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One more question for you helpful folk:

if I do submit a decently standalone section of a much larger work, would it be prudent to alter it (just for this submission) so it has the ending of a short story? Should I compress the section's/novel's climax into a quick resolution? or should I leave it as it is and indicate it's a chunk of a larger work?

Okay, okay, that's two, possibly three questions, but nobody's hiring us to do math or count down a holy hand grenade launch. 😛

If you can find a way to KYD some of it (see my Super Secrets Workshop topic on this) I think it will serve you well.
Anyhow, welcome aboard! Enjoy the many sounding boards in here, and all the encouragement to keep writing!

Thank you Wulf Moon! I feel so welcome. I will have to check out your workshops. I was already lurking them a bit, to be honest...

Howdy all!

Just joined the forums and thought I'd say hi. I've been writing casually for maybe ten years now; I figured it was high time to punch up the process by rubbing shoulders with a more serious writing crowd, and I figured y'all were it! This will be my second time entering the Writer's of the Future contest. I got an honorable mention last time and hope to go up from there. : )

Anyway, happy to be aboard!

Welcome aboard, Donovan!

You're doing well, and we're glad you found us. We usually have two winners a year come out of the Forum, so you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. : ) Take advantage of these experienced fighter pilots and their knowledge. Don't miss the crit swap folder. It's good to get eyes on your manuscript from those that know.

We wish you much success!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

One more question for you helpful folk:

Apologies if this is in the wrong topic or forum! I am used to Discord and Slack, where the train of thought runs on one very broad pair of rails. It's been a while since I've used a *proper* forum! (please direct me where I should ask these questions!)

I figure this is probably a good question to ask here in the newbie thread: What do the abbreviations mean that some posters have below their banners? Things like HM, SHM, R, F, SF. I gather that HM means the poster has gotten honorable mention in the WotF contest; what do the other abbreviations mean?

SHM = Silver HM

F = Finalist (top 8)

SF = (You guessed it,) Semifinalist

R is the best of all (which is why my short signature is inundated with them) -- Form Rejection. Joni sends a nice email that says "You did not place in the contest this quarter", and you gnash your teeth and swear vengeance upon the cruel judges that refused to recognize the ultimate perfection of your masterpiece.

One more question for you helpful folk:

if I do submit a decently standalone section of a much larger work, would it be prudent to alter it (just for this submission) so it has the ending of a short story? Should I compress the section's/novel's climax into a quick resolution? or should I leave it as it is and indicate it's a chunk of a larger work?

Okay, okay, that's two, possibly three questions, but nobody's hiring us to do math or count down a holy hand grenade launch. 😛

This is a short story contest. It's not a submit a novel chapter contest. Ones that succeeded in doing that either had chapters that could stand alone as a short story, or they converted them. It must be able to stand by itself as a short story (or novelette beyond 7500 words). That requires all the plot parts that make up a short story. You don't get to say this is a chapter from a novel, please forgive its lack of being a short story. You will lose.

Best,

Moon

One more question for you helpful folk:

if I do submit a decently standalone section of a much larger work, would it be prudent to alter it (just for this submission) so it has the ending of a short story? Should I compress the section's/novel's climax into a quick resolution? or should I leave it as it is and indicate it's a chunk of a larger work?

Okay, okay, that's two, possibly three questions, but nobody's hiring us to do math or count down a holy hand grenade launch. 😛

Short answer -- yes. It's hard to say without seeing it, and every story is different. Certainly is should have some type of ending. WotF prefers endings where everything is tied up, unlike Strange Horizons which is much more open. I recall hearing that Brandon Sanderson's prologue to Elantris was a finalist, and that's more of a literary ending. But even in such a case, short stories are vastly different than novels. Here's why: In a short story every detail and sentence should contribute in some way to the writer's goal--in that story. In a novel, not only do you have more leeway, but you can have things in chapter one that are explained later on. But if you never get to chapter five, but imply in chapter one that Bacon is important to the story, that's problematic.

