demand that you look back upon those moments of fear and creation with utter joy and fondness.

Now frolic! Frolic because you overcame a deadline that meant something to you and no one else. Celebrate!

Yes, my friend. You had fun. Believe for all time that you had fun.

The muses love you,

Kent

well done to everyone who submitted this quarter, and that's a wrap for Vol 40.

Now, the wait for results (Thurs)day...

Life has been a constant summersault for the past couple months. I feel like I'm barely keeping up haha. I almost didn't get a Q4 entry in, but decided to edit an old HM and see how it does with the new judge. It's honestly one of my favorite stories and I still feel like it would be better served as a novel than a short story,  but I cleaned up some of the unnecessary subplots, cleaned up my external plot, and some of the language ?. Got it in just under the wire, but forgot to pop in here and wish my fellow competitors the best of luck on our last shot for v40! I hope to see the forum regulars going to Hollywood for this volume! Love you guys ❤️ 

Posted by: @watt_writes

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Life has been a constant summersault for the past couple months. I feel like I'm barely keeping up haha. I almost didn't get a Q4 entry in, but decided to edit an old HM and see how it does with the new judge.

Congrats on getting one submitted.

I did the same thing. Hopefully both of us can get updated certificate on our walls that are higher than HM for these stories.

Hmm. Wonder how judging is going for QTR 4. No twitching yet though. I have a QTR 1 to work on.

@craydimensional Haha, seriously. Trying not to think about it, but results hit me in the face on nov 6th last year so I'm currently slapping away twitches.

@pegeen about magical realism being acceptable, did you ever figure it out? I feel like Kitsune in the 39 could be labeled magical realism.

Posted by: @ellis

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@pegeen about magical realism being acceptable, did you ever figure it out? I feel like Kitsune in the 39 could be labeled magical realism.

I think the best answer to this question came from Prate Gabble in an earlier reply:

Posted by: @kent

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My first finalist was a magical realism story (A story based in our physical reality but with elements of fantasy.). I would add to the definition by saying that the fantasy element/s must be fundamental to the story.

That last point is key, I think. If it's a murder-mystery in a world that is realistic apart from that fairies are in it, and the story wouldn't be materially changed if you pulled the fairies out, then it's not really WotF material.

@doctorjest this clarifies it very well, thanks!

[there is a chill in the air]

[leaves are turning the color of fire]

[November approaches...]

[many huddle around the bonfire]

[swapping heroic tales]

[toasting marshmallows to cram between graham crackers and chocolate]

[hot chocolate and hot tea and other hot beverages]

[pumpkin spice...]

Posted by: @physa

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[there is a chill in the air]

[leaves are turning the color of fire]

[November approaches...]

[many huddle around the bonfire]

[swapping heroic tales]

[toasting marshmallows to cram between graham crackers and chocolate]

[hot chocolate and hot tea and other hot beverages]

[pumpkin spice...]

[Licks index finger and raises into air]

[Nope not a sign of winds changing.]

[Ahh but in less than a week it will be Nov.]

[Relaxs in tent with black pointy cap]

and a black cat on her lap, drinking pumpkin juice]

[A witch flies through the air]

[What's that? The bones of the twitching tent ⛺️ below.]

[She flys down to check it out and finds goblins, Hobbits, and ghosts gathered around computers.]

[Might as well join them. It's November eve after all.]

[November is here]

[The Q4 watcher is on high alert]

[The tent is buzzing with activity]

[A fresh shipment of snacks and beverages has arrived]

[laptops open in a wave]

[keys click furiously as new words appear on their screens]

[grabs a refill on coffee, joins the others]

[Erupts from a pile of pilfered candy.]

[Searches for signs of child.]

Coast is clear.

[Nibbles candy.]

[Double take at calendar.]

[Back foot twitches.]

[Slaps foot.]

[Nibbles candy.]

[It's the first Thursday eve of Nov]

[Peeks out of twitching tent while snacking on latte and peanut butter cup.]

[No smoke signals]

<is still in the twitching tent for Q3, wondering where everyone has gotten to and why the tea's gone cold>

"Lovely weather we're having, no?" she says to the empty tent. "But I hear next week will be even better."

<stirs the cold tea with a little silver spoon>

<searches the plate for scone crumbs>

<daydreams about hot, spiced cider, palmiers and butter cookies>

"Yes, next week should be grand indeed."

@karyenglish Next week! Twitching tent, here I come. With cookies.

[sends a delivery turtle to the Q3 twitching tent]

[balanced on its carapace is a tray of hot, spiced cider, palmiers and butter cookies for @karyenglish to enjoy]

[there's also a note that reads: "Yes, nice weather. Getting cold, though. Hope you enjoy the goodies. looking forward to an even grander time next week. Feel free to join us in the Q4 twitching tent for freshly baked scones."]