The Writers Aspirant Accountability Thread

@kz_richards Let us know how it goes for you! I think @morgan-broadhead tried it for a little while - pretty sure he blogged about it. /span>

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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Posted by: @kz_richards

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@stephcat Wow! A story of week for a whole year?

 

It's the Ray Bradbury challenge! I thought about it once. But I also know I did a summer workshop where I wrote 1 flash per week for 6 weeks and at the end my brain was fried and I was writing stories that were...hmmm. All were just first drafts too, so not usable for submission anywhere in their day 7 state. I love the concept of a new story a week, but for my process at least, that's a *lot*

 

Wherein I give a debrief of how the Bradbury Challenge went for me.

https://morganbroadhead.com/52-week-challenge-debrief/

Not saying it wasn't occasionally painful, lol.  But (at least for me) you get used to it. Training/practice.

I did it thru a WMG challenge class (Dean Wesley Smith). I had $ in the game, and a nice carrot--I opted for lifetime in-person classes.

But also--what happens if you don't make it? you've still likely finished some stories. And that's a win.

FWIW a lot of my writing was on the weekend. I work full time as a veterinarian, so it's often hard to plan writing during the week.

Posted by: @stephcat

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But also--what happens if you don't make it? you've still likely finished some stories. And that's a win.

FWIW a lot of my writing was on the weekend. I work full time as a veterinarian, so it's often hard to plan writing during the week.

Thanks @stephcat really interesting to hear your experience with this!

Like you, and probably all of us, I have limited time, so for me it was the opportunity cost. Could I have done it? I think so. But my goals right now are to work on my craft, enter WotF 4 times/year, and work on a novel.

So to answer your question "what happens if you don't make it?" - for me, even if I did make it, I'm not sure it would get me closer to any of my goals. Working on my craft requires me to read craft books, write, and have my writing critiqued, learn from that, and then write something else that's hopefully grown from the first experiment. If I am writing a flash every weekend thats my entire writing time gone - I don't have time to read craft books, or do critiques for others (in exchange for them critiquing mine). It might improve my craft just from production, and I think that was Ray Bradbury's original contention - but I tend to need some 'learning' space/feedback in there, or I just produce the same level of story each time. Spending all my time doing this would also prevent me from writing longer pieces for WotF (I spend a long time editing my pieces - months) and I would have no bandwidth for the novel.

I think its a great idea, and as I said, I have been tempted, but I think opportunity cost os the flip side that people sometimes don't consider and that's the real reason I don't do it - it doesn't align well with my current goals

Now...back to working on my Q2!

Whatever works for you is best!

FWIW my average word count was around 3832; shortest was 2032, longest was 6775. My WOTF winning story was written during this time, clocking in at around 3700. I was taking multiple writing workshops, online classes, etc during this time period. I don't belong to any critique groups.

@ease Hey Ease, thanks for the breakdown of vol 39. I thought many of the categories interesting. As well as word length. I'd heard that winners tended to go long, and the numbers do suggest that as well. Longer at least than my impression of the average piece posted to the critique exchange anyway. Can I ask what the numbers under plot mean?

Interesting discussion in here!

I am also on the one-story-a-week attempt. I started in January and intend to try for one full year. So far, so good, but some weeks, I only scribble a flash 🤣 

And @ease thanks for the reminder. I forgot all about Q2 submission! Now to go through what I have in stock...

March is not over yet so I'll post my update later. I'm doing well on the submission front (apart from WOTF lol) with 6 subs so far this month. I also got 7 rejections, but this only means I'm submitting more. I would have liked not to receive 5 of them the same couple of days--ARGH--but that's life.

In other news, I've started as first reader for a semi-pro market, and I've had a little dance when I got the email. I hope the position will continue as I really enjoy doing it, even though it takes some time off my own writing. If I survive this submission window and the editors are satisfied with my input, I'll officially celebrate. Fingers and toes crossed.

