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Discussion: Q1 Volume 38

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Ron Carnell
(@rcarnell)
Posts: 6
Active Member
 

@fran Just an observation, Fran, but the lists for HM and SHM appear to be alphabetical by last name?

 
Posted : May 5, 2021 2:54 pm
Wulf Moon reacted
(@wulfmoon)
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Posted by: @rcarnell

I never received an email for Q1 and was just thinking about writing to Joni when I saw the blog post for the winners. It was nice to see my name in the Silver column. If nothing else, it saved me that email to Joni. Smile

Great job, rcarnell! A Silver HM often means Dave would like to see it again, perhaps with a fix, perhaps not. Sometimes he just has too many of one type of story, and in a different Q, he would not have. Sorry it got lost in the cracks--they have thousands of entries each quarter, and no system is perfect, as any programmer will tell you. Smile

And frame that certificate! That's a big deal!

All the best,

Wulf Moon
Forum Moderator

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Posted : May 5, 2021 5:18 pm
Ron Carnell
(@rcarnell)
Posts: 6
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@wulfmoon Thanks, Wulf. I'll keep that in mind. Truth be told, I already decided the ending was a little weak. Needs more foreshadowing and stronger emotional ties. However, I've already written Q3 and doubt I'll abandon one I'm still excited about for an older one where the excitement has already waned. Maybe Q4?

I certainly appreciate the encouragement, though. Smile

Ron

 
Posted : May 5, 2021 6:28 pm
Wulf Moon reacted
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Posted by: @rcarnell

@wulfmoon Thanks, Wulf. I'll keep that in mind. Truth be told, I already decided the ending was a little weak. Needs more foreshadowing and stronger emotional ties. However, I've already written Q3 and doubt I'll abandon one I'm still excited about for an older one where the excitement has already waned. Maybe Q4?

I certainly appreciate the encouragement, though. Smile

Ron

Well, Ron, in case you haven't noticed, I'll always say the best story isn't the one you've written, it's the one you're about to write. Glad to see you've already written another. This is the way.

Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
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IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!

 
Posted : May 5, 2021 11:43 pm
Ron Carnell reacted
Disgruntled Peony
(@disgruntledpeony)
Posts: 1283
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@fran Results are always alphabetical by last name in each category. smiley No specific ranking aside from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, but I'd argue that's for the best.

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R, SF, SHM, SHM, SHM, F, R, HM, SHM, R, HM, R, F, SHM, SHM, SHM, SF, SHM, 1st Place (Q2 V38)
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Posted : May 6, 2021 6:50 am
Dustin Adams
(@tj_knight)
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Although... I am dubious how someone named Linda got ahead of me.

That top spot shall be mine, or I will go with the more traditional Aadams.

Career:

1x Win
2x NW-F
2x S-F
9x S-HM
11x HM
7x R

 
Posted : May 6, 2021 8:44 am
AliciaCay, G. L. Dearman, Alex Harford and 3 people reacted
storysinger
(@storysinger)
Posts: 1498
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Congrats Ron on the SHM. Your next story will probably place higher, best of fortune to you.

Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships

 
Posted : May 6, 2021 10:46 am
Wulf Moon reacted
Ron Carnell
(@rcarnell)
Posts: 6
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Thanks, @storysinger, I hope you're right. My Q2 entry has been in for some time. Honestly, I was far more pleased with Q2 than ever I was with Q1; it remains to be seen whether anyone else agrees with that, of course.

Much appreciated. Smile

 
Posted : May 6, 2021 12:24 pm
czing
(@czing)
Posts: 287
Silver Member
 
Posted by: @doctorjest
Posted by: @aliciacay

There is absolutely merit in writing fresh each time, I just wanted to share this perspective, to say it is absolutely okay to continue to work on and send in those stories we love. Both of my re-written ones were special to me. My writing ring calls them 'heart stories'. ♥

It's the help I've gotten from critiquing and getting feedback that's helped those stories grow. So, if anyone wants or needs fresh eyes on your Q3 submission, I'm happy to try and help with your first 5,000 words or so. PM me and we'll chat.

~A.

I totally believe in this approach too. Of my entries to date, including the pending Q2, eleven were new to the contest (some revisions or rewrites of older pieces, others brand new and written for the contest), while two were revisions (with no result change for either of them--one went HM to HM with significant revisions, the other SHM to SHM with only polish and minor improvements. At least it's consistent.)

