The Writers Aspirant Accountability Thread

I'm going for it. I've completed nanowrimo four times now, (50,000+) words. A few more efforts came up short of the target number.

When I did the math it came to 264 words a day. Of course that wouldn't work because of all the editing required to polish a winning entry.

So I plan to start with a kyd exercise today with Wulf's prompt for the week, Blocking out the sun. One of the results of creating a Dyson's Sphere around the sun is it blocks solar power from reaching the planets. No sun, no light.

After watching the video on the site I've been imagining different scenarios that would be part of that world.

With the planets being deprived of the sun's rays they will be changed, especially earth. The planets can be used as material for constructing the sphere.

The immensity of the project is mind-boggling. The easiest approach would be to write the story with the structure already in place.

Stories about maintenance crews inside and out. Genetically modified humans would be normal everyday stuff.

The worst that could happen is a lengthy sci-fi story for this quarter. 

@storysinger 

That sounds like the start of a great story!

Is the contest being held by the Chinese government? Liu Cixin‘s video on their page made me wonder. 

At one point I read speaking the Chinese language was considered a bonus. I have no idea if the government is involved.

Either way I will enter the contest.

I didn’t meet my April goals because I hit a wall and had to take a break to recover from burn-out. I reworked my goals for this quarter.

I did a couple of other things I hadn’t planned for including Writing an article about Volume 39 anthology for Worlds Without End and reading the full V39 anthology.

Then I started and have nearly finished an inspired illustration that is going to be part of a series of ten illustrations(I’ll have to pace myself)

I have been breaking down the winning stories of V39 with my writing group and critiquing the first 450 words of those as well as our own stories.

I’ve decided to edit and resubmit a silver Honorable for Q3 and I’m almost done with that. Just doing a final run through before looking for feedback.

Lets see, May…Finish and submit my Q3 in the next couple days . I would like to submit to a few professional venues again, write a short story for Fix Climate Future Fiction contest, finish my Illustration and start a second. If time allows or the muse insists I’ll get back to editing my novel.

Posted by: @clfors

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I didn’t meet my April goals because I hit a wall and had to take a break to recover from burn-out.

It's a skill, & one I often lack, to know when to reassess goals &/or simply rest because you got too many pots burning at once.

Posted by: @clfors

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I’ve decided to edit and resubmit a silver Honorable for Q3 and I’m almost done with that. Just doing a final run through before looking for feedback.

I'd be happy to critique the story if you are in need another set of eyes. DM me whenever. 

@jeschleicher Thank you so much! I sent you my story. I look forward to getting your feedback.

And oh yes, I agree that knowing when to pull back and when to push forward is a skill, and a tough one to master. I can't say I always get it right but I am definitely working on being kind to myself when I realize I've reached a limit. 

@storysinger  That sounds like an exciting project. I love the concept.

I have several short story ideas banging around in my head for my next submission. My current idea is - write a new story and submit. While that story is being judged, edit my favorite and resubmit that one. Rinse and repeat.

To that end, I have an 11.5k former SHM that I would love to have torn into pieces so I can cry as the ink bleeds all over my feet Glad to swap with anyone.

@amstard, I’d be happy to take a look! DM whenever.

@amstard I’d be happy to swap! I’m looking for honest feedback on what I wrote for Q3 because I think it might be wrong for WOTF.

@kz_richards Sending to you presently!

@kz_richards if you’re looking for more than one reader I’d be happy to take a look

@kz_richards I'd be happy to swap or take a look, too if you need another set of eyes. DM me whenever.

@clfors and @jeschleicher thank you so much! I’ll message when I get home.

So great to see forumites going out of their way to help each other! You guys give me the warm and fuzzies!

Hope May has been kind to all of you? I've been as busy as ever, but I have next week off! Looking forward to the downtime almost as much as the writing time.  

