Picked up a flight out of Richmond to Pittsburgh, Pitt to Seattle. The contest admins changed the venue from LA to Seattle about a month ago, I got my itinerary just this week. Huzzah for organization. . .
On the flight from Pitt to Seattle, I met one of the other winners, Mike. . . um. . . Livingston, I think. I'm terrible with names. He teaches medeival lit. at Rochester Univesity. Cool.
Got into Seattle @ 8:15 or so; body was about to shut down because Inkling woke up at 5am, and I've been awake since then. . . WotF folks chauffered us from the airport to the hotel, and then to ANOTHER hotel to meet the judges-- Tim Powers and K.D. Wentworth. Did some introductions, overview of the workshop, came back to the hotel.
I'm rooming with Eric Stone, who I know from OSC's Literary Bootcamp 2003.
In one more hour, I will have been awake for 24 hours straight. . . heheeee! I should stop complaining, because there are people here from Australia and Sweden.
Of writerly note-- Tim Powers is engaging. We spoke briefly on what to do if an artist messes up artwork for one of your pieces. (This hasn't happened to me) His advice was to evaluate whether or not the artwork is GOOD-- that's what's important. It's not as important whether the artwork is relevant to your story, because the WRITER's the one who draws the picture in the reader's mind.
Good night.
[ August 31, 2005, 09:57 AM: Message edited by: Scott R ]
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Cool beans, Scott. I met Tim Powers briefly last year at LosCon, and I agree with your assessment of him. He has some interesting and valuable things to say about writing.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Very cool...both that fact that you are doing this AND the fact that you kids' screenname is Inkling...
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Yay Scott. Keep us updated!! It looks like a few of us will crash your signing on Friday too. Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Woke up at 4 am. . .
4 AM!!!! Without being prompted by the alarm clock or needy child! I must be insane.
Laid in bed for a good hour, trying to convince my mind to go back to sleep-- didn't work. Thought about doing some productive junk for the job that pays the bills-- put it off 'cuz it's Sunday.
Did some writing on 'Lead Kindly Light--' a story about a Mormon werewolf who escapes his affliction by rebuilding vintage motorcycles. Feels rather heavy. . . here's an excerpt:
quote:The trail led him to the top of the cliff. Clark turned and looked over the whole world below him, silver and blue and heartbreaking. He stretched out his arms, feeling the sweat on his back and sides tickle slowly to the waist of his pants, disappearing into the fabric there. The resonance was a gossamer steel strand, as light a bead of sweat, as solid as the cliff. You may stretch me, the wolf seemed to growl over the resonance, you may stretch me you damned man, but I am thin already, I am lean, I will not break. I am metal and chrome now, and I will not break, I will haunt you, I will hunt you, and I will have your heart in my teeth, your warm heart on my tongue. . .
Finally couldn't sit in bed any longer, I got up, showered, and went downstairs for breakfast. It was the BEST darned continental breakfast EVER.
And then we went to class. There's not terribly much exciting that goes on in class. . . as in events. Sure, the intellectual process is invigorating and all, but I can't do it justice here. AND since Eric James Stone has already posted his notes to his blog there's no REAL reason for me to type out all of MINE. Lazy me. . .
Every workshop, the participants are required to develop and write a short story in 24 hours. We got our 'seed' ideas today from objects that Kathy Woodbury found 'around.' Mine was a bottle cap to a 20 oz. plastic soda bottle. w00t-- believe it or not, I've got a story to use it. I'm working hard at NOT developing it before hand-- that would feel like cheating.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Scott R: The contest admins changed the venue from LA to Seattle about a month ago
Seriously, have a wonderful week, Scott. Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
Wow, thanks for doing this, Scott. Looking forward to the whole thing.
Stone's blog is very cool.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Today was at once the easiest day and the hardest day. . . of course, it is only day two, , but it's the day I've been dreading.
Interview.
So, this morning we discussed for about an hour the things we should do for research-- how writers should read tons of non-fiction. Hrm, need to improve on that one, don't think arguing on Hatrack counts so much. . .
Tim Powers talked about not being 'chronochauvanistic,' where the writer shows that modern sensibilities are people are better in our generation that earlier generations. . .
And then they sent us out into the city to talk to people and interview them to find out everything about them that we could.
