WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

SwiftPotato - I hear that last sentence especially loud and clear. I think the thing I expect and don't look forward to is when I settle in and think I've found a good reliable process and then for some other project something else will be needed/work better and then I'll go through the whole issue ...

Wow that is a full month. Not sure I will do one every day but maybe I should shoot for that at least instead of aiming low :). Thanks for sharing your plan. I'm really looking forward to this.

Storysinger, that is fantastic! I've sometimes found rhythm is the reason I haven't moved to more planning. The couple things I've planned I find myself stumbling when the story seems to want to go a different direction than the plan. Of course I know I can diverge from the plan in that moment but I...

storysinger wrote:I'm going to try using an outline for the story idea that came to me this morning. Something new for me, I usually like to follow the story wherever it takes me.

Always fun to take a new path and flex your skills in a different way. Hope it goes great for you :)

Just about to start re-writing the last scene of my story I've been working on the last little while. Still not sure if it will be my Q1 or if one of my other stories will be. But got a great idea for how to add some spice to the last scene that wasn't there on the first draft. Although I do wonder ...

I'd love to get a discussion going. I found discussing exercises with others helps me to see things about the writing process I didn't realize. Most of the exercises I've found are online, so that would help anyone who wanted to join. I can start a new topic once I've chosen all the ones I want to ...

Nice option. Although I wonder now that I think on it a bit more whether it makes sense to constrain yourself by saying you need to write stories of a certain length (especially in the drafting phase). Some stories just don't need as much length as others - and forcing them longer is probably just a...

That sounds like a great and reasonable goal!

I tend to write a lot of short fiction that is less than 2K words (either that or over 5K). Maybe I'll adjust my goal as I move through the year to challenge myself on different story lengths.

I had wanted to do a little group discussion around doing writing exercises at one point but it didn't seem there was interest in it. If you're interested in post exercise discussion I'd be game to do the same exercise (at least the ones in Steering the craft because I have that book) and then maybe...

Sounds great and Welcome Michael. I will point out that my own routine on this will probably never see me revising/finishing a story I wrote the previous week. I always need to give them time to rest first! Good thing I have a collection of stories just waiting for me to finish revising them to pick...

It's not necessarily talking oneself down--having an awareness of one's capabilities is a good thing. I can't write a first draft that doesn't need work, and I know this based on both personal experience and peer review. wotf019 The thing is, there's nothing wrong with that, because that's what edi...

Welcome RJK. You said just the right amount :) Glad you are back up after a difficult 2018.

I'm trying to decide about Nano this year too - so I can commiserate on the difficulty of deciding :)

This is a great idea....I am already jonesing for critiques by other writers, as this is my last semester that I particpate in creative writing classes at University....I will miss getting feedback every other week! There's a site called Critique Circle that I've found pretty helpful. The crits var...

Hi all, I know I'm pretty newbie here and so who knows if anyone would be interested in participating in this. But I was rambling in another thread and came up with an idea that balances my desire to write new stuff and my need to improve my revision abilities in particular my ability to "finis...

At a writing marathon today and so I've gotten some good solid progress on my story. It's actually looking like it might end up in novelette length territory. Thankfully that is within the boundaries of the contest :) just in case I decide to aim for submitting it to the contest. And well done on th...

I don't know if the story I'm working on right now will be a contest entry but boy it is flowing really nicely and I have a very solid idea of where it is headed and I love it and I hate it (I do tend to be too easy on my characters but I'm about to put this one through some stuff that won't be so n...

Congrats on the SHM Kent and StarReacher

Welcome Nicole! I've dodged into new territory a couple times lately too - fun isn't it. Hope you are enjoying that sci-fi noir! And of course good luck on the contest.

Good luck on those market submissions folks :). I just submitted my Q3 HM to a Canadian professional market and a revised version of my Q1 HM to a fourth market (It got those personalized rejections from F&Sf and BCS and one form rejection elsewhere). I think I've made a few good adjustments to ...

Feel pretty good about the HM I just got. Right after I submitted it I was just hoping I'd manage at least an HM. Then I had a stupid dream that it won LOL and that got my hopes up so it took me a while this morning to feel okay with the HM. Gonna send it on out to some other markets and see if I ca...

HM

You aren't that old. I have you beat by a few years :) Welcome Les and Simon.

I have to leave things sit for a relatively long time. I admit I fall in love with my stories as I write them and I am incredibly blind to their flaws unless they sit for a really long time - OR I get good crit(s) to work from. I do have some tendencies which get mentioned repeatedly in crits and I ...

Congratulations to both of you!!!

I'd love to join in on the adult bevvies - feeling the urge for blueberry tea. But sadly I'm going through a bit of dental work recovery so maybe will abstain for now. Too bad too because I wasn't feeling antsy about Q3 results until today. Last night I had a dream my Q3 won. So it has completely up...

I'll be making the final push on my story in a few days. I think I'm going take a break from the contest after this quarter, though. I've been feeling the urge to write novels more and more over the course of the last year, and I can't do that and write short stories at the same time. (Literally ca...

Just got a personalized rejection from F&SF - liked my world building but the story didn't quite win them over. So that feels good-ish. That story has gotten a bit of feedback on the quality of the world building but hasn't quite convinced anyone to take it. A couple more places I want to send i...

I hope it's okay that I bump this. I run into this problem a lot and I think it's because I spend so much time "mentally plotting". Then comes the reality of actually having to write it and the real work overwhelms me. It could be the same thing for you. I'm a pantser so I don't spend muc...

I might go for the 4 fresh new stories for next volume. I generally don't find drafting new stories that difficult. Giving them a solid edit that makes them feel finished however tends to be what takes all the time. But I might spend a lot of time for the next while revising one of my novel first dr...

Submitted my Q4 today. I was going to finish up my revisions on my Q2 HM and submit it. But instead I chose to submit my story that made the second round at Diabolical Plots. Today I am going to get in there and polish up the revisions on my Q2. But I think I will throw it against the wall at a publ...