I've had a story returned to me from an Anthology (that I thought it was perfect for, but hey ho) so now the pressure is off from the upcoming Q3, which is great because my May goal is a failure so far. I'm not ashmed to admit it: things have been busy. I still have hopes I'll get a first draft of one of my stories finished before June, but I'm very glad I'm not dependent on it now.

@ajschultz6, @clfors, @writhmic, @pdblake, @annax, @kz_richards, @toddjones, @joel-c-scoberg, @storysinger, @physa, @pegeen, @kent, @jeschleicher, @sconn, @gideonpsmith - how are we all doing with our writing goals for this month? We still have a whole month left for Q3: plenty of time to polish off the current draft and get some eyes on it (except you, @jeschleicher! Sorry-not-sorry to single you out ).

And is anyone working on the Dyson Sphere competition? My thoughts keep going back to it, but I know I don't have the time to devote to doing it properly.

The novel is edited. Q3 is about halfway through the first draft. 

As for Dyson Sphere, it sounds far too heavy sci-fi for me. Great name for a vacuum cleaner though. 

@ease Thanks for including me on the motivation/update shout-out!

Sorry to hear the anthology story didn't get picked up, I'm sure it will find a home, ?

Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld once told me Clarkesworld would get flooded with similar entries when anthology rejections went out and so he always advised people to wait a little while before sending to other markets to avoid being one in a hundred stories that month all on 'the transition to lightspeed travel' or whatever the anthology theme was that month.

My goals for May were a re-cycling of my April goals as I didn't get those done -

- draft the q3 entry

- and apply to more agents with the novel query.

Goal 1 was not only met this month but exceeded - thanks to this forum @bzelger @storysinger @clfors @wahlquistj as well as my local readers I did reader based edits and submitted. (because if I didn't submit I knew I would just keep coming back to it and toying with it until the deadline probably for very little gain and it would use all my writing time I could use on other projects)

As far as the novel querying I only sent one additional query out. But that's better than zero, so I'm okay with that as it was to an agent I would be excited to work with.

My writing volume has been a little lower than normal as I have a ruptured rotator cuff so typing is inconvenient so instead I've been using my usual writing time to work on going through craft books so if people have favorites I would welcome suggestions.

Definitely not touching the Dyson Sphere thing. I find I write my worst stories when I am writing to any kind of a prompt. I wish that were not true.

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld once told me Clarkesworld would get flooded with similar entries when anthology rejections went out and so he always advised people to wait a little while before sending to other markets to avoid being one in a hundred stories that month all on 'the transition to lightspeed travel' or whatever the anthology theme was that month.

helpful advice, thanks for sharing!

@ease sorry to hear about the anthology. I'll have my fingers crossed for you that it finds a home.

I think my goals were to submit at least one story (check! I submitted a revised SHM last week), and to finish my Q3 entry. I'm still working on that, I think I'm about 1/2 to 2/3 through but at nearly 5,000 words so it is starting to snowball a little. I am hoping to finish it in the next week and--if I can--get some critiques on it before submission. It is getting pretty close to the wire though (as always seems to be the case!)

The Dyson Sphere is a cool idea. I had not seen the competition before. I will have a think but, truthfully, I doubt I will be able to get a Q4 AND a fresh Dyson Sphere story ready. Watch this space.

Posted by: @ease

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I've had a story returned to me from an Anthology

Sorry to hear about the return.  I know these Rs aren't fun to receive, so hang in there.  Glad you aren't letting it get you down.

Thanks for keeping us all accountable! I have 2 drafts in the works for Q3 but no frontrunners so far so I'm trying to finish both.

I did get word today that I'm a finalist for that YA story competition that I re-furbished a story for last month - huzzah! The winner is announced in 3 weeks so I guess I'll just have to practice my waiting game some more. 

And I was able to sub one piece to a magazine this month that I'm pretty excited about. Does anyone else have fave stories they've written? It's like having a favorite kid, I know, but this one seems different. 