When I did this at OSC's boot camp, I hit paydirt almost immediately. My partner and I stumbled on this old guy in a coffee house that was (perhaps) a little unbalanced; he'd just gotten evicted from his home, was feuding with his son, was unemployed and not looking, and was an alcoholic.
We had a really good discussion.
This time was not nearly so easy-- I wanted to get an honest interview as well as an interesting one. I wanted to ENGAGE a stranger.
I wound up cheating cheating cheating. . .
I walked down from Seattle's public library to the waterfront and mingled with tourists. My goal was three-fold: pick up some gifts for my children, find a florist that would delivers flowers to VA, and get an interview. I figured I could mesh the three tasks, buy lunch, and be back quickly.
I got the first task done easily. The second, no luck. The third. . . well, I tortured a wood sculpture seller out of one interview, had a discussion with an organic farmer for the second. . . and accosted my lunch waiter for the third.
None of the interviews were especially natural, easy, or fair, IMO. I pretty much manhandled the conversation, and everyone I spoke with was too polite to tell me they had other customers to deal with. Alas, I used them. I feel cheapened.
When we came back from lunch, we talked about allegory (I disagreed with the instructors-- I think that speculative fiction is highly useful for allegorical stories, and I think allegory is a wonderful artform when it is subtle).
We also talked about markets, and Tim Powers said to make a list in descending order of the markets that provide the most exposure and the best pay rates. He then said draw a line after #6, and if a story is rejected by all the magazines above the line, retire it.
Then the marketing folks from Galaxy press made an appearance and talked about how to market the Writers of the Future anthology. I'm all right with peddling it; but they better have my back. I especially hope they are more organized with their book signings than they are with their travel plans. . .
Tim Powers said the following about starting a story:
Write 10 sample sentences for the first sentence of the story. You're never going to use these; you're going to throw them all away.
Take three of those 10 and write one paragraph for each of them. You're not REALLY going to use these; you'll throw 'em away.
Randomly pick one of the paragraphs, and write a page and a half. You're not going to use. . .
HA! You just tricked yourself into starting a story! Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
Man, that interview thing does not sound easy! Is this a technique that actual writers use, or just an exercise for students?
quote:(I disagreed with the instructors-- I think that speculative fiction is highly useful for allegorical stories, and I think allegory is a wonderful artform when it is subtle).
Couldn't agree more.
Posted by OlavMah (Member # 756) on :
This is so cool, ScottR! Sounds like you're having a great experience.
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
quote:We also talked about markets, and Tim Powers said to make a list in descending order of the markets that provide the most exposure and the best pay rates. He then said draw a line after #6, and if a story is rejected by all the magazines above the line, retire it.
Did they say anything about submissions to original anthologies?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
No, but I'll ask tomorrow for them to recommend some.
Not much to say about today; it was a research day. I found out some neat things regarding Yanqui culture and religion, found out that the story I'd been planning to write wouldn't work the way I wanted it to (alas).
I also discovered the difference between magical realism and contemporary fantasy.
The rest of my time today will be spent writing my story.
In fact, most of tomorrow will be spent writing this durn story.
If I don't make it out alive, TomDavidson can have my comic books.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
So, what is the difference between magical realism and contemporary fantasy? Examples, please?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Magical realism has women who make really special chocolate, while contemporary fantasy has inhabited sewers.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
The example Tim Powers gave was that magical realism has the following scenario:
Woman doing laundry gets blown by the wind, with her laundry, slowly farther and farther up into the atmosphere until she disappears. Then, the next day, it rains daisies and all the little dogs in the neighborhood die of suffocation. But no one acts like this is an unexpected or odd event.
In contemporary fantasy, people act as 'real' people would act.
He was slightly derogatory toward the field of magical realism. Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Oh, yeah:
Today is our 8th wedding anniversary. I pre-ordered my wife a bouquet of sunflowers to arrive today; she (apparently) ordered some flowers for me.
Neither arrived. But the florist called us both to let us know they were having trouble delivering the flowers ordered by the other person. So much for suprise.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Oh, golly, golly, am I exhausted.
I have been awake, yes, AWAKE since yesterday morning at 5am.
I was writing my short story for WotF, and it just kept growing and growing. . . I couldn't stop writing it.
I thought I would stop at 10am, and be done with it-- but no. I had to write two more scenes. Long story short-- I started writing yesterday around 3:30p, and finished writing it around 1:30p today. It's 10000 words, 41 pages, and it really is not that good.
