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March 16, 2009 |
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"The Writers of the Future contest was originally set up to institute a contemporary form of support; to provide encouragement, recognition, and something more than an honorarium—a realistic reward that would give its recipients a chance to draw breath, assess their future opportunities, and pursue them clearheadedly. Not too much of a chance...enough of a chance. The objective is not to subsidize the future, but to discover it."
 Algis Budrys (1931-2008)
Editor of the Writers of the Future anthology and judge of the Writers of the Future Contest from
1983-2008
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT
PIECE OF ADVICE
by Algis Budrys
In putting this book (Writers of the Future Vol. II) together, we had asked four of our judges to contribute essays of advice to beginning writers. Specifically, we asked them to concentrate on the single most important piece of advice they'd give to apprentices.
This seemed like a sensible idea that would yield a broad spectrum of useful information. The one common denominator among Frank Herbert, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven and Gene Wolfe as SF writers was that they are enormously respected popular authors. Otherwise, they wrote very differently from each other—as master artists tend to do, while nevertheless being indubitable masters. While most professional writers in our experience agree on the same set of broad-stroke imperatives, it seemed reasonable to expect they'd arrange them in various orders of priority.
Two things happened. One, it turned out that all four of our experts had the same single most important piece of advice to give. Some spoke of "story" and some of "idea," but in either case they were reacting profoundly to the discovery all we "experts" make—that the biggest difference between the gifted amateur and the solid professional is that the amateur thinks about parts and the pro thinks about the whole.
The second thing that happened was that we were struck by how closely this matched with something L. Ron Hubbard had said in a 1965 statement on the fundamentals of art:
"The order of importance in art is:
(1) The resultant communication.
(2) The technical rendition.
(2) is always subordinate to (1). (2) may be as high as possible but never so high as to injure (1).
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The communication is the primary target. The technical quality is the secondary consideration. A person pushes (2) as high as possible within the reality of (1)." |
In working on a story, the amateur stops at each detail and asks "How does this look?" whereas the professional asks "Does it work?" and pauses only an eyeblink before going on. It's not that the pro disregards matters such as characterization, dialogue technique, narrative style, and all the other aspects of prose composition and artistic aesthetics. Hardly. It's that one becomes a professional on the day when one realizes that all the school details exist only to serve the art; get a story going, and the rest follows. Get the car started and see if it will bring home the groceries. Then polish the fenders.
No matter what kind of story they tell—that is, no matter what audience they pick—professional writers get their satisfaction from the plaudits of the audience. And what the audience wants is not style or syntax or characterizations done in the first, second or third person in the past or present tense. What it wants is a satisfactory story. Professional writers think about engineering details, and they work toward clean solutions to storytelling problems, but they concentrate on making the delivery.
Professional artists, whatever their art form, are people who are bound to their audiences by the tie of mutual satisfaction in the art. "Self-expression" is for amateurs, and the audiences are properly impatient with it. Doing the art, and appreciating the art, are what matters over the long haul, and the best of the art is what then outlives today.
—Algis Budrys |
Writers of the Future winner, Ken Scholes,
publishes his first hardcover novel
"[Writers of the Future] is a solid way to launch your career. It's one of the best things out there."—Ken Scholes
Ken is a winner who was published in Volume XXI. He has just had his first hardcover novel published by Tor Books!
His first novel Lamentation is getting rave reviews at Amazon.com and is sure to become a home run for Ken.
Lamentation is the first in a five book series called The Psalms of Isaak.
He was recently hailed by Booklist for his "rare gift for inventive storytelling that invites comparisons with the genre’s leading practitioners".
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He recorded a podcast with ScienceAndSociety.net which you can listen to here (use Internet Explorer if possible):
KEN SCHOLES PODCAST
Ken discusses how Lamentation came about and gives us insights into becoming a successful writer. He compares and contrasts short story writing and novel writing, and discusses his many upcoming projects.
