WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

BUMPING after Wulf mentioned getting critiques for Blood Sucker prompt stories (but they don't have to be those).

I can critique the first 5,000 words if that sounds helpful. PM a Google Docs link or your e-mail address if so. I'll have a 3,000-4,000 word story for exchange in a week or so.

I'll PM you my e-mail address. I'll have a story of similar length ready in a week or so if that sounds good. I don't intend to submit it to WotF either, but it will be my backup for this quarter.

I didn't know what an INFP was, so I did the test. I wasn't sure about many questions, but apparently I'm one too:

Your personality type is:
Mediator
INFP-A

And that's a good idea, Henckel!

Alex, I am glad you are in both! Always vote for what you believe in, whatever it might be. That's the only way any readers' choice poll or contest matters, from Critters to Analog to the Hugos. I've bigged up WotF on the other forum so my conscience is clear. ;) £9 is a big fee to me. This is poss...

Yay! Glad you hit your minimum. Warspawn was a great story! I love it. It hasn't sold somewhere? I don't get this business sometimes. Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. wotf007 I got a lot of personals on it, but no acceptances. (It's also the story where one market said I hadn't put in enough interna...

Hey, our WotF Vol. 35 hit #1 in the Critters Poll for Best Anthology! Alas, our WotF Forum dropped to 2nd for Best Writers' Forum. That may be down to me! I'm a member of both forums. wotf015 It could all change... My votes for best author, book, workshop etc. though - they're all very related to t...

I work mostly on usability but also a little in 'conversion optimisation' for websites. Many studies have shown orange buttons lead to more conversions, whether that's newsletter signups or making a purchase. *Goes on forum members websites in a week.* Every button is orange! But as a disclaimer, or...

I would like clarification on simultaneous submissions: 1. For example, if I submit a short story to WoTF, do I wait for the judging to be over for that quarter before submitting it somewhere else? 2. If I submit a story to another contest which allows me to keep all rights, do I wait for the judgi...

Just found this thread because I was wondering about something related. I see more Grinder submissions (compared to Duotrope) reported for the markets I am sending stories to. But what I was really wonder is whether pretty much all the "serious" authors are using Grinder or Duotrope. I su...

I voted already. WotF has been my favourite anthology since I first read it at Volume 30. :)

Going too short may work against you also. David Farland has said flash often doesn't give the writer enough words to impress him. There are always exceptions of course - there have been a couple of very short stories (though not flash) in recent volumes, and my HM was a flash. It's easy to get a ro...

I'm in with a revised story, with seemingly never-ending fireworks heralding the New Year leading me to put earphones in. Some people reading that will have reason to find it amusing. It's the first time I haven't entered fresh, but the story has more than tripled in length, so it almost feels fresh...

The submission form includes what files are accepted, and a PDF isn't one of them. WotF is quite lenient in terms of what you can get away with compared to many pro-markets, so get used to reading the guidelines! wotf008 You'll rarely have a Joni to e-mail. I read the guidelines of every market twic...

If anyone who hasn't read my story would like to swap, that'd be a great help. I had two contrasting opinions on a rather important aspect. Failing that, I'll be pretty happy with what I submit anyway. :) I plan to submit in around 12 hours at the latest (midnight UK time - I'm 8 hours ahead of PST ...

Dunno if I'm good enough to help, but I can try. I'll PM my mail. (And assume my wife doesn't want me to take her anywhere.) You did a great job with my story. Thanks TimE. I appreciate your help. It's after midnight. I've not heard back from my other crit partner (she's probably asleep Ha! Ha!) so...

Hey BeeW. "The Howler on the Sales Floor" from a recent volume comes to mind. I remember Dave saying there's a shortage of good comedy submitted, so if you can do it well and to the judges' tastes, you stand a good chance.

Sometimes I find italicised words off-putting when they're frequent. I didn't realise this was a rule, as I see stories that italicise and others that don't. I've written a story (in English) that has Arabic speakers but haven't italicised any words from Arabic (e.g. kaftan, dirham, souk). They're a...

I'll take a look if you like Alex. No swap reqd. I don't keep a tally, if you want me to take a look. I'm ready for a swap. My story is longer though: 8k. PM me Thanks - and to those who PM'd me. I wasn't expecting such a response so late in the day, and at Christmas time too! All quoted as I've co...

Whatever you think works best for the particular story.

Scene changes are usually separated with a centred hash or three asterisks, which I'd still use even if each scene is titled.

Here's a related super secret: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7600&start=210#p88815

If the forum members who I've critiqued but haven't sent my own story to yet see this, there's no way I expect a critique of my piece back so late in the quarter, hence my request for swaps with other last-minute-people. Just so you know I haven't forgotten about you. :)

This quarter has been the biggest struggle ever for me. Is anyone up for a last-minute swap? At the latest, I'll aim to finish my draft by the morning of the 28th UK time (so early hours in the US). It's shaping up to be 3,000-4,000 words, but I can read more than that in exchange. If you no longer ...

Yeah, it makes sense! I took it from the title of this song, which is a cover of a song originally from The Twilight Zone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwUrtZB16PY That's interesting about Dave's name. I just looked up the origination of the town name, and the de Wolverton family lived there. &qu...

As long as I'm here, rschibbler (Becky) asked me to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) for Reddit's r/writing community. I'll certainly be talking about Writers of the Future and entering the contest. But right now, you can pre-post questions to the Q&A event that will be live tomorrow from 6pm to 8pm...

Best wishes, thegirlintheglasses. I'm having a difficult time health-wise recently. I don't think I'll complete the challenge this quarter, but I hope to be all set for January, and I'll definitely have something to submit. I may have brought it on myself by working too hard, and I was thinking abou...

I'm glad you're getting more done now. Perseverance pays off. :)

My fresh attempts for this quarter are either really poor or taking forever to get anywhere.

Another tip. Figure out your author look that will be your look at every public appearance. Find some signature style or item that makes you stand out as unique. Perhaps it's a scarf. Perhaps it's artisan necklaces. Perhaps it's snazzy blazers--Kary does that. Martin Shoemaker does space themed tie...

The secret I'm trying to work on from those Leah mentioned helped most is "#4: Pick a major emotion and make your reader FEEL it down to their core!" My brain's frazzled and I can't think of much useful to say. I think emotion is one of the main factors in readers remembering a story long ...

Super Congratulations! Your second entry - you are a swift potato indeed. :D

I read a post about Dave getting a review where the reader made the comment that Wolverton could be found on the last shelf at the end of the last row. That was unacceptable. I believe that Farland is his mother's maiden name. Seriously, for a guy writing fantasy, Far Land is kinda perfect. I figur...