Here's an excerpt:
quote:Tara turned to go home again, but Angela caught her hands. “I know,” she said, and gulped. “I know when a boy. . .” She paused again, looked in the open screen door. Tara noticed, oddly, that the sound of Mrs. Heggins’ scuffling had stopped. Angela blurted out, “I know when a boy has seen Lilith. Your boy has seen her, and she hunts him.”
Her eyes were wild, “She hunts all the children, Mrs. Sharp. She hunts them all now, not just the boys any longer, but all children, and who can shed the blood to stay her will?” That awful, wild, sing-song voice again, rising up out of her nose and throat. It itched in Tara’s ears. Angela grasped her hand, and put it in her hair, and then kissed it. “You don’t know what you’ve done to me, you don’t know . . .”
A sharp cry from the darkened house, “Angela! Come inside now, young lady! Let Mrs. Sharp get on back to her family!”
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
Where does the bottle cap come in?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
On the bottle cap, there was one of those stupid codes that you go to their website to enter and maybe win a new car.
This morphs into:
The boy Angela refers to in the first paragraph starts writing strange symbols on his brother and sister while they sleep. The story is the boy's mother trying to cope with and figure out why he's doing this.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Thursday:
The highlight of the morning/afternoon was getting to see the artwork that will be included with our stories. The illustration that will be going with Blackberry Witch was done by Perrin Hendrick; and it looks just stunning. I couldn't be more pleased with it. Perrin really has captured the essence of the story, portraying Nina as being stuck between attraction to Asher, and obedience to her Mother, and just. . .wow. My highest complements to Perrin for an extraordinary job.
A number of professional writers addressed the class after we saw our paintings; we heard from Jay Lake, Ann McCaffrey, Kevin Anderson, Jerry Pournelle, Eric Kondi, and Robert Sawyer. They all gave a fair amount of advice on writing, which I'm sure Eric has up in his blog. I'm soooooooooo lazy.
We had a dinner later that evening for all the writers and judges. I sat at the same table as Kevin Anderson and his wife Rebecca. It was pretty neat. Kevin commented that he dictates much of his work into a tape recorder, and that is one of the keys to his prolific. . ness. It's an interesting idea, BUT he's also got a full time employee who transcribes his work. I think that li'l ol' me might be able to outline on a tape recorder, but dictating chapters and then typing them onto a page would be inefficient. They also talked at length about professionalism, and though most of it is common sense, it was good to hear what they had to say.
Incidentally, it is remarkable how all these authors are so generous with their time and comments. I expect it of OSC; I didn't know it was industry standard. Even fairly crochety old writers like Pournelle show a capacity for astounding generosity.
At the dinner, I spoke at length with Eric Kondi, who is also a well-respected physicist and martial arts instructor in Maryland. A very interesting writer-- he makes science appeal to this very unscientific fantasy author.
Also (mostly) enjoyed the Jerry Pournelle show, which is what any event turns into that has him present. We discussed marketing, publishers-- it is very interesting the different, contradictory opinions held by writers on the same people. Personally, I don't think Pournelle and I would get along; professionally, I am grateful for his input.
Friday:
In which schedules disintegrate. . .
Spent most of the morning reading and critiquing everyone else's 24 hour stories, got those passed back to them. . . Our rehearsal schedule kept being pushed back and back and back. . . finally went through rehearsals at 4:00, went back to the hotel to change, got to the awards banquet at 6p, and to the ceremony at 8p. LOTS of running around. Galaxy Press and Author Services folks were doing their utmost to contain the confusion, but they had a lot of varied venues to coordinate, and things got out of hand.
Got to meet Narnia, Shan, Shan's Son, and JNSB-- that was neat-o, Toledo.
The awards ceremony was fAAAAAAAAAAntastic. A little dry, but I understand it was shorter than last year. I was awarded the 2nd place trophy for the 3rd quarter of 2004 by Larry Niven and Kevin Anderson. I'm told my acceptance speech was pretty good; I don't really remember. I do remember walking off the stage without my trophy, and having to run back to get it.
I'm a tough act to follow. . .
The rest of the evening is kind of a pleasant blur. I know I signed about 60000000 books-- I started out using 'Is that a God in your throat, or are you just happy to see me?' for my blurb, but that is a LONG phrase to write out. Mostly, I just wrote, 'Don't drink the wine.' or something silly like that.
