Discussion: Q2 Volume 40

I was pretty excited about my Q2, I tried a new technique for flashbacks suggested by an editor on twitter and man it smoothed out those transitions. Prose wise it may be my best work, but when I read through it last night I realized the spec is pretty weak out the gate, it's strong in the end but in the first five you don't see a lot. Oh well, that's the point of the comp to learn and grow...and to go back and forth between confidence and self-doubt 🤣.

Enough dwelling, I have so many ideas for Q3 now. Are there beta reader groups in this thread? My mom is my beta reader and she's not gentle on me but I want new voices haha.

Posted by: @watt_writes

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and to go back and forth between confidence and self-doubt 🤣.

Heard that!

Posted by: @watt_writes

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Are there beta reader groups in this thread?

Post in the crit exchange thread, & you'll get folks quick to swap stories. I'd also be happy to beta whenever. 

@jeschleicher Oh great! thank you!!

@physa, any smoke signals yet? Beginning to vibrate with anxiety.

  (except less grumpy. Much less.)

The last few years dates for Quarter 2  results are:

June 26, July 22, July 14, June 25 and August 9. I would take that August date as an outlier.

Unless we get word of anything, I expect mid June at the earliest.

Posted by: @ajzach

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The last few years dates for Quarter 2  results are:

June 26, July 22, July 14, June 25 and August 9. I would take that August date as an outlier.

Unless we get word of anything, I expect mid June at the earliest.

Yep no news until end June at best

Posted by: @ease

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@physa, any smoke signals yet? Beginning to vibrate with anxiety.

  (except less grumpy. Much less.)

 

[consults scrying device]

[so many variables detected]

[the possibility of alternate realities looms]

[what with the extra first readers]

[scratches head, this can't be right]

[can it?]

[gazes across the meadow]

[begins to set up tents]

[can't hurt to be ready for bear]

[a watchtower rotation sign-up roster is placed on the bulletin board]

[best guess is smoke signals will be detected in late June]

[but who knows?]

[could be earlier, could be later]

[begins to order supplies for an extended wait]

With an end-of-June birthday, I'm here hoping I get better news than just "you're getting old" this year!  

Rooting for all the forumites!

I keep repeating 'It's not twitching time, It's not twitching time," but I here I sit under the twitching blanket.

Well Cray. I personally think it's twitching time.  

I have high hopes for my Q2 story. Phone charged and fingers crossed.    

I really think my Q2 submission is the best story I've written so far. I'm really hoping it's good enough for an HM.

After 139 rejections and 0 acceptances for my other 8 stories I need some validation that I'm not wasting my time. 

Posted by: @pmg

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I really think my Q2 submission is the best story I've written so far.

Good luck on the story. Glad to read you haven't let the rejections stop you from writing. Many people let it get to them and stop. I've fallen into that trap for many years and I didn't pick writing up seriously until late 2021.

PM me when you get the results, regardless what they are.  I'm not a great test reader, but maybe I can see something that you being so close to the story can't see. I know having someone else read my stuff has helped me identify weak parts of my story. I've learned that by fixing a weakness in one story, I've realized how my other stories are weak in a similar way.  

@pmg Feel free to Private Message me your latest story. I'm no pro writer but I've got a pretty solid idea about how to rise from R to HM.

@toddjones Hi, yeah I basically stopped writing between 2016 and 2019 due to a bunch of R's. Stephen King's "On Writing" helped me to understand that it's quite typical for short story writers to accumulate a lot of R's. Sure, thanks, I'll let you know how my Q2 gets on.

@pmg I (and I suspect the majority on this forum and writers generally), share your self-doubt and worry whether to keep going. I received a SHM from WotF after many form rejections, and it spurred me to continue because--while a SHM is not a published work--it was external validation that I could write something more than decent. The great thing with WotF and this forum, is it gives you some yard stick to measures your work (and progress) against. Few writers get accepted straight out the gate (Stephen King's rejection slip nailed to the wall, for example). We've got to write our way through a million terrible words, find our  voice and our style, and persevere. Easier said than done, but there's a lot of supportive people here. I'm happy to take a look at your Q2 and give you my thoughts - feel free to PM me.

Posted by: @pmg

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After 139 rejections and 0 acceptances for my other 8 stories I need some validation that I'm not wasting my time.

The fact that you are still striving to persevere and active on the forum is your validation. Hard work and dedication will take you many steps up the ladder of success.

Posted by: @pmg

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I really think my Q2 submission is the best story I've written so far. I'm really hoping it's good enough for an HM.