I've just pegged on the story I think I want to write for my Q3, but I also have two other pieces that I have simmering for rewrites and resubmissions here. Neither would go in again without significant alterations, but I also keep trying my luck with other markets--so the availability of those stories will likely play out in my decision. Either way, I'll write the Q3 story, as I'm becoming increasingly fond of it as the day goes on.

The one area where I'm different is that I tend to be a very insular writer. I obey my instincts more than my rules, and I submit a lot of my entries (80%+) without them ever being proof-read by another person. It hasn't exactly failed for me, but whenever I've solicited feedback, I've been happy with it--so I think it's more habit than design at this stage. Also, because I do follow my gut more than any sense of exactly what makes a good story, I tend to question just how good my feedback for other people's stories might be--which often makes me hesitant to do exchanges.  

Definitely something I could improve on, right there.

My experience hasn't been quite so good :(. My first SHM was a flash piece that I did a little touch up on and got an HM the next time with it. Another of mine went from HM to R.

As I've gotten crits from great people who know rules like structure and character arcs and pacing etc I feel like I have learned to be better at recognizing those (whether I'm always better at integrating them remains to be seen). But it has made me better at being able to comment on some of it when exchanging.

 

v36 Q1, Q3 - HM; Q4 - R
v37 Q1 - R; Q2 - SHM; Q4 - HM
v38 Q1 - HM; Q2 - SHM; Q3 - HM; Q4 - HM
v39 Q1 - SHM; Q3 - HM; Q4 -RWC
v40 Q1, Q2 - HM; Q3 - Pending

 
Posted : May 9, 2021 12:12 am
AliciaCay reacted
Mike Jack Stoumbos
(@mikejackstoumbos)
Posts: 20
Bronze Member
 

Hey all, I'm Mike Jack. I'm new to the forum and just discovering the excellent range of animated emoticons, one of which I will employ:

winner

I am absolutely thrilled to have a winning story in quarter 1, volume 38! Now that I'm here, I'm not entirely sure what to say. But, through the guidance of Wulf and examples of other forum posters, I’ll share some of my experience and process.

I first heard about Writers of the Future in 2018, accompanied by someone’s comment that the chances of winning were so low that there was really no point in submitting… so, for a long time, I didn’t. (If you have any people with that attitude in your circle of advice-givers, fire them immediately.)

I did not revisit the idea of the contest until summer of 2020, when a (better) friend encouraged me to try it, and informed me of important details like “free to enter” and “enter once a quarter as many times as you’d like” and “semi-finalists and finalists get direct feedback from Dave.” Naturally, my new response was, “Ooh! Free practice submitting scifi short stories, with the possibility of professional feedback--I should have done this years ago.”

So, last fall, I combed through my favorite unpublished science fiction and started submitting. I sent my favorite short story to V37Q3, and it turned out to be a semi-finalist. This was amazingly encouraging. The next quarter, I sent another, and got an honorable mention. At the end of 2020, I picked the unpublished scifi story that gave me the most joy and hit submit--not expecting it to win, but happy for the practice.

Until otherwise specified, every story I write and send is practice. I know that if I’d been trying to put together the perfect story, I’d never have finished, let alone submitted this or any other story. But as practice, I can write about any scifi idea that intrigues me, finish that one, then another, then another, rinse, repeat--and finally look back and say, “I like this; maybe the publisher will too.”

And, I'm happy to report, they did Smile

As for what’s next, I’m hoping that this win will help provide the confidence, connections, and clout needed to find an agent and a publishing contract. Either that, or a solid business plan for self-publishing. Like many people here, I have five unpublished novels and another on the way, one of which I started querying last year, and another I first pitched a couple of weeks ago. Wulf, Dave, Joni, and others have described WotF as a springboard to the next step in an author’s career, and the more I learn, the more excited I am to make use of those opportunities.