@adrian the numbers under plot are how many words it took to get to the inciting incident, or until I felt confident there was going to be a plot. It's a bit subjective, I must admit.

@ease Thanks. Yeah, interesting stuff. One of the things I'd be curious about is the mix between style and plot driven stories. Or internal versus external change being the biggest story driver, which I guess is not quite the same thing. For internal vs. external, maybe your 'character flaw' yes/no box suggests that. I guess tht question might be further complicated by the fact that there are two gates to pass through, the first reader and the panel of judges, who might put different weights on the balance they like between the two...

Posted by: @adrian

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Or internal versus external change being the biggest story driver

For ten years I focused on the external, and got an R and a few HMs. The moment I switched to using the external to enable the internal (thus making the internal the focus) I got my first SHM, and never dropped below that. Super limited 'dataset,' but I'd definitely recommend focusing on internal.

For style vs plot, the impression I get is that plot-driven stories have a better chance of reaching the upper echelons (SF+) but style-driven have a better chance of winning the Golden Pen.

Posted by: @ease

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Posted by: @adrian

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Or internal versus external change being the biggest story driver

For ten years I focused on the external, and got an R and a few HMs. The moment I switched to using the external to enable the internal (thus making the internal the focus) I got my first SHM, and never dropped below that. Super limited 'dataset,' but I'd definitely recommend focusing on internal.

For style vs plot, the impression I get is that plot-driven stories have a better chance of reaching the upper echelons (SF+) but style-driven have a better chance of winning the Golden Pen.

Great points as usual. Interesting thought on the style helping in final cut...

@ease I'm glad you put this explicitly in the forum

@ease My February post Superstars and my March have been a whirlwind. I have written thousands of words on my novel. Wrote and submitted 2 short stories to a vampire anthology(Still waiting to hear back) I Wrote and submitted my Q2 story. I have submitted my manuscript to a publisher and five agents. I finished setting up my newsletter and I rebranded the first novel of my sci-fi series and set-up the preorder. I also put myself in for Kevin J Anderson's Publishing Master degree program and got in. (Things are about to get crazy)

Currently I'm working on finishing the interior for my rebranded novel. I have a cover to make for Rebranding one of my husband's. I need to write a Crypto's short story to submit to Superstars Anthology and a quarter 3 for WOTF. I'd like to get at least 20,000 on the novel in April and submit to several more agents. 

Congrats to everyone on their Q1 results and the ton of words written on nonWOTF projects! Go go go!

Posted by: @ease

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Do not resubmit prior stories unless: you have significantly rewritten them (especially the beginning, and anything that may have checked one of the RWC comments) OR you really really have nothing else to submit.

I think this is a good rule, and my own experience confirms it. I have never done better with a resubmitted story, even with fairly large re-writes. I've gone from SHM to R, then HM to HM, and HM to HM.

I have been without a computer for nearly three weeks!! So I am seriously behind with Q2. I hope I can get something together in time...

I actually thought this was one of my best stories. I have got HM now 5 out of the last 6 entries (the other being SHM). While there is some consistency, and I am proud to have received so many HMs, I just can't seem to get above that mark (or SHM). Not sure what else to do really, other than to keep trying and seeking critiques.

@joel-c-scoberg Congratulations! HM is a solid result. Keep writing fresh and you'll keep learning and leveling up and with every submission you get to roll the die once more. Stick with it and you'll get the result you want in the end. 

You've got 5 days left of Q2. You can do it. Moon wrote his winner in a day. I'm horrendously slow and I wrote a story in one day last week, too (yay for a 7 hour commute and a dictation app on my phone). You've got this!

Just submitted! It wasn't the one I had planned for this quarter (which is currently at a whopping 400 words lol), but it's still new to the contest. I wrote it a while ago so it probably isn't reflective my current skills, but it's one of my favorite pieces so fingers crossed it goes well this quarter!