My advice: 1) Check out recent WotF volumes; see how they end. 2) Get a veteran here to critique you, and specifically ask them about the ending. 3) (Perhaps most importantly) Don't expect to win on the first try. Obviously, that's what you're aiming for, but it's fine if you get rejected as well. It's a learning curve. People here have gotten rejected one quarter and won the next. Rejection is not failure, it means you now know "Well, that didn't work. Let's try something else."

P.S. This is a great place to ask questions In general, if you want more people to see it, consider putting it in the quarter's thread, or making a new topic in The Contest - Quarterly Topics, and Other Items.

I figure this is probably a good question to ask here in the newbie thread: What do the abbreviations mean that some posters have below their banners? Things like HM, SHM, R, F, SF. I gather that HM means the poster has gotten honorable mention in the WotF contest; what do the other abbreviations mean?

SHM = Silver HM

F = Finalist (top 8)

SF = (You guessed it,) Semifinalist

R is the best of all (which is why my short signature is inundated with them) -- Form Rejection. Joni sends a nice email that says "You did not place in the contest this quarter", and you gnash your teeth and swear vengeance upon the cruel judges that refused to recognize the ultimate perfection of your masterpiece.

Ah, thanks! I'll get the hang of the ins and outs of the terminology here soon enough.

May your teeth be un-gnashed and your vengeance un-sworn as your next abbreviation is a 'W!'

if I do submit a decently standalone section of a much larger work, would it be prudent to alter it (just for this submission) so it has the ending of a short story?

Welcome to the forum Heather. Interesting question you're asking. I am currently creating a standalone short story for future submission somewhere and somewhen. My approach is collecting the parts I plan to weave together. The content of the project comes from a 99% completed novel I plan to send somewhere this year. The excerpts only slightly resemble the chapters in the novel, I just see an opportunity to create something new.

One more thing, I don't plan to advertise it's from a larger work as it has to fly on it's own as any good story must.

if I do submit a decently standalone section of a much larger work, would it be prudent to alter it (just for this submission) so it has the ending of a short story?

Welcome to the forum Heather. Interesting question you're asking. I am currently creating a standalone short story for future submission somewhere and somewhen. My approach is collecting the parts I plan to weave together. The content of the project comes from a 99% completed novel I plan to send somewhere this year. The excerpts only slightly resemble the chapters in the novel, I just see an opportunity to create something new.

Fascinating. Well, if you'd like to swap critiques of our totally-not-excerpted shorts, you let me know!

Hello! I'm Jared Nelson, and I write mostly fantasy-things under the pen name J. Layne Nelson. I'm 41, and I'm a little over a year and a half into actively pursuing a writing career.

I'm very excited to be here!

Welcome aboard, Jared Nelson! We're happy you found us!

Doesn't matter when we start writing, just that we do if it's in our heart to be a writer. You'll find all ages here, at many different levels. What do we all have in common? We want to improve our writing, we'd like to build friendships with others of like mind, and we'd like to win Writers of the Future. It's got so many goodies to help us along on our career path, including that wonderful workshop week!

Do post in the quarter you plan to enter, where most of the support goes on. Enjoy the abundance of advice, and the collective mind you can tap into on all things writing! And don't miss taking the WotF Online Workshop! That's got great advice on crafting professional stories!

Best of success to your writing goals. Cheers!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Hey everyone! My name's Ben Fitzgerald, and I'm an eighteen year old sci-fi/fantasy writer from the Northeast. I've gotten a few things published in unpaying/token pay markets, but I'm still pretty new to the publishing game. Hoping to get some more experience here!

Also excited to have the (slim) chance to meet Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is probably my favorite book of all time.

Hey everyone! My name's Ben Fitzgerald, and I'm an eighteen year old sci-fi/fantasy writer from the Northeast. I've gotten a few things published in unpaying/token pay markets, but I'm still pretty new to the publishing game. Hoping to get some more experience here!