If anyone needs to hear this: write something you love and hit “submit.” Even if it doesn’t seem like the perfect fit, even if it goes against some of the common narrative guidelines and assumptions, it might be just what they’re looking for. And if nothing else, it’s practice.

v37q3 - SF
v37q4 - HM
v38q1 - #1
NEW RELEASE!!! Space opera novel The Signal out of Space
https://www.mikejackstoumbos.com/
https://twitter.com/MJStoumbos
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Posted : May 12, 2021 10:57 am
N.V. Haskell, Beth Powers, JAbecker and 9 people reacted
DoctorJest
(@doctorjest)
Posts: 835
Platinum Member
 
Posted by: @mikejackstoumbos

Hey all, I'm Mike Jack. I'm new to the forum and just discovering the excellent range of animated emoticons, one of which I will employ:

winner

I am absolutely thrilled to have a winning story in quarter 1, volume 38! Now that I'm here, I'm not entirely sure what to say. But, through the guidance of Wulf and examples of other forum posters, I’ll share some of my experience and process.

I first heard about Writers of the Future in 2018, accompanied by someone’s comment that the chances of winning were so low that there was really no point in submitting… so, for a long time, I didn’t. (If you have any people with that attitude in your circle of advice-givers, fire them immediately.)

Damn you for writing a better story than I did!

(Also, congratulations! smiley )

Being more serious, however, I followed part of this same pattern--when I first looked at WotF, before I ever tried entering, I was at once so impressed and intimidated by some of the alumni that I immediately self-rejected (so in essence, I was that person in my circle of one, and so what was required was a degree of exorcism, rather than expulsion). This is a terrible habit, and one I since unlearned in spades. Never reject yourself, or your own work--hand it out, and let someone else decide if it's worthy!

I take exactly the same approach to every other market, too. For every market that someone says it's practically impossible to get there, well, I know people who've spent their time honing their craft, improving their writing, and cracked it. I long ago had a set of markets that I considered to be my dream targets, and for all of those, I've gotten steadily closer--I have a string of detailed rejections from F&SF, including some very friendly ones that praise parts of what I've done. I've made Finalist (though not yet winner) in this contest, and I have a handful of the friendly like your style, please send more responses from both Lightspeed and Analog. (I also got a very detailed, love-your-style response from Strange Horizons, who are the fringe outlier just outside my initial dream-market target.)

Whenever we think a goal's impossible, we'll prove ourselves right. But accept that it's possible, and pretty much everything is. The mental game here is enormous.

If anyone needs to hear this: write something you love and hit “submit.” Even if it doesn’t seem like the perfect fit, even if it goes against some of the common narrative guidelines and assumptions, it might be just what they’re looking for. And if nothing else, it’s practice.

I want to second this, too. If I had worried over whether my story was perfect, or if it fit what I thought a winning story looked like, I would never have submitted my Q1 entry--and yet that was the one that made the final eight, outperforming a good number of prior entries that I would have thought closer to the mark, if I was breaking the stories down chunk for chunk and trying to chalk points onto a scoreboard. I learned a great deal by submitting what was quite outside of my notion of what your story needed to do to pass that bar, but what was, nonetheless, a story I loved, and that I'd loved writing.

And welcome to the forum!

DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex

 
Posted : May 12, 2021 11:25 am
Wulf Moon, David Hankins, PenMark and 3 people reacted
(@wulfmoon)
Posts: 3135
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@mikejackstoumbos. Thanks for sharing, Mike! Winning is a springboard to greater things...if you go bounce on the end and jump!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!

 
Posted : May 17, 2021 6:40 pm
LDWriter2
(@ldwriter2)
Posts: 1292
Gold Star Member
 

I am very late to this party so congrats to the winners from here and Finalists, SHM and HM 

Working on turning Lead into Gold.
Four HMs From WotF
The latest was Q1'12
HM-quarter 4 Volume 32
One HM for another contest
published in Strange New Worlds Ten.
Another HM http://onthepremises.com/minis/mini_18.html

 
Posted : May 20, 2021 7:48 pm
Wulf Moon reacted
LDWriter2
(@ldwriter2)
Posts: 1292
Gold Star Member
 

Just in case it needs to be said--this late it may not--my story got nothing. What I think of a total rejection, even though I suppose Dave could have read through the whole thing.  

Working on turning Lead into Gold.
Four HMs From WotF
The latest was Q1'12
HM-quarter 4 Volume 32
One HM for another contest
published in Strange New Worlds Ten.
Another HM http://onthepremises.com/minis/mini_18.html

 
Posted : May 20, 2021 7:50 pm
(@ajzach)
Posts: 105
Bronze Star Member
 

Have people started getting their quarter 1 certificates yet?