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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@kz_richards Let us know how it goes for you! I think @morgan-broadhead tried it for a little while - pretty sure he blogged about it. /span>

I’d love to, but I’m torn. I haven’t been happy with my latest WotF entries because I’ve been devoting time to other stories, so I might try giving a full three months to my next. On the other hand, I suspect there’s a chance that the reason I’ve disliked my last couple entries is because I’m getting a better idea of what my stories lack, but I haven’t yet developed the skills to fix it. In that case, the Bradbury challenge would probably help me. On the other other hand, I really miss working on a novel and would like to devote time to that. So many choices. 

I read at @morgan-broadhead’s blog about it and found it very enlightening. Honestly, I’d probably have the same experience. 

Posted by: @kz_richards

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Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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@kz_richards Let us know how it goes for you! I think @morgan-broadhead tried it for a little while - pretty sure he blogged about it. /span>

 

I’d love to, but I’m torn. .... On the other hand, I suspect there’s a chance that .... On the other other hand, I really miss working on a novel ...

 

lol. how many hands do you have!?!?! Must be having kids that gives you more

I suspect I too would have the same experience as Morgan, which is why I haven't done it. Also, I think the Bradbury thing focuses more on building your productivity skills than necessarily your craft skills. And knowing myself and my writing I felt it better for me to focus on the craft, rather than productivity. YMMV!

My March goal was of course to submit to Q2 and I did. Also got a couple of lovely rejections for my Q1 story that I sent elsewhere. Now I know exactly how it would be greatly improved, and I will keep it in mind for new stories. What I love about the quarterly deadline is how it enforces me to let go of a story and move on. Otherwise I don't know if I could stop editing, as nothing is ever perfect.

I have a few idea seedlings, will see which one takes next. April goal is to settle into a new story. Maybe try another flash as well? Generally to keep writing. Soft goals like always for me haha.

February 2024 Goals (catch up on goal summary): 

• Determined I needed a new direction
  • Put my horror novel aside - CHECK
  • Stopped working on edits for any previously submitted WotF stories - CHECK
  • Stopped working on the new story I had as a January goal for Q2 WotF (just couldn't get it right) - CHECK
  • Started a new story for Q2 WotF submission - CHECK

March 2024 Goals:

• Finish new Q2 WotF short story final draft - CHECK
• 
• Get feedback on story - CHECK
• 
• Blow story up, rearrange, and KYD - CHECK
• 
• Submit new story to WotF Q2 - CHECK
• 

April 2024 Goals:

• Revisit the new story I couldn't get right for Q2 submission and put aside
• Finish new story draft with the ideas I got the day after I submitted Q2 and my mind freed up processing power
• Jot down notes for a new story I've been thinking about for Q3 submission backup
• Have fun and write
• 

@ease I managed to get my submission in for Q2, fingers crossed.

I was toying with the ending, going back and forth and back and forth over adding or removing a line, I opted for "forth"and think after hitting SUBMIT it should have been "back". But, it is always the way to second guess after the fact.

When will you be off to Hollywood? I'm looking forward to reading the blog and Vol 40 when it is released, and will be reading your story first. (Great title by the way)

In terms of a check-in:

March goals

I think this may have been just to submit to Q2 (if I set any, I was without a computer for three weeks!), which I achieved.

April goals

Submit a story to at least one other market (achieved)

Enter Baen fantasy competition (currently editing my intended entry)

Start Q3 entry (currently mulling over competing ideas, I have two unfinished stories intended for WotF but, well, are unfinished. I will pick one and run with it)

So what did I achieve for March? Well, writer block is here to stay so I did my best 🙁

March objectives:

• Write one short story a week. Done, but one was a flash and another a poem. I couldn't write much all month.
• One short story edited -> polished -> submitted. I submitted 2 new ones. I also got rejected more than ever. Means I'm submitting. Sigh.
• Continue with the workshop. FAIL. I took a break to follow a 4-week course on outlining. I don't mind trying. I have always been a pantser, but there's no harm exploring.
• Start a new beta reading (fantasy novel). Done, finished, notes sent to the author.