He speaks candidly about the Writers of the Future Contest and how it helped him achieve the success he is now experiencing. |
Nebula Award Nominations from the ranks of
Writers of the Future winners and judges
Category: Novella
Writers of the
Future judge,
Gregory
Benford with
Dark Heaven
Category: Short Stories
 Writers of the Future winner (Volume I) and judge Nina Kiriki Hoffman with Trophy Wives
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Category: Novelettes
 Writers of the
Future winner
(Volume V) and coordinating judge
of the contest,
K. D. Wentworth with Kaleidoscope
 James Alan Gardner, Grand Prize winner of the Writers of the Future Contest (Volume VI) is nominated with The Ray-Gun: A Love Story
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Get your own copy of Writers of the Future Volume XXIV
or get it at your local bookstore anywhere in the US and Canada.
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Honorable Mentions for the 1st Quarter of the Contest
Matthew Bey of Texas
Thomas Briggs of Illinois
J. Brundage of Arizona
Steve Clancey of California
Paul Comstock of Iowa
Christopher Cook of Utah
Tony Friedel Daley of Wisconsin
T.N. Dockrey of Oklahoma
Tim Fox of Oregon
Stephen Gaskell of the United Kingdom
Stuart Gibbon of West Australia
Benjamin Hardin of Utah
Emily Kajsa Herrstrom of Illinois
Michael Hund of Pennsylvania
Irina Ivanova of California
Karrin Jackson of Oregon
Dal Jeanis of Texas
John Kratman of Rhode Island
Geir Lanesskog of Washington
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Muri McCage of Tennessee
Kelli Meyer of Texas
Scott Mikula of Washington
Justin Patrick Moore of Ohio
M.O. Muriel of California
Thomas Olges of Kentucky
Francesco Radicati of California
Jenny Rae Rappaport of New Jersey
David Schibi of Missouri
Keith Sen of California
Daniel Smyth of Utah
A.W. Sullivan of Kentucky
Dave Thompson of California
Brian Tillotson of Washington
Helen Venn of West Australia
Pam Wallace of California
Susan Watkins of Oregon
Ryan Williams of Washington
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro of California
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Congratulations to all the entrants who are recognized with an Honorable Mention! The final judging to find who the winners of the 1st quarter are, is now occuring.
It is noteworthy, that the list of Honorable Mentions contains two entrants who were both published in Writers of the Future Vol XXIII. One is Stephen Gaskell from England, who was a published finalist. He has another shot at getting published in the Writers of the Future anthology, this time as a winner. Geir Lanesskog of Washington was a winner in the Illustrators of the Future Contest and is now shooting for winning the writers contest as well.
Good luck to everybody who enters Writers or Illustrators of the Future Contest! |
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SUBMITTING TO THE WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST
Who can submit?
Anybody who is not a professionally published author.
The Contest is open only to those who have not had professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits (for online publications).
For illustrators the Contest is open to new and amateur artists who have not been professionally published and paid for more than three black-and-white story illustrations, or more than one process-color painting, in media distributed broadly to the general public.
Is there an entry fee?
No. Submitting to the contest is free of charge.
What prizes can I win?
Three cash prizes are awarded in each quarter: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in U.S. dollars or the recipient's locally equivalent amount. In addition, at the end of the year the four First Place winners will have their entries rejudged, and a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000.
Most importantly though the winning stories from each quarter are published in the yearly Writers of the Future anthology which is distributed and sold through bookstores and other outlets across the US and Canada.
All winners are also invited to a week-long workshop with the coordinating judges of Writers and Illustrators of the Future and they receive their prizes and recognitions at the yearly awards ceremony; a gala event at which the anthology with the winning stories and illustrations is officially released.
What are the deadlines?
The Contest has four quarters, beginning on October 1, January 1, April 1 and July 1. The year will end on September 30. To be eligible for judging in its quarter, an entry must be postmarked no later than midnight on the last day of the quarter. Late entries will be included in the following quarter and the Contest Administration will so notify the entrant.
For other questions in regards to the rules of the contest, go to:
http://www.writersofthefuture.com/rules.htm
or visit the "Frequently Asked Questions" page at:
http://www.writersofthefuture.com/wof06/faq.htm
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 For other articles on writing by experienced and successful writers such as Robert Silverberg, David Farland, Orson Scott Card and Kevin J. Anderson, get the Writers of the Future Book Package.
Click here to get your New Writers &
Illustrators
Book Package from
Galaxy Press
with 5 free bonus items!
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