It was a great, great evening.
I'd definitely recommend the Writer's of the Future contest for anyone who's eligible. It is a fantastic experience which provides practical advice for the creative, professional writer.
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Yay Scott!! A trophy! You're amazing and I'm proud to know you!! I'm really glad that the week was such a great experience for you, it sounds like you made some fantastic contacts and did great work.
So will this anthology be available everywhere from here on out? With the illustrations? Where can we get our hands on one?
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
Hm...here's Volume 20 which looks like it was for last year...right? So we should get Volume 21 when we see it?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Scott, it sounds like an absolutely awesome experience.
Anne McCaffrey was in Seattle? I thought she didn't leave Ireland much these days.
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
quote:The highlight of the morning/afternoon was getting to see the artwork that will be included with our stories. The illustration that will be going with Blackberry Witch was done by Perrin Hendrick; and it looks just stunning. I couldn't be more pleased with it. Perrin really has captured the essence of the story, portraying Nina as being stuck between attraction to Asher, and obedience to her Mother, and just. . .wow. My highest complements to Perrin for an extraordinary job.
That's great. I've seen a number of Writers of the Future illustrations that were really good, but also a few that I thought rather sucked.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
>>So will this anthology be available everywhere from here on out? With the illustrations? Where can we get our hands on one?
It should be available in most big bookstores; I hear Amazon takes about two weeks or so to get it stocked.
It will also be available on audible.com sometime in the future. Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
quote:Originally posted by Scott R: Also (mostly) enjoyed the Jerry Pournelle show, which is what any event turns into that has him present. We discussed marketing, publishers-- it is very interesting the different, contradictory opinions held by writers on the same people. Personally, I don't think Pournelle and I would get along; professionally, I am grateful for his input.
Isn't Jerry Pournelle a kick? He's been at some of the LosCons I've attended, and he stikes me as being as anachronistic as hell...I keep getting the sneaking suspicion that he wants desperately to be Robert Heinlein. But he always seems to have something interesting to say, even if I don't agree with most of it.
As far as writers being supportive and approachable, that too has been my experience at LosCon. I can only think of a couple of the "big names" (which I will not mention here) who attend regularly who seem to be, oh, stand-offish or prima-donna-ish. On the whole, despite the competitive nature of writing/getting published, most of them seem to have the attitude that as long as the writing is good, the more the merrier.
Anyway, thanks for letting us in on some of what went on over the week.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Scott...
This is the most amazing adventure. I am just so absolutely psyched for you, and I can't believe how cool it sounds to have such notable folks recognize your work and give you an award...in person!
And how cool is it that you actually LIKE the illustration done for your story? I've heard that most of the time such first attempts sans collaboration are a disappointment. Someone talented got "into" your story and gave it an image you like. So very wonderful.
Congratulations!
Posted by Starr R (Member # 8361) on :
This is fascinating, Scott. Thanks for sharing. And congrats! Continued success to you.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
rivka, I think she's (McCaffery) is here through the rest of the month. She's scheduled to give a talk at the SciFi museum later this month. Coolness.
Scott, sorry I didn't make it there after all the effort you made to get me on the list. Family issues cropped up. Thanks though and I'm glad it was such a great experience!! Congratulations!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*hugely jealous of the entire PacNW area*
It's not enough you got ScottR? You get the DragonLady too? *pout*
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Not a problem, Jeni.
In regards to the inconsistencies on the views of the writerly life:
Charles X (sorry, can't remember the last name), publisher of Locus, talked about how writing can ruin your life. He talked especially about how many writers have a terrible track record with marriage. I spoke with Kevin Anderson and his wife about this, as well as Pournelle. Pournelle disagreed with Charles, and listed out several authors who are happily married.
And of course, I mentioned OSC and Kacard. He said, "Yeah, but Card's LDS, he's highly religious." As if that explained everything, or was a rationalization-- like, 'Yeah, but he's immune to marital problems.'
Made me smile.
Posted by OlavMah (Member # 756) on :
Charles Brown is the chief at Locus, and I assume who you're talking about. He's quite a character (I like him a lot.) His friends call him Charlie Brown, so that's easy to remember.