Goals for April:

I've set a Nano-type objective of 20k, to work on the novel I was outlining in March (it was my case study for my outlining course). I already have 35k that I wrote last summer, so these 20k would be continuing it, but this time with an outline, see if it makes things easier. If I can, I'll also keep on with my 1-story-a-week challenge.

Oh, and I'm in for Q2! I submitted the very last day. I had to fish out a story from last year and edit it at full speed, but it was the only decent one I could find without major rewriting needed.

March goals:

1. Finish one of the fantasy shorts I have been working on. By 'finish' I mean 1st draft plus 1st edit pass through.

That's it. I'm keeping the goals brief as there's only 30 days till the next WotF deadline and I need to focus!

This I achieved. I guess keeping the goals big but succinct, helped 😉

April goals:

1. Don't forget my sisters birthday. Don't forget my mother-in-laws birthday. lol

They're the same day so either I'm going to win big or lose big on this one.

2. Produce some drabble. I don't necessarily use them as an end in themselves but they often help brainstorm ideas and help me capture one that is a bigger story and needs to grow beyond that 100 word slice. They're also a really low-committment/momentum way to get me writing again when I'm emerging from that post-wotf-submission fog.

3. One of the markets I have had acceptance from before has an open call starting 4/15 and I have another story I think may fit for them, as long as I make some market-specific changes to it. So edit that and send it out.

4. Finish reading volume 40. (some goals can be treats rather than chores, right?)

5. Write a review on #4 given that's why I was sent an arc. Got to keep up my side of the bargain 😉

6. Start mulling q3?

I think thats enough for now.

@ease. Checking in. Oh boy…here comes the monologue.

I wrote my longest story yet for Q2, HATED it, and submitted something else (that I also don’t love). Now that this is becoming a pattern (hating what I’ve written) I need to rethink my approach. After all, if I hate my stories, others are probably going to hate them, too.

My problem? Focusing on nothing but that big W. I want to win someday, but I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself to make it happen ASAP. The more I understand what makes a winning story, the more I can see the inadequacies in my stories. I know what makes a winner, but I can’t seem to replicate it, and once I determine my stories aren’t “winning” quality, I lose my passion for them and don’t want to submit them.

The solution? Write for practice, for passion, for fun. Write because I want to tell a story and learn something new. I need to put in the work if I want the skills to write better stories.

If you look at the (guesstimated) stats, 99.9% of the entries won’t win, but there’s more to Writers of the Future than winning. What I love about this forum is we are a community of writers cheering one another on, helping one another, learning from one another. We celebrate every effort made, every story told, every writer’s voice, whether novice or veteran. And we write because it’s what we love to do. 

Therefore, these are my goals for the this quarter:

April

1. Write a story for another market and love it.

2. Read the rest of Vol. 40.

May-June

1. Write a WotF story that I love, even if I don’t think it’s good enough to win.

It’s time to start loving the journey again. And who knows, maybe the writing will improve when I give it the freedom to breathe. 

Posted by: @kz_richards

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@ease. Checking in. Oh boy…here comes the monologue.

I wrote my longest story yet for Q2, HATED it, and submitted something else (that I also don’t love). Now that this is becoming a pattern (hating what I’ve written) I need to rethink my approach. After all, if I hate my stories, others are probably going to hate them, too.

My problem? Focusing on nothing but that big W. I want to win someday, but I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself to make it happen ASAP. The more I understand what makes a winning story, the more I can see the inadequacies in my stories. I know what makes a winner, but I can’t seem to replicate it, and once I determine my stories aren’t “winning” quality, I lose my passion for them and don’t want to submit them.

...