After 139 rejections and 0 acceptances for my other 8 stories I need some validation that I'm not wasting my time. 

Posted by: @pmg

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I really think my Q2 submission is the best story I've written so far. I'm really hoping it's good enough for an HM.

After 139 rejections and 0 acceptances for my other 8 stories I need some validation that I'm not wasting my time. 

Brandon Sanderson gave a keynote about being stuck in the rejection trenches. ( https://youtu.be/oH9sJrAVeC0 ). I found the mindset of consider what you would do if you never got published to be helpful, because I find writing to be such a help for me and my mental state, that I would do it even if I never saw results. 

139 is a good number to start. But it certainly isn't an outlier. Here's my numbers from the past 10 years. 

2014 - 6 rejections, 1 acceptance (no payment)
2015 - 10 rejections, 1 acceptance (no payment)
2016 - 26 rejections, 2 acceptances (token payment)
2017 - 33 rejections, 1 acceptance (no payment)
2018 - 32 rejections, 0 acceptances
2019 - 17 rejections, 1 acceptance (semi-pro) pared back on everything, because I was depressed and dealing with med side effects
2020 - 12 rejections (1 r&r, 1 final round, 1 very detailed personal), 1 acceptance (no payment)
2021 - 27 rejections, 1 acceptance (no payment)
2022 - 25 rejections, 2 reprints (SFWA qualifying venue!)
2023 so far - 9 rejections, 1 acceptance (semi-pro)

What can I say? This is a slog. All you can do is work on improving your craft and keep moving forward. 

@reigheena

Lately I've been complimented on my perseverance in submitting to WotF 32 times. You subbed 33 times in one year! That's persistence. (Salute)

I'm submission hesitant, so I see your list and I'm awestruck. You're braver than I, and will eventually (if not already) have more published than I because those publications will keep adding up!

@tj_knight *blush* Before 2019, I had a goal to get a certain number of rejections during the year, since you can't get published without getting rejected. It was a good way to get in the habit of always having a story out on submission, and being able to shrug them off. However, when my depression hit, the rejections just accelerated the downward spiral, and haven't had a rejection goal since. I might consider one in the future, but I also haven't been writing as many short stories to submit (currently working on a novel).

I'm back from a short holiday now (my wife's friend's wedding) and proper access to the web. The hotel Wi-Fi wouldn't let me know access the WoTF Forum for some reason. The time away was a good opportunity to clear my head.

@toddjones @ease @joel-c-scoberg @storysinger @prestondennett @reigheena

 I wanted to thank everyone for their supportive comments and offerings of assistance. I greatly appreciate your kindness  

I think if I'd have known how much struggle there is for a lot of writers when I was younger, I'd have continued writing instead of stopping for long periods when I got my first bunch of rejections.

Simply knowing that large rejection numbers is pretty standard has been helpful in maintaining motivation.

Fingers crossed 🤞 that results come back in June instead of July.

@craydimensional Shhhhhhhh. I'd like the results to kindly wait until my Q3 is in. I'm currently drowning at my job, and put in my resignation because it's too much of a nightmare factory. I'll have from the 22nd to the 31st to get my Q3 done 🤪. My fragile heart needs to stay motivated.

@gideonpsmith Awesome! I wish the best for you this quarter

@reigheena Those are some incredible submission numbers, good work on keeping it going. It is certainly a slog, but as you said, writing is just good for us. I also saw similar talks from other writers, and I have the same mindset. Even if nothing I write gets published, it was still worth doing, because it is good for me in so many ways. Especially in my early 20s, writing really saved me. Cheers!

Posted by: @watt_writes

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 I'm currently drowning at my job, and put in my resignation because it's too much of a nightmare factory. I'll have from the 22nd to the 31st to get my Q3 done 🤪. My fragile heart needs to stay motivated.

Hang in there.  Maybe you can turn the nightmare of work into a story?

Posted by: @watt_writes

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@craydimensional Shhhhhhhh. I'd like the results to kindly wait until my Q3 is in. I'm currently drowning at my job, and put in my resignation because it's too much of a nightmare factory. I'll have from the 22nd to the 31st to get my Q3 done 🤪. My fragile heart needs to stay motivated.

So sorry your job has been a nightmare. I have been there and know how it feels. Hang in there.

@spencer_s I hear you. Writing has been a release from a number of challenges I faced in life. Some times it’s an outlet to escape, and sometimes I use it to work through current events. Either way it is my way of coping so I continue.