NEW USERS! INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!

Thanks so much for the advice, Mr. Moon. It means a lot as an aspiring writer. I also want to thank you for writing the article, "One Foot In Front of The Other." It really helped me continue to write at a time I felt I wasn't going anywhere with my writing.

Thanks again,

Michael.

Thanks so much for the advice, Mr. Moon. It means a lot as an aspiring writer. I also want to thank you for writing the article, "One Foot In Front of The Other." It really helped me continue to write at a time I felt I wasn't going anywhere with my writing.

Thanks again,

Michael.

Most welcome, Michael! I wrote it to encourage people like you to stay the course. It's not easy, but rewards do come if we don't give up.

Cheers!

Hi all. Been submitting to the contest for about four years. Tired of going at it alone. Trying to come up with a new story for Q4. Nice to meet everyone.

Hi MushuWushu, welcome to the forum and congrats on all the submissions. I am also a resident of Milton. PM me if you'd like.

Hi all. Been submitting to the contest for about four years. Tired of going at it alone. Trying to come up with a new story for Q4. Nice to meet everyone.

Welcome aboard, MushuWushu! Four years is a very good start! And yes, writing can be lonely business. It's good to have allies that understand the beast. You'll find them in here. Storysinger also offered a hand, and it sounds like he lives in your neighborhood. Do post in the quarter you are entering--most of the support happens there. They can help you with those ideas as well!

Best of success!

Wulf Moon
Moderator

Thanks, Wulf and storysinger! I appreciate the replies. It feels great to have support for once and I hope I can be a good support for others on here too.

Thanks, Wulf and storysinger! I appreciate the replies. It feels great to have support for once and I hope I can be a good support for others on here too.

Jump right in! The water is fine!

Hi all! I'm very new to the contest, having just started submitting in Q3. I've been lurking the forum for a while and decided to finally jump in in hopes of accepting Wulf Moon's new challenge and discussing writing and the contest with all the lovely people here! I'm waiting on a last bit of feedback from a beta reader for Q4 and then I'm ready to jump right into Q1. Hopefully I can submit a story every quarter!

Welcome, SwiftPotato!

Come out of the shadows and step into the LIGHT.

Plenty of people to help cheer you on here, or offer a helping hand with critique swaps or writing advice. I always recommend posting in the quarter you have entered, as much of the encouragement happens there. And thanks for answering my polling call for who might be interested in the new challenge. As they said in Princess Bride: "Do you think it will work?" "It would take a miracle."

Well, we believe in miracles around here. We've seen them happen. Over and over again.

All the beast!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Thanks, Wulf! That's a good point - I'll hurry on over to Q3, especially since our couple of weeks is up today...great to have people to twitch with. Hope I can provide some help and encouragement of my own too!

Thanks, Wulf! That's a good point - I'll hurry on over to Q3, especially since our couple of weeks is up today...great to have people to twitch with. Hope I can provide some help and encouragement of my own too!

Great! Head on in, the water is fine!

As for hoping you have something to offer members? ALL of us have something to offer, that's just it. Use the good treasures in your own heart and mind to uplift others, and they will share good treasures from their heart and minds to uplift you.

Much warmth and best wishes for your success in writing and sharing here,

Moon

That's very sweet, Wulf, thank you! And thank you for your warm welcome.

Welcome SwiftPotato. You'll find a lot of help here just like Wulf said.

Welcome SwiftPotato. You'll find a lot of help here just like Wulf said.

Thank you, storysinger!

Hey all,

Simon here. I'm a dark fantasy writer but I write all over the speculative fiction map with everything getting a bit of a horror treatment. I'm also an artist, I used to have a cover design business that is currently on hiatus. I am 42, and disabled following a stroke last year. Before that I was a high school teacher.

I've only entered WotF the once, in 2016 I think, and got HM. I entered 3rd quarter and have another story ready to go for the 4th.

Glad to meet everyone.

Hi Y'all. I write both fantasy and scifi, but tend more toward science fiction. I'm 42 and my midlife crisis is getting off my but and trying to make something out of this writing hobby.

I made my first submission back in Q2 of 2017, but have managed to get 4-HM and 1-R since then.

Welcome Simon and Les. Both of you seem to be doing well in the contest already, keep up the good work.

storysinger- it's because we're both the same age. lol Us old guys gotta have something to show for the hell we've lived through.

Les- Here's to the next one being a winner. I hope you bring it home.

You aren't that old. I have you beat by a few years Welcome Les and Simon.

Welcome aboard, Simon and Les! Age is meaningless here. All that matters are good people that love to write speculative fiction. When I formed my gaming guild, http://www.theforestguard.com , the motto was: Good people first, good players second, and we are DAMN GOOD PLAYERS. The guild is 300 strong and has been living up to that motto for 14 years now (I handed over the guild to my officers five years ago and told them it was so that I could focus on winning WotF!) So I suppose the motto here is: Good people first, good writers second, and we are DAMN GOOD WRITERS. : )

As always, say hello on the quarter you are entering. Some new challenges are brewing for the new contest year, do check those out as well!