Also excited to have the (slim) chance to meet Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is probably my favorite book of all time.

Welcome, this is a great place to hone your writing skills.

Hey everyone! My name's Ben Fitzgerald, and I'm an eighteen year old sci-fi/fantasy writer from the Northeast. I've gotten a few things published in unpaying/token pay markets, but I'm still pretty new to the publishing game. Hoping to get some more experience here!

Also excited to have the (slim) chance to meet Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is probably my favorite book of all time.

Welcome, Tallest Midget. This is the right place to be! I love Ender's Game as well.

Hey everyone! My name's Ben Fitzgerald, and I'm an eighteen year old sci-fi/fantasy writer from the Northeast. I've gotten a few things published in unpaying/token pay markets, but I'm still pretty new to the publishing game. Hoping to get some more experience here!

Also excited to have the (slim) chance to meet Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is probably my favorite book of all time.

Welcome, Ben! Glad you found us!

Lots of great writers here that can help you with questions and support. There's a crit swap folder as well to share in. Be sure to post in the quarter you are submitting to, as most of the support happens there, especially as results come in.

We had Scott Card for one of the three instructors for our workshop, which was a big deal because he hadn't taught there for many years. But Dave Farland is no slacker, and neither is Tim Powers, my personal writing hero! Whoever they bring to teach, you can trust it will be THE BEST.

So keep working on your craft and keep working on your storytelling skills. If you're still in high school, be sure to enter Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. I won that at the national level, and a lot of famous writers got their start with that contest: Stephen King, Peter S. Beagle, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, the list goes on and on.

Of course, so does the list of famous WotF winners!

Cheers!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Hi Everyone! I have just officially joined after skulking in the background for awhile. I have followed this contest (read the books yearly) since its inception and aimed to send in an entry for years. Finally last year I entered and won an HM. Entered again but accidentally left my name on the story and was DQ'd and then won another HM the following quarter. Hoping to get my story together for the upcoming deadline and to continue to enter until I win or "pro out."

I'm excited to finally be fully participating! The contest and the community are an amazing opportunity and gift to the SFF (and horror) publishing world.

Welcome aboard, Lance!

I know you from the DreamForge Webinar. Thanks for taking my advice to join the Forum!

The members here are good people, doing their best to help one another as they strive for excellence in writing. You'll find the most support by posting in the quarter you are entering. There's a critique swap area as well, and lots of good info on the contest itself. You already know about the Super Secrets from the webinar, so do have a look at those. And don't forget to take the Writers of the Future Online Writing Workshop. The WotF instructors are there, helping you to figure out the elements of a good story.

Glad you found us and all the best!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Hello! I'm Angelique, and I found this forum through the indefatigable Wulf Moon! I was attending the informative and eye-opening DreamForge Anvil webinar yesterday, where Moon was helping present, and I am so happy to join. Interesting confluence of events here... I penned my very first fiction story in 2017 "Invasive Species" and submitted it to The Writers Contest 3 years ago. It received an honourable mention. Scot Noel of DreamForge just purchased it for the first issue of "Let's Talk Story."

It's wonderful to meet you all!

Welcome Angelique. Congratulations on the sale.

Hello! I'm Angelique, and I found this forum through the indefatigable Wulf Moon! I was attending the informative and eye-opening DreamForge Anvil webinar yesterday, where Moon was helping present, and I am so happy to join. Interesting confluence of events here... I penned my very first fiction story in 2017 "Invasive Species" and submitted it to The Writers Contest 3 years ago. It received an honourable mention. Scot Noel of DreamForge just purchased it for the first issue of "Let's Talk Story."

It's wonderful to meet you all!

Greetings, Angelique! Hail and well met!