Got 2 rejections and have 2 more magazine subs waiting in the wings from April. Waiting to hear back without knowing a timeframe made me realize that I usually won't finish a new story until I know the last one was rejected/accepted. But I've got to change that!

Posted by: @sconn

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I did get word today that I'm a finalist for that YA story competition that I re-furbished a story for last month - huzzah! The winner is announced in 3 weeks so I guess I'll just have to practice my waiting game some more. 

Exciting! I'll have my fingers crossed for you

@sconn congrats on being a finalist no matter WHAT the next 3 weeks come - we have to feel every failure so its essential to celebrate every success, and finalist is a success ? ? 

And I do know what you mean with favorite stories. Though I will say, favorite for me, does not always equal best. Favorite is usually related to an idea, but not always reflective of time invested, editing, quality, implementation. My current fav was submitted last month. I love the concept. But the deadline for submission crept up on me and I had to submit and I know in my heart it could have been improved with more editing had I had the time, but at 9000 words long it was just not happening in the writing hours I had.

@ease Sorry to hear about that rejection.

For May, all my time was spent on exams so I got not even a lick of writing in. BUT now that they're over, I'm hoping to get some serious progress over the long weekend. Still struggling with what the specifics of the plot should be, but I have a good idea of where it's going. Now to figure out how to fool the reader flawlessly... ?

Posted by: @sconn

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I did get word today that I'm a finalist for that YA story competition that I re-furbished a story for last month - huzzah! The winner is announced in 3 weeks so I guess I'll just have to practice my waiting game some more. 

That is great news. Keep up the good work.

Posted by: @sconn

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I did get word today that I'm a finalist for that YA story competition that I re-furbished a story for last month - huzzah! The winner is announced in 3 weeks so I guess I'll just have to practice my waiting game some more. 

That’s great! Hope you win!

@ease I’m late responding, but thanks for including me! May was my most successful month yet. I sold my first two stories, subbed to one pro-paying market, participated in a flash contest, and wrote three new short stories, including my Q3. I will spend the rest of June fine-tuning Q3 and possibly redesigning my website, but the kids are home for the summer, so my writing will probably slow down a little now. 

I appreciate you keeping us accountable, @ease, and I’m sure your anthology story will find a home somewhere! I got a rejection from last month’s writing contest, but that story was BORING and will die a slow death on my hard drive. Live and learn, I’ve decided, and for me that means no more attempts at literary fiction for a while ?

P.S. I wouldn’t touch Dyson Sphere with a ten foot pole. My hard science fiction knowledge is much too lacking for that. But it would be super cool if you gave it a try!

Posted by: @kz_richards

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@ease May was my most successful month yet. I sold my first two stories, subbed to one pro-paying market, participated in a flash contest, and wrote three new short stories, including my Q3. 

That is utterly incredible, K.Z.! Endless congratulations, and having read some of your work, I'm not surprised at all. I hope you'll let us know where we can read them when they're available (I know one of them, of course, which you should be especially proud of. I won't go into details lest I spoil your news, but it's very impressive.)

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather weather and staying indoors (and writing!) if in an area suffering from air quality. Still over three weeks left of this quarter: plenty of time for everyone who wants to submit to get a piece finished.

Hit me up any time for a 450 (or longer if time/life allows).

Busy, busy. I hope everyone else is, too.

I've averaged seven submissions at any one time this year and currently have eight out. Earlier this week, I postponed plotting my first ever novel to concentrate on my Q3 piece. I don't believe I've missed entering since 2015.

On the bright side, I've received three second-tier rejections this year - all of them with a form letter rejection and then a quick sentence about why the particular piece didn't work for them.

Have fun.

This quarter I wound up completing 2 stories. One I submitted elsewhere and I am finishing up editing of the one I will submit here. 

Right, my q3 is in and I have something ready for q4 too. I have a short already started as well.

The rest of this month will be spent preparing a query and synopsis though, ready to start submitting to agents.