Congrats on your HMs. RESPECT!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

I write under the pen name Owen Tyme and I'm 40 years old. I've been occasionally submitting to the contest since I think around 2001, but it might have been as early as 1998. Somewhere in there, in my early days of writing, one of my entries was a semi-finalist (I wish I could remember what year that was, if anyone can tell me, I'd be happy to know), but along the way I got discouraged, due to a lack of readers. I basically stopped writing for a good long stretch of about 8 years or more, due to a lack of confidence, only occasionally playing with a single short story, because I was having fun with it.

More recently, I came to a simple realization. I write because I enjoy it! I don't care if anyone else reads it or not, so long as I love what I'm doing! (An occasional critique would be helpful, though!) With that attitude in mind, I finished that piece and submitted it for quarter 3 of 2019 and got an honorable mention. I don't normally spend 7-8 years on one short story, but I'll take it. 😉

I want to keep myself motivated and writing, so I decided to join the forum. I want to submit something each quarter until I win.

I write science fiction and fantasy. I used to lean more heavily toward sci-fi, but lately, I can't seem to find inspiration for anything that isn't fantasy.

I'm also working on a novel that mixes the two genres, largely because I had a massive flood of inspiration for it in the past couple of months.

Welcome, OwenTyme! And congrats on your HM and SF, that's awesome! I know they release all the contest results by quarter in the blog, but I'm not sure how far back it goes. If it did start before '98 or '01, though, I think you'd be able to find your name in the semifinalist lists somewhere.

I want to keep myself motivated and writing, so I decided to join the forum.

You will find a ton of help with those objectives here. A wise decision you have made. Welcome.

Hello All!

I submitted my first WOTF story early this morning. Woot! Woot! I enjoy writing and reading SF and Fantasy, in particular, stories with a dark, gritty coating. I'm relatively new to the writing craft (3 years) and have one novel in the trunk where it will likely stay hidden. Who knows? Maybe in the future, I will take it out, dust it off, and then rewrite it. I've learned I'm terrible at prophecy. I will not eat more than what is healthy tonight. See what I mean? Thus far, I've spent far too much time revising that novel (i.e. trying to slam a square peg in a hole shaped like something else). As a consequence, my storytelling skillz [sic] didn't progress as fast as I'd like. So I've jumped feet first (belly flop?) into writing shorts, so I can spend more time writing new stories, new characters, and new worlds, and in the progress, cut my chops and hone my craft.

I can't think of a better way to structure my writing and level up than to do it around WOTF. Here you have the deadlines. Here you have a supportive community with a wealth of insight, knowledge, experience, and ability. Here you have a beyond-awesome prize to shoot for.

I started lurking in the forum a few weeks ago. Motivated in large part by Wulf Moon's V 37 challenge, I'm excited to lurk no more and join the conversation.  May the writing gods and goddesses be kind to you. 

Cheers!
John Eric

OwenTyme and JESchleicher, you both sound like our kinda' people! You've come to the right place. Jump right in!

As always, do chat on the quarter you are entering, and have entered and are waiting for the results. Most of the support happens there, but there's plenty everywhere else.

John Eric, glad the new challenge motivated you. I'll post the particulars in detail soon, and I do hope you consider joining. It wll be located in the same SUPER SECRETS topic. But this one will now include submittng to other markets as well, strategies, and getting published.

Welcome aboard!

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

Welcome to the forum John. Now that your lurking days are over you can join in the daily discussions.

Thank you, Wulf and storysinger for the warm welcome! Storysinger, I look forward to the conversations. And yes, Wulf, I will most surely be joining the challenge. As Doc Holiday would say, interpreted by Val Kilmore, "I'm your huckleberry." I've gleaned a lot from your first challenge, implementing much of your tips and advice into my Q4 submission. Many thanks for your dedicated time and insights, truly "paying it forward." I aspire to one day have enough currency to do the same, in one shape or another.

Cheers!
John Eric

Hi everyone!

Just submitted my Q1 piece back in the wee hours of the morning
I typically write a lot of high fantasy but recently have started to explore some other genres to expand my comfort zone. One of the projects I am working on is a sci-fi noir piece that I'm fiddling with as I come up with ideas for Q2.

This is my first time participating in something like this.

I am excited to meet all of you
-Nicole Reavis

Welcome Nicole! I've dodged into new territory a couple times lately too - fun isn't it. Hope you are enjoying that sci-fi noir! And of course good luck on the contest.

Welcome aboard Nichol. Delving in different genres is an excellent way to enhance your writing skills.
Good luck with your submission.