WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

I always enjoy keeping up with this thread because it's so encouraging. You'd think that seeing other people's successes and not having one to report myself would be a bummer, but somehow it's not. It's like seeing all the successes reassures me that editors are actually accepting stories and not ju...

In a way, my winning story dealt with this theme. I think this theme requires additional conflict--in terms of why they don't feel they belong or what's stopping them from belonging--to add more complexity. For example, my story was about my character wanting to have a sense of home, but he feels he...

I tend to imagine that is what I am doing, adding important details, it's why my stories end up in the 9K-10K range. People on this forum tell me I need to cut a lot of it, too much world building haha. I am doing my best to take that advice to heart. I want to get down below the 7K range like you....

Just curious. What happens when WOTF just gets too big for Dave to handle the load? Will they get a second "gate keeper"? Does he actually have slush readers or does he really glance at every single story? I can imagine that working in the past, but with the competition gaining popularity ...

Correction: I just read the prompt again and it does not specify a place or time period. It just says "world" and "society" so I'm guessing it doesn't have to be a real-world setting.

Hey, folks! Just thought some of you American writers might be interested in this competition (only US citizens can submit). It's hosted by the Economy Security Project and sponsored by the Hopewell Fund and Gizmodo. Anyway, $12,000 to the first prize winner and $1000 to the "short list" w...

I've been poking around Flame Tree Publishing and noticed that they accept novel submissions. I've been trying to find out what novels they've published so I have an idea of what they're looking for, but I haven't been able to find any novels published by them. I know they're new to the speculative ...

So excited to see three finalists from the forum! Congratulations, all! Wouldn't it be awesome if y'all sweep the slots? So, I got an HM for 3rd quarter? ... ha. It's possible that I submitted under a slightly different name so my story wasn't pulled. Kind of cool to still get feedback. Goes to show...

Not sure if I'll be able to accomplish this or not, but I want to give it a try.

My story, The Broken Karwaneer , is now free to read on Beneath Ceaseless Skies! Check it out: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-broken-karwaneer/ Just read it. Thoroughly enjoyed it too! Beautifully written. Did you use a similar style with your winning story? I look forward to re...

Thank you, everyone! Technically, I wrote this story for a college class like 8 years ago and it took over a year and 15 drafts, a round through Critters, and like 8 flat rejections to get it in shape. So totally worth it though. Even though I'm excited to have placed, I'm even more excited to have ...

And the results?

Joni giggled.

I got SECOND PLACE! *happy dance*

If I understand correctly, that removes me as a contender for the Golden Pen, which means I can officially stop twitching and kick back until April.

sounds like yours is YA, rather than a Children's Story. Yes, it probably is. So is WotF an appropriate publication for a YA story? Offhand, I can't recall reading any winning stories that were targeted for a predominantly YA audience. There's been a few that could be considered YA. Personally, I c...

I agree with pretty much what everyone else said. I think when they say, "children's stories," they mean stories whose content and themes remain only at a children's level. E.g. Peter Rabbit, The Ugly Duckling, Amelia Bedelia, or Wind in the Willows. However, it may not include books like,...

I have my desk tucked in a corner where I get lots of natural light, with the bird feeder outside the window so I can watch the birds bird while I'm searching for the right word. *cue music* A-well, a bird, bird, bird, well-a bird is a word... (wish they had a dancing emoticon) Agreed on the view o...

Conga rats dancing for you, Amy! Sorry it's not over yet; best wishes on the judges recognizing your skills. Either way, it's a hard won honor, and kudos to you! Later, you can tell us if you wrote a story about twins being betrayed by their government! Wait? Wasn't that already done by Schwarzeneg...

I couldn't find another discussion on this topic so hopefully I'm not rehashing a discussion. About six weeks ago, my husband started working from home. We've done this before and already had a space allotted for a home office. However, over the last three years of him working out of the home, I kin...

I think this is something that comes from experience and study. I think one of the best ways to achieve it is to study the archetypal (and often cliche) plot/character evolutions being used in popular books. Some of the best twists I've seen make it seem like the story is going that way and then, in...

As entertaining as the irony is, Beverlyalcock is spamming a custom essay writing service.

Pretty sure dalept4 is spamming porn...

Dustin Adams wrote:I believe KD Wentworth's story was the shortest win at 2k.

Wow. I get the impression that you're the WOTF Anthology guru. Out of curiosity, how many volumes have you read?

Need to change your signature. wotf011 Well, she doesn't know if she placed yet or not, so that may be why she hasn't. wotf011 True dat. I was just thinking the F, and pending for the W (fingers still crossed!) Yup, waiting for the call. That way I change it in one stroke rather than having the ago...

As for revisions, I hope I get quicker at that. I revise as I go because I fall on the "discovery writer" side of the spectrum. When new ideas occur that add new elements or take a story in a new direction, I feel like I have to go back and rewrite or insert important details right then or...

Authors who instruct, whether in class or books, always describe the maturation process of an idea. Some cook the idea, some build around it and some let it ripen, but however described, the idea maturation process takes a different amount of time for each idea. I like how you described that becaus...

Thank you, everyone! I'm so excited! I got a voicemail from Joni to call her back and I could hardly believe it. Now I'm glad I have the voicemail because I've listened to it like a bajillion times. I hoped the last year of intense study would pay off and I'm glad to see that at least with this stor...

O_O

I can't decide if I'm twitching more from waiting for placement results or for my twins to come.

Congrats, everyone, on learning experiences achievements! wotf009 Any word on semi-finalists? Do they usually take longer to come out? There's usually 2 or 3 forumites who report one and I haven't seen any yet. Ckkemp reported a Semi-finalist under the Q2 quarterly results thread a few days ago. Oo...

So, I'm running up against the common dread unfinishing disease that plagues so many writers. I have at least a dozen stories with the first 2,000+ words written only to be set aside for a different project. I know I need to be disciplined and just finish, but I've realized there's another cause to ...

Congrats, everyone, on learning experiences achievements!

Any word on semi-finalists? Do they usually take longer to come out? There's usually 2 or 3 forumites who report one and I haven't seen any yet.

If WotF suddenly send me a cheque for the other 30% I will be sure to come back here and report it! y ha ha. Please do. I wonder if it's more applicable to paper-copy magazines where page count matters more. Still, that would apply to WOTF. I guess it's something to look at and ask about when looki...