You sold a WotF HM to Scot! Awesome job there, writer! I’ve been telling people here support his Kickstarter so he’ll have the funds to buy their stories. I hope they’re listening because Scot is a WotF winner and saying you made HM on up really means something to him! Thank YOU for supporting DreamForge Anvil and look at how it has blessed you already! Well done! https://bit.ly/DFKicks

And that’s how you’ve now come to us! Do post to the Q you are entering, as the most support happens there. Enjoy the crit swap thread and all the other ways to learn and share! And don’t miss the WotF Online Workshop on the homepage—you get to learn story from the best!

Welcome aboard!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Hello!

I guess that the only way anyone would know me is that I was crazy enough to self publish an illustrated poetry book on Amazon called Tell Me A Tale both U.S. only marketplace and Kindle (pain with art clips), but I have not promoted it because I don't know how -- it's enough for me that my students who wanted me to do it have seen that they can pursue their dreams and can check it out of our school library. It's also poetry, so I made more off a few sales there than I would've in a journal.

I was born with a rare syndrome causing congenital limb deficiency and I had to give up on my lifelong dream of writing due to nerve strain after only submitting to WotF and a few SFWA mags a few times; the positive, hand-written rejection messages from SFWA community really helped me through the grieving process of physically not being able to fulfill a vocation for about twelve years, but not completely, and I was beyond thrilled to get the opportunity to write again last year during quarantine -- and submit to WotF -- and get HM, and revise to sell that story to an SFWA qualifying sale, and then get another HM on a 13K story (longer=more reason to put it down), and get another SFWA qualifying sale. I feel really close to my dreams, but far from them, as well. The physical strain of teaching in hybrid and virtual and face to face this year and writing has caused neuralgia up my arms ; I covet every moment I can write and appreciate every privileged word. I feel very close to a goal and so far away, too, without resources to network, learn and just be around people who know what The Wheel of Time even is, so I'm really glad there's this online community, but also a little bummed that I did not know about it sooner! It would've diffused (somewhat) the disappointment that I can't apply for Clarion this year. I really love editing and helping others -- I'm an English teacher by day--but also really welcome advice. I don't know if I should even pursue my third small SFWA qualifying sale because if I do, I can apply to SFWA, but if I do, I'm ineligible for further WotF contests. Anyway, I'm new to the forum today thanks to reading an article from a writer who wrote about how much it helped her writing, so thanks so much for blogging! Keep on being awesome, all. -asch

Hi Asch,

That's quite the story. I'm so sorry for your troubles, but excited to hear you're selling anyway! So you are able to write now? Or is it just terribly slow going?

Note, however, that your 4th SFWA sale, upon publication is what disqualifies you, not your 3rd.

(Did my liberal use of commas in that sentence drive you bonkers?)

Welcome to the Forum, Asch!

I am very sorry to hear about your health conditions, but I'm glad you keep finding ways to write and send stories out. Sounds like you're having great success with that! I have a broken back and I'm about a quarter of an inch from having my spinal column separate, which doctors say will leave me paralyzed from the waist down. I have severe femoral stenosis, and begin my mornings in my recliner, waiting for the pain to subside until I can begin my day, usually around noon it has diminished enough that I can cope with it. On bad days, the pain is too high for me to concentrate on anything. And sometimes, I've been bedridden for months because it's too painful even to sit up. I focus on what I can do, try to forget about what I can't do. Normally, no one knows I deal with all of this but my wife. And in spite of all of this, I find a way to take care of my editing clients, and I find a way to write. Just as you have. When you're a writer ... writing finds a way.

As for SFWA, you can become an associate member with one SFWA qualified sale. It also gives you voting power in the Nebula Awards. And a cheaper rate at their ceremony, as I recall. I used to be a member, but got tired of all their infighting. If you join, I hope you have a better experience. I am certain you will have a GOOD experience here. We work hard to help one another succeed, and keep the environment positive and upbuilding.

