WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

Submit co-authored stories to WotF? That sounds interesting, especially with a different author each time. Are you aware of co-author winners? I don't remember any. I haven't missed a WotF quarter since I first submitted, so my goal is to continue submitting each quarter until I win or pro-out and t...

I was getting a bit frustrated by my number of 'almost made it' rejections, but Charlie's highest tier rejection from F&SF with a bit of extra feedback was quite exciting! "Thank you for giving me a chance to read "[redacted]." Unfortunately, this story didn't win me over -- in pa...

The Reckoning might suit your story: https://reckoning.press/submit/

Beneath Ceaseless Skies usually give personal rejections, and I love them for taking that time. It's great they pick out positives as well as offering suggestions. Here's mine from a week or so ago (redacted bits as this is my backup story for WotF, should I not finish my favoured story in time): &q...

It is interesting, and I guess it doesn't matter we've gone so off topic so much when it's an old bumped post. The likes of Google and Apple are spending millions trying to figure out what exactly us humans are writing and saying, supposedly so they can improve their algorithms and understanding to ...

Definitely a bot and/or spam in my opinion, though the signature link in itself isn't harmful. Are you sure the link isn't harmful? It literally ends with "keylogger.html" and I know that certain kinds of malware are specifically meant to log your keystrokes. I'd treat it very carefully. ...

Definitely a bot and/or spam in my opinion, though the signature link in itself isn't harmful. We have a couple of bots floating around, though I don't want to keep bothering the moderators with reports, especially if someone else has already reported the posts. I wonder if it's possible to ban link...

Dustin Adams wrote:Looking for 1 or 2 Alpha readers. Grammar should be good, commas, are all over the place, but does the story work? 4400 words. I can return an under 10k swap after Aug 5th.

I can read it on Friday if that helps (I've e-mailed you). I owe you a 450 too!

I consider major revisions a new draft, though I realise major will mean different things to different people. I'm making fewer major revisions now compared to 6 months ago. I save a new document each time too. I've just made some small line edits to the HM I mentioned, so as they're small edits I w...

I just realised my Q2 HM was only a third draft. How many drafts do people do generally? My previous rejections and HMs would have been at least 4 or 5 drafts, sometimes as many as 7 or 8. It's taking me longer to write stories*, but less drafts feels like a good thing! *On that note, I should add t...

Wow. That must make a whole lot of new people eligible again. Keep that quiet.

Congrats on your first pro sale. For the second time!

This sounds a good idea to me - I'd love to swap if you're looking for another reader (I'll PM you). I have a 7,500-word story that just received HM. I broke one of my main writing rules and it has something else I consider to be a considerable flaw in my efforts to winning WotF. I wonder if the sto...

A third HM for me, and a second in a row, so I guess I can almost call myself a consistent HM receiver! An HM seemed an unattainable task to me 2 or 3 years ago, so this must be good news. Well done to everyone who received HM first time or levelled-up, especially Becky! Dave's critique will be gold...

New anthologies and markets can crop up at any time, so I stick mostly to pro-market submissions. Most of my stories are still doing the rounds at pro markets, though I've only made two non-WotF story submissions this year (I'm slowly editing older stories), so that's not saying much (60ish rejectio...

Welcome In, new members.

And hello NeighborlyRaven - I write a lot of poetry too (including speculative). I've actually received the proofs of an anthology of work from my local Stanza Group today.

"#2. To have others read your words. Who doesn't want an audience for our art?" is the prime mover for me. Although I have another, possibly entirely wrong-headed, motivation: I want to have my work and ideas published. Once upon a time, I planned on being an academic, and academics care ...

Dustin Adams wrote:I'm ready to start, but can't make myself get up in the AM. I'm out of the habit. Anyone have any tips for getting butt out of bed and into chair?

Set an alarm and put it across the other side of the room with a pen and paper.

Do you enter the Illustrators of the Future contest?

Not being American comes with a certain disadvantage when it comes to word choice. Just found out a word I used in my story has racist connotations in the USA, yet in Australia it's seen as innocent. =( I've confused people with my British English usage of wallet and purse. In British English, a wa...

Charlie talks about his rejection templates here, though it's from a few years ago when electronic submissions first opened, so may not be exactly the same: http://www.ccfinlay.com/blog/nectar-for-rejectomancers.html “didn’t grab me” = only read the opening “didn’t work for me” = good, read all the ...

I have a story I wrote as a contender for Q2 I'm going to work on, so it should be easier than writing a new story from scratch. Okay, this quarter my goal is to be done with my story early, so I won't be racing against time on the last day! (I think I said that in Q3 also :[} ) Happy writing everyo...

I'm in with a revised story. Submitting at 3am (UK time) was better than the 25 hours without sleep and only one hour sleep before work I managed last quarter. Listening to music by Aural Method, Slow Meadow and Hammock saw me through this time and probably last time too. Well done and good luck eve...

HermioneLee wrote:I have submitted my story, but I didn’t get the confirmation email from Joni. Does anyone have the same problem?

I usually receive a Wizehive confirmation, then Joni's confirmation a day or two later.

Bad writing in what sense? A bad story to someone is often a good story to someone else. Many top-selling authors are apparently bad writers, but are millions of people really wrong? This is a good little article: https://contently.com/2018/01/19/separates-good-writing/ Bad writing to me would maybe...

Oops - my post was worded poorly. I will submit the story, I'm just waiting until closer to the deadline in the hope inspiration strikes in the meantime.

I agree: never self reject!

I have a revised HM ready to go. It's a better story, but I'm holding back on submission as I still don't think I've made the premise believable enough for it to level up.

Congrats everyone! I'd love to read about how you worked this out together Liz and Becky. Is there a blog post coming? Maybe co-written! I read an article about co-writing stories recently. Maybe it was a link shared here.

Oh God, it is coming up, isn't it? wotf019 Subbing early for Q3 has left me with a lot of time to figure out my Q4. I've been poking at editing the story I wrote for the WotF workshop, but amusingly enough I'm not sure it's appropriate for WotF. (The subject matter is... well... not exactly what I'...

It's a good idea. Wulf asked us Super Secret participants for a similar reason in the Super Secrets thread. I've worked in office-based telephone customer service, as a web developer and designer, and for the last few years as a Technical SEO Manager (helping make websites more user and search engin...

I had stories professionally edited the year I started taking my writing seriously and submitting to WotF. I'm definitely a better writer because of that. I sent my recent HM story to Mica Scotti Kole (an editor and recent WotF winner) and have just read her excellent feedback on the story. It makes...