Wulf Moon wrote:and this is for posterity, so please be honest. (Bonus points if you know that line! :)
Not to 50!
Wulf Moon wrote:and this is for posterity, so please be honest. (Bonus points if you know that line! :)
chuckt wrote:Wulf Moon wrote:and this is for posterity, so please be honest. (Bonus points if you know that line! :)
Not to 50!
chuckt wrote:Wulf Moon wrote:and this is for posterity, so please be honest. (Bonus points if you know that line! :)
Not to 50!
disgruntledpeony wrote:chuckt wrote:Wulf Moon wrote:and this is for posterity, so please be honest. (Bonus points if you know that line! :)
Not to 50!
THANK YOU! I've been trying to place that quote since Wulf gave it, and the second reference keyed it in. I need to re-watch The Princess Bride, because it's clearly been too long. Or re-read it. The book is delightful.
disgruntledpeony wrote:chuckt wrote:Wulf Moon wrote:and this is for posterity, so please be honest. (Bonus points if you know that line! :)
Not to 50!
THANK YOU! I've been trying to place that quote since Wulf gave it, and the second reference keyed it in. I need to re-watch The Princess Bride, because it's clearly been too long. Or re-read it. The book is delightful.
Wulf Moon wrote:disgruntledpeony wrote:chuckt wrote:
Not to 50!
THANK YOU! I've been trying to place that quote since Wulf gave it, and the second reference keyed it in. I need to re-watch The Princess Bride, because it's clearly been too long. Or re-read it. The book is delightful.
The book is delightful. Just don't be like younger me and go out looking for the original by S. Morgenstern.
Well played, William Goldman. Well played.
~Moon~
crlisle wrote:How do they tell you?
crlisle wrote:How do they tell you?
Wulf Moon wrote:
It helps to view this contest as a marathon, not a sprint.
Wulf Moon wrote:crlisle wrote:How do they tell you?
(and many also report on the Submission Grinder).
It's a good idea to listen to the WotF podcasts interviewing the Winners.
crlisle wrote:
Thank you for such a detailed answer.
What is the Submission Grinder?
I will definitely listen to the winner podcasts.
Wulf Moon wrote:Chuckt wrote: "I didn't think about that. Thanks for another insight Wulf."
For you twitchers out there, here's another reason to twitch. When all the winners for the anthology are chosen, WotF sets up a private Facebook group account for the winners to get notifications and to teach them to start working as a team for their mutual success. A few of the WotF judges and moderators get invited to join as well, to help the winners with any contest questions, advice, and encouragement.
Last night, John Goodwin sent me that invite. The hall is still empty, so to speak, but it's been rented, and the guests are about to arrive...
jbaugher001 wrote:Wulf Moon wrote:Chuckt wrote: "I didn't think about that. Thanks for another insight Wulf."
For you twitchers out there, here's another reason to twitch. When all the winners for the anthology are chosen, WotF sets up a private Facebook group account for the winners to get notifications and to teach them to start working as a team for their mutual success. A few of the WotF judges and moderators get invited to join as well, to help the winners with any contest questions, advice, and encouragement.
Last night, John Goodwin sent me that invite. The hall is still empty, so to speak, but it's been rented, and the guests are about to arrive...
Wulf, do you know if the rejections go out first or if the finalists are notified first? Maybe I should just let it be and wait but, while I haven't been the most regular submitter to the contest, I still get phantom twitches mid-november. This is my first time subbing since 2017, when I got notified of a rejection in January. I met one of the slush readers at World Fantasy Convention and she told me they're moving right along. Still, I'm impatient
Henckel wrote:That's an amazing story Wulf!
I've been thinking a lot lately about Kary English and her part on the contest. To date, I've only received HMs.... So, I'm not sure how much (if any) of my story is ready by Dave.
So, what can you tell us about Kary? Personally, I'd like to write such a story that Kary sends it to Dave with a smiley face on the top of the page with the note "personal favorite".
Perhaps we should invite Kary to say a few words?
jbaugher001 wrote:Henckel wrote:That's an amazing story Wulf!
I've been thinking a lot lately about Kary English and her part on the contest. To date, I've only received HMs.... So, I'm not sure how much (if any) of my story is ready by Dave.
So, what can you tell us about Kary? Personally, I'd like to write such a story that Kary sends it to Dave with a smiley face on the top of the page with the note "personal favorite".
Perhaps we should invite Kary to say a few words?
If the person who I met was indeed Kary, i can't really tell you much about her. She was super nice. She was with one of the Wotf winners and I had mentioned to the person who won that I had a story in Q4 that was pending. Kary asked what it was about and she told me she remembered it and passed it on. It was really cool to see --i only explained for about a sentence before said she remembered it. Nice ego boost too, I guess.
As a former slush reader for Flash Fiction Online I can only speak to my experience. We looked for original voices and stories that were well written and grabbed us in the first few sentences. Oddly, there seems to be trends that cycle through the genre. I once rejected 10 "instruction manual stories" that detailed "how to set up your new human". There must have been a popular writers prompt or something that month.
Voice was always super important to me too. In essay writing we talk about "the authoritative tone" and something similar exists in stories. Does the author really dig into the grit of the characters? Do they reveal their mis-belief -- the internal obstacle that they have to overcome? Does that obstacle influence their perception of the world? If there was a superb character with a strong voice I'd say we bought the story 80% of the time even if the plot or concept was kinda basic. If there was a complex plot with a wooden character it was a much harder sell.
Thanks for coming to my ted tak
SwiftPotato wrote:jbaugher001 wrote:Henckel wrote:
Whoa, it must be cool to hear that your story was one that Kary remembered and passed to Dave! Good for you!!!
Thanks for sharing your experience with reading as well. Those are some great points to know and I'm happy to have heard (read?) your TED talk! I can see what you mean about not minding a more basic plot/concept in the face of an interesting character. As your average reader, I will definitely read further if the character or the voice sucks me in than if the plot is super cool but the main character is lackluster. Sure, maybe that magic system and the world around it are super cool, but what keeps me reading is why those things matter to the people who live in them.
jbaugher001 wrote:SwiftPotato wrote:jbaugher001 wrote:
if i can make a recommendation: The Story Genius by Lisa Cron was excellent in making all that click for me
Henckel wrote:Wow. Great information. Thanks everyone!!!!
I hereby declare abandonment of my previous story ideas for q4 for some new ideas with an "authoritative voice" ... and a few other enhancements.
On another note, I can see the value in reading slush. I've only had an opportunity to do this once for an anthology (which was published about a week ago). And I gained TONS of knowledge by seeing what ideas fell flat and what made mediocre ideas work. And what made great ideas fall flat.
jbaugher001 wrote:Also, for those of us twitching together: someone reported a rejection for q4 on 11/8 on submission grinder so, brace yourselves
Henckel wrote:jbaugher001 wrote:Also, for those of us twitching together: someone reported a rejection for q4 on 11/8 on submission grinder so, brace yourselves
"I just looked at Grinder. It appears that Q4 results for last year came on 14 and 15 November. I'm going to speculate that winners will be getting a call about now," Henckel said, twitching.
jbaugher001 wrote:Also, for those of us twitching together: someone reported a rejection for q4 on 11/8 on submission grinder so, brace yourselves
RSchibler wrote:jbaugher001 wrote:Also, for those of us twitching together: someone reported a rejection for q4 on 11/8 on submission grinder so, brace yourselves
Interesting. I’m not seeing that on the grinder.
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