I hope you don't hold back from sending your stories out just to keep in the amateur status for this contest. I did that for many years, and it was a mistake. The contest exists to help you create a professional writing career, and it is not the only means to do so. It sounds like you are already well on your way, and there is nothing wrong with pro-ing out, as we call it. Quite the contrary. You forged your own path. Of course, while pursuing that path, if you win this all the better! It will definitely speed things up from all the accolades and publicity associated with winning. Do enter every quarter with a fresh story if you can. That has always been my advice.

I'm curious which student of yours wrote about how the WotF Forum helped them. I am sure John Goodwin, president of Author Services, would like to hear that story and see that paper! I know I would. : )

Don't forget to take advantage of the WotF Online Workshop. Virtual training by three of the best in the field! It's sure to help.

Welcome aboard and best of success to your writing endeavors!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Hello!

I guess that the only way anyone would know me is that I was crazy enough to self publish an illustrated poetry book on Amazon called Tell Me A Tale both U.S. only marketplace and Kindle (pain with art clips), but I have not promoted it because I don't know how -- it's enough for me that my students who wanted me to do it have seen that they can pursue their dreams and can check it out of our school library. It's also poetry, so I made more off a few sales there than I would've in a journal.

I was born with a rare syndrome causing congenital limb deficiency and I had to give up on my lifelong dream of writing due to nerve strain after only submitting to WotF and a few SFWA mags a few times; the positive, hand-written rejection messages from SFWA community really helped me through the grieving process of physically not being able to fulfill a vocation for about twelve years, but not completely, and I was beyond thrilled to get the opportunity to write again last year during quarantine -- and submit to WotF -- and get HM, and revise to sell that story to an SFWA qualifying sale, and then get another HM on a 13K story (longer=more reason to put it down), and get another SFWA qualifying sale. I feel really close to my dreams, but far from them, as well. The physical strain of teaching in hybrid and virtual and face to face this year and writing has caused neuralgia up my arms ; I covet every moment I can write and appreciate every privileged word. I feel very close to a goal and so far away, too, without resources to network, learn and just be around people who know what The Wheel of Time even is, so I'm really glad there's this online community, but also a little bummed that I did not know about it sooner! It would've diffused (somewhat) the disappointment that I can't apply for Clarion this year. I really love editing and helping others -- I'm an English teacher by day--but also really welcome advice. I don't know if I should even pursue my third small SFWA qualifying sale because if I do, I can apply to SFWA, but if I do, I'm ineligible for further WotF contests. Anyway, I'm new to the forum today thanks to reading an article from a writer who wrote about how much it helped her writing, so thanks so much for blogging! Keep on being awesome, all. -asch

I'm sorry for all your hardship, but that's great you got HM and sales in SFWA. Even though it may seem late that you joined this community you are welcomed with open arms!

Welcome Asch. You are now a member of the best writers forum available. Congrats on the HM and the other sale.

I finally joined the forums, though I have submitted for the WotF contest before. I submitted my first ever short story to the contest in Q4 last year and was a bit shocked to get an HM from it. Since then, I've been honing my writing while going to grad school and working a full-time job. It's definitely a crunch, fitting all of that together, but it's been a fun journey.

I'm also working on a series of fantasy novels as well, though it's still in the early stages. My main goal as a writer is to create stories that are not only enjoyable, but also make people think. Embracing our differences is a huge theme in my work, and I enjoy being a cheerleader and sounding board for others. I'm looking forward to talking with everyone and supporting other writers in the community.

Welcome aboard, earthkeeper78.

We're glad you've announced your arrival. I thought I heard a fanfare of trumpets! : )

Membership has its privileges, like being able to post to topics! Do post in the quarter you submit in, as you'll find lots of shoulders to lean on. Don't miss a single quarter, that's my advice. If you want more advice, snoop around in the many topics.

Glad to have you officially with us!

Cheers!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Hi! I haven't submitted anything to WotF yet, but I've known about it for a while now and decided it was time to buckle down and write some stories. I heard this was the place to come, so here I am! I'm excited to get to know some of you and learn from the people with experience.