V35: R, R, R
V36: R, HM, R, HM
V37: HM, R, SF, HM
V38: HM, HM, HM, SHM
V39: HM, HM, SHM, RWC
V40: HM, SHM, HM, SHM
"The Soul of Trees" published in Third Flatiron's Things With Feathers: Stories of Hope

 
Posted : May 31, 2021 8:52 am
storysinger
(@storysinger)
Posts: 1498
Platinum Plus
 

I haven't received mine yet.

Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships

 
Posted : May 31, 2021 1:02 pm
(@wulfmoon)
Posts: 3135
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Posted by: @ajzach

Have people started getting their quarter 1 certificates yet?

Joni told someone they will be coming, no need to write. She hasn’t sent them yet.

Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!

 
Posted : June 3, 2021 10:10 pm
storysinger reacted
MarathonCoder
(@chwalter)
Posts: 105
Silver Member
 

My certificate arrived today.  Now I need to go buy a frame...

V38: HM, R, R, HM
V39: RWC, HM, RWC, HM
V40: RWC, HM, SHM, R
V41: R, WIP

 
Posted : July 9, 2021 4:28 pm
N.V. Haskell reacted
DoctorJest
(@doctorjest)
Posts: 835
Platinum Member
 
Posted by: @chwalter

My certificate arrived today.  Now I need to go buy a frame...

Mine arrived two days ago--I technically have a frame, but it's been packed up for moving house. So I'll take care of that some time in August, I expect...

DQ:0 / R:0 / RWC:0 / HM:15 / SHM:7 / SF:1 / F:1
Published prior WotF entries: PodCastle, HFQ, Abyss & Apex

 
Posted : July 9, 2021 5:09 pm
MarathonCoder
(@chwalter)
Posts: 105
Silver Member
 

@doctorjest I need to get mine up on my Midlife Crisis wall ASAP along with my age group 3rd place in a local 10K.

V38: HM, R, R, HM
V39: RWC, HM, RWC, HM
V40: RWC, HM, SHM, R
V41: R, WIP

 
Posted : July 10, 2021 8:34 pm
DoctorJest reacted
J.D. Wilson
(@jdw4lrhwriters)
Posts: 14
Active Member
 

Got my certificate for HM about a week ago. Thrilled! I'm working on a fourth (self-published) novel now, and have sold a few hundred of my books on Amazon. But the HM is so encouraging, in a different way. To be judged by professionals, and even though it's just one of several hundred HM's... still, I really appreciated the acknowledgment. Kudos to all who have entered the contests and who continue to keep at it. As a wannabe author who did not make the effort until I was sixty years old (nearly 63 now), it can be truly discouraging at times. This was one of those "bright spots." Thanks WOTF staff.

"The people in my songs are all me."
-Bob Dylan

 
Posted : July 17, 2021 10:11 am
(@wulfmoon)
Posts: 3135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 
Posted by: @jdw4lrhwriters

Got my certificate for HM about a week ago. Thrilled! I'm working on a fourth (self-published) novel now, and have sold a few hundred of my books on Amazon. But the HM is so encouraging, in a different way. To be judged by professionals, and even though it's just one of several hundred HM's... still, I really appreciated the acknowledgment. Kudos to all who have entered the contests and who continue to keep at it. As a wannabe author who did not make the effort until I was sixty years old (nearly 63 now), it can be truly discouraging at times. This was one of those "bright spots." Thanks WOTF staff.

I’m not staff, I’m a volunteer, but I’ll still congratulate you. The contest gives validation to writers in many ways to help them keep moving forward. I’m happy you’ve benefited. It’s no small thing to earn an HM. We make it look easy here, but that’s actually a tiny percentage of the thousands that entered from around the world that quarter. You have a right to be proud. 😊

Wulf Moon

Forum Moderator

Click here to JOIN THE WULF PACK!
"Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" won Best SFF Story of 2019! Read it in Writers of the Future, Vol. 35. Order HERE!
Need writing help? My award-winning SUPER SECRETS articles are FREE in DreamForge.
IT’S HERE! Many have been begged me to publish the Super Secrets of Writing. How to Write a Howling Good Story is now a #1 BESTSELLING BOOK! Get yours at your favorite retailer HERE!

 
Posted : July 17, 2021 10:39 am
J.D. Wilson
(@jdw4lrhwriters)
Posts: 14
Active Member
 

@wulfmoon Thank you!!

"The people in my songs are all me."
-Bob Dylan

 
Posted : July 17, 2021 4:02 pm
Wulf Moon reacted
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