This is such an honest post. So much self-reflection and insight here. I also want the sale, the W, the fame, the glory. LOL What I've found over the 10+ years that I've been writing is that improvements come to me in layers over time. That wonderful French pastry, the mille feuille, if you will. (So delicious, btw. If you've never had one, go get one. You will not be disappointed).

Anyway, the layers...

When I first started, I honest to goodness couldn't even format dialogue correctly.
I got past dialogue, then it was action that stumped me. Sure, words are coming out of their mouths, but what are they doing while they talk?
I made it past that, then it was, sure they're talking and maybe doing something while they talk, but what are they feeling inside?
Then it was on to scene descriptions.
Then it was layering in sounds, smells, tastes, etc in addition to just looking around and seeing things.
Then it was adding in character motivations. These people have to want something, right?
Then it was learning about how to properly set up a scene with goals, conflicts, and disasters.
And don't forget about sequels — how a characters reacts, runs through his options, then decides on a new goal.
Then it was on to learning about pacing and structure.
Zero drafts! OMG zero drafts are the bomb diggity, or whatever the young kids are saying these days.
Then it was learning more about ME and how I write, and what my own motivation and goals are!
Then somehow you have to combine all this into something resembling a cohesive story, right?

What really helped me was shifting my mindset from, "OMG if I don't win this contest this year I'm just gonna quit because it means I suck" (yes, I actually used to think this) to something more like, "I love the process of developing a story, and I have the rest of my life to pursue that passion and figure it out."

It all takes time. And it's impossible to learn and do it all at once. I've read your work. You're doing great.

@morgan-broadhead Thank you for the thoughtful reply! What you described is almost exactly my experience—learning how to format dialogue and how to not begin every sentence with I, then progressing to “What is my writing style?” and “How do I do ALL THE THINGS at once?” Thanks for the encouragement. I’m glad I’m not the only one, lol. And for what it’s worth, I think you will win someday. Your writing has a very strong voice that always makes me smile.

Posted by: @kz_richards

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@morgan-broadhead Thank you for the thoughtful reply! What you described is almost exactly my experience—learning how to format dialogue and how to not begin every sentence with I, then progressing to “What is my writing style?” and “How do I do ALL THE THINGS at once?” Thanks for the encouragement. I’m glad I’m not the only one, lol. And for what it’s worth, I think you will win someday. Your writing has a very strong voice that always makes me smile.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I will either win, or pro out, or continue writing in obscurity!  

Hi there, I would love to have some accountability to help me reach my writing goals! Not going to lie, I’ve been following this thread for a while, silently congratulating everyone’s progress but I think it’s time I actively joined in. Awesome work you motivated lot, and the encouragement between everyone is just amazing.

So here I go.

March was an exciting time for me regarding writing goals. I finally received word that one of my flash pieces (climate change fiction) is being formally published in an anthology (First publication). After a long string of rejections, this was such an uplifting moment for me and verification that I must be doing something right…

But... I also did some really silly stuff in the month too… I submitted a fresh story for WOTF Q2 buuuuuut it was longer than I expected and I submitted it ten minutes before the cut off time and in my last minute attempts to format the manuscript into word, I realised (after submitting) that I made several blunders, including one incorrect scene break (slapping my forehead) so I reckon I can kiss any chances goodbye but at least I have learned a really great lesson in not rushing the final steps, and to stop making last minute edits! Ah well. This is why I think having accountability to finish the steps in a given timeframe will help me. Moving forward. 

April goals…

1. I just finished the story structure and character development for a novel so I’d like to complete at least 20,000 words towards the first draft.
2. For Q3 - Unpack my story idea + Character development for protagonist and supporting characters + Story structure. 
3. Make sticky notes from my new learnings from Wulf Moon’s super secrets to stick on my desk and work spaces. 
4. Buy some damn printer ink so I can actually print my stories again to do the final edit. Helps me so much.
5. Edit one of my short stories using #3 and submit to a magazine.

I reckon that’ll do for now.