chuckt wrote:Oh man. Wow. What a great challenge. Get a story critiqued every week by Dean. 2000 word minimum though. That'd be tough to do and maintain the day job.
Chuck, replying to you, but of course, sharing with all. Dean Wesley Smith was my mentor, and the reason I'm writing--and selling--again today. His teachings on getting your words on paper, not rewriting, and always looking forward by moving on to the next are the foundation of my Super Secret Bonus Challenge. Four original fresh stories in one contest year is not an impossible goal. It's a simple start toward growth, and all new writers need to start somewhere, set reasonable goals that push themselves, and keep moving forward in their skills. In truth, most of us need to be writing much, much more.
So this is a great challenge. Actually, it's teaching you to reach a level many pro writers are writing at: a chapter a week, or a short story a week. 1,000 words a day equals 7,000 words a week. That's a meaty novel chapter. And a nice size for a decent short story.
I used to do a similar challenge with my writing partner, back in my Wordos days in Eugene, Oregon, where I became friends with Dean and Kris. We'd meet for lunch once a week at East 19th McMennamins Pub. I'd hand my writing partner my completed novel chapter for the week, and he'd hand me his. Then, we'd go over our critique on the chapter we submitted the prior week.
It was amazing how much you got written when you knew you had to account to someone every week. Physically meeting for lunch helped as well--you didn't want to be the one to come empty handed. (You might even want to say the person that comes empty handed has to buy!) Even on bad weeks, I discovered I could punch out a zippy chapter in very little time so I wouldn't come empty handed. Challenges like this are very motivating.
And now, my caveat. As always, it's just an opinion--I am a firm believer in listening to advice, figuring out if it's valid in your case, and then doing what is right for you. But if you're trying to win Writers of the Future, you might very well wish to invest more than a week on your winning story. Almost all the winners put a great deal of time into their winning stories--some, in fact, worked on them for
many years (I don't recommend this, but success is hard to argue with). Yeah, I wrote my winning story in 36 hours, but I'm sure my subconscious had been ruminating on that little 250 word flash piece it was based on for many months. My point is, if you get a strong idea that needs time to work on, being divided between meeting a weekly challenge or creating your magnum opus for WotF can create a real conflict. You might have to choose between rushing to meet your weekly deadline, or spending more time to research and flesh out a story for WotF that will need more than a week to finish.
Personally--(Yoda voice: Away with your weapons, I mean you no harm)--I wouldn't put myself under a challenge that might force me to focus on the challenge over my WotF winner. If you sense you have a truly great story on your hands, you should take all the time necessary to make it right. It's how you win this contest. Ask the winners.
Then again, someone could argue that creating fresh stories every week will uncover that true gold nugget. Or teach you the skills necessary to
write that true gold nugget. This is a good thing! So I will simply say if you are in a challenge and discover that has happened, drop the challenge temporarily and create your winner. If you are doing the challenge with a friend, they will understand. If you're doing it with Dean, he'll start you over if you miss.
Your focus determines your reality. Since you are here, I assume you are here to write well, and to win this contest. Be sure you can handle any commitments you make, and that said commitments won't distract or interfere with giving your quarterly entry the 100 percent focus it will need to win.
All the beast,
Wulf Moon