Discussion: Q3 Volume 38

Congrats, @llamarob, @dommichaels, @patezell, and of course @axeminister! Let us all worship now in the Church of Twitch. I'll expect to see you all in the congregation on Thursday.  

I'm in! My last submission was a year ago but that wasn't a short story, just a 17000-word excerpt of a larger work. 

THIS is my first actual start-to-finish short story!!!  

Finished it at the end of March and almost submitted back then, but it needed some polish and proof reads.

Let's see how this thing does...  

If someone uses a VPN, can I, I mean, can someone, get a few more hours? Asking for a friend.

@babooher it closes at midnight Pacific Standard time. Unless I’m missing something, I don’t think it matters what time zone you’re in.

At the moment it’s 730pm PST, so you’ve got all the time in the world!

Write on!

I'm in!

Not my favorite thing in the world to wait until the very last day, but ehhhhh ... whaddya gonna do?

I originally wrote this story for an anthology call that has a wordcount preference for under 4k. I reworked the story to add in things and remove some other things, and I needed to change the ending. Added about 1,500 extra words, then sent it through my writing group. THEN, re-worked it again because it was missing a thing or two, and viola! Finished today AND my WG said good things about it. eek! ♥

Good luck, all. May the odds be ever in your favor.

~A.

Well, I'm in. Rushed as all get out. Hopefully I didn't do anything stupid (like I almost left my name on the draft!). I feel a bit embarrassed by the rushing. I thought I was doing well when I had a draft done in early May, but the revision was like a whole new story. I better get to crackin' on Q4.

Write on, write on, write on!

@babooher

Super! And with 3 whole hours to spare! Actually, I think fast writing is good writing (relative to where each of us are at in the craft). It means you're in the flow and I find those stories are usually more cohesive and creative. 

Every single time I tell myself that I'll get it in with a month to spare.  And every single time I come in just under the bar with a few hours left.  Whatever is wrong with me is no small thing.

Be that as it may, it's in now; good luck to everyone!

I forgot to say, good luck to all and congrats to everyone who entered. No matter what, you accomplished some writing and you put it out there. Q3 marks the first time I've made 4 consecutive quarters in a row, so an unofficial year of entries.  Q4 will be my first official year of entries. So far, they've always been new, and I plan on keeping with that tradition. Write on!

Posted by: @doctorjest

Posted by: @bethpowers

I'm in for Q3--so much for not submitting on the last day...

Well, I mean, it's not quite the last day...

True--in Contest-time I still had another day, but I log my subs in my time zone, and it was after midnight 😊 Submitting any closer than that stresses me out! But for all of you actual last minute submitters out there, you still have a few hours left!

I'm in, with a fresh story! Every time I write something longer than flash I doubt why I keep doing this to myself. All those dark thoughts about not having the skill that it takes. Yet, I remind myself when the torture is over and the submit button has been pressed. 

@doctorjest

I don't evaluate like you do. I write what comes into my head and into my heart and I write the way I want to. Hence, the rejection slips I guess. 

Submitted! I wasn't sure I'd make it this time, but somehow I managed. Yay! Good luck, everyone!

Posted by: @corbin-maxwell

@doctorjest

I don't evaluate like you do. I write what comes into my head and into my heart and I write the way I want to. Hence, the rejection slips I guess. 

Well that has me puzzled -- I'm not at all sure what you're responding to here. But the way I write is basically what you just described! I'm pretty impulsive, though I have learned to step back in places and curb my worse impulses. One thing I have learned more recently is a sense that lets me tell which of my ideas are stronger, and which ones lack depth, before I write them--and the stories I'm attracted to writing have started to lean more towards the stories that seem to do better.

Or at least, getting friendlier rejections, which is a step in the right direction...

(Addendum: I celebrated my four-hundredth rejection message earlier this year. I am, at least, stubborn.)

I got in with forty minutes to spare! For me, that's, like... really good.  

My goal was to submit much earlier this quarter--and with a completely different story--but given life circumstances right now, I'm pleased to be in at all. Plus, writing and editing an entire story in the last week or so was a good exercise, and my unfinished story gives me a massive head start on Q4. I think it's time to get back to it!

Great job to everyone who submitted! I look forward to getting results back with y'all in a few months.  

Well, I had a busier day than expected and only just got to do my final read-through, but I'm in with a few minutes to spare. Good luck to everyone on the forum this quarter! 

Nice to see a bunch of people in at the wire! Fingers crossed for us all when the Q3 results roll in!

@babooher

A consecutive year is a great achievement, babooher. And a SF in there, too!

Posted by: @doctorjest

Addendum: I celebrated my four-hundredth rejection message earlier this year.

That's crazy good. I'll be closer to 50 by the end of this year...

Sorry to clog up this post.

Just wanted to add my congrats to everyone who entered this quarter. And well done those who were pressed for time but still got their subs in.

Best of luck to all!

@scott_m_sands Yes... good luck everyone who entered Q3! And may your Q4 story take form in your minds soon.

I barely made it in time, had less than a minute to spare before I had to leave for work when I hit the submit button. A rather short piece this time at less than 2k words so some elements fall short, but I wanted to keep the focus narrow on the event as it is a type of conflict the judges might not have seen before. Don't expect any big accolades here given its briefness, but if the reader walks away thinking "Well, that was neat" I consider it working well enough.

@doctorjest

Yeah, I'm not sure what I meant either. As for rejection slips, I don't have anywhere near as many. But you carry on, collect and reflect and keep scribbling.  

Posted by: @corbin-maxwell

@doctorjest

Yeah, I'm not sure what I meant either. As for rejection slips, I don't have anywhere near as many. But you carry on, collect and reflect and keep scribbling.  

There's a lot to be said for rejections, especially when they come with feedback. They're similar to crits, a great way to learn and improve.

(Also, I used to be a little thin-skinned, and wanted to get rid of that, so set out to earn a hundred rejection slips. I managed, and it worked.)

With August just a few days away, I was surprised to see that I've received results for Q3 in August before (twice--2015 and 2017), but most of them (5) have been in September along with two each in October and November. For the last three years, it's been right around the end of September or the beginning of October for me. So I guess no twitching yet after all!

It's funny, isn't it? You get the results for one quarter and then you're like "Oh, I wonder how my next quarter will do!"

But the results will likely be three months away. 

Back to the next piece!

Posted by: @bethpowers

With August just a few days away, I was surprised to see that I've received results for Q3 in August before (twice--2015 and 2017), but most of them (5) have been in September along with two each in October and November. For the last three years, it's been right around the end of September or the beginning of October for me. So I guess no twitching yet after all!

I think in recent years all of the results are released at the same time. At least that's what it looks like. And the pattern seems to be results come in as the deadline for submissions to the next quarter closes. If so, that means we have a lot of time to wait so... may as well get cracking on those Q4 pieces.  

This year will be different than many with the lateness of the gala. Results will be in earlier than we expect. I picked June 26 for the last quarter and missed by one day. Let's pick the number 26 again, as in August. So, feel free to twitch away.  

I'll take September 4th. That's when we'll know results.