Kevin Anderson is also a great person to meet when you're starting out. Very friendly and generous guy, with a sharp memory, so don't forget to say hello to him when you see him again. I spoke to him for about five minutes once, then went up to ask him something at another con three months later, and he gave me a big hug and a warm hello. (Maybe he thought I was someone else?)
A lot of writers lose their marriages when they transition to being writers, because that's a major life change. There are a lot of pros who are on their second marriages and are married to other people in the industry and a lot of writers who married late in life. OSC was well on his way to being a pro when he got married, while I don't know that Rebecca Moesta (Kevin's wife) was. My Clarion class had three major breakups, where attendees were left by or decided to leave spouses, and one new couple who met at the workshop who are now married to each other.
It's not inevitable, though. I think my husband has fair warning that I really want to be a writer, and he's socialized with enough pros to know what our social life will continue to look like. It's a matter of easing them in Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I thought it was either Charles Brown or Charles Stross. Posted by OlavMah (Member # 756) on :
If he was wearing birkenstocks and was around five feet tall and had his hair back in a ponytail, then that's Charles Brown.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Indeed it was.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Awesome Scott! I am so happy for you to have had this experience.
So when are you planning on making the switch from short stories to novel length fiction?
And will you let hatrackers know where we can mail our copy of WOTF to you so you can sign it and mail it back? I'll pay postage both ways, of course.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
>>So when are you planning on making the switch from short stories to novel length fiction?
Curse you for reminding me, Belle.
Yeah, um. . . not for the forseeable future.
>>And will you let hatrackers know where we can mail our copy of WOTF to you so you can sign it and mail it back? I'll pay postage both ways, of course.
Sure-- email me at j b e e k e e p e r (a t) y a h o o (dot) c o m (no spaces), and I'll send you my address.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Incidentally, I just finished the second draft of 'Middle Child Syndrome,' my 24 hour piece from the workshop.
It runs 11k words (yikes), and is a suspense story about an emotionally disturbed boy. See above (way above) for an example.
Would anyone like to read it and critique?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Scott, this is a great thread. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Um, what's with the crit request in the subject line? Am I blind or just missing something?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I would!
Might take a little bit though, as I just found out I am moving to FL in 2-3 weeks. . .
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Ah, I see. Changing the subject line first, and THEN adding the message, all while I'm reading the thread and replying. Sneaky.
(By the way, you're more than welcome to join our new crit group if'n ya like. Yes, of course, I have to plug it. I'm shameless that way. There are, um, 14 Hatrackers over there already. I think.)
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Scott, I'd like to read it. Email to j r a d e r 1 0 at c o m c a s t dot n e t.
It's working again.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Scott--I'd love to take a look at it.
mechanicalman at gmaildotcom
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I'm designing a Frequently Asked Questions segment for a Writers of the Future pamphlet I'll be handing out at book signings. . .
And I need some questions. SO! all you inquisitive folkses out there-- what questions do you have about the contest?
Here's the contents of the pamphlet so far. . .
quote:Helpful Hints for the Writers of the Future Contest!
1. FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES! You can find the submission guidelines at www.writersofthefuture.com. Seriously, this can’t be stressed enough. The contest gets an estimated 2000 entries per quarter; many of these do not follow the guidelines for formatting, and are automatically disqualified before they are even read. 2. The contest’s first reader notes that contestants should AVOID the following story elements: a. Elves b. Angsty teenage melodramas c. Vampires, werewolves, and witches d. Cat stories (Incidentally, most editors don’t like cat stories.) e. Adam and Eve stories (two astronauts crash on a planet; their names are Adam and Eve!) f. Noah’s Ark stories g. Media stories (for example, stories involving Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or Hello Kitty universes or characters. Or stories remotely resembling those copyrighted and well-lawyered works of fiction...) h. The word ‘impossibly.’ As in, “Maya was impossibly blonde.” She cannot be ‘impossibly’ anything. By definition, it’s impossible. i. Stories that start with the main character waking up. j. Stories that start with the main character being tortured. k. Stories that start with the main character not remembering who s/he is. l. Stories that start with the main character realizing s/he’s naked. m. Weird viewpoint stories. (“I was Lisa’s gun. It’s wasn’t a difficult life, until. . .”) n. Out of genre stories. The Writers of the Future contest is a science fiction and fantasy contest. Make sure that your story has some speculative element. o. Anything that looks like it is an RPG campaign. p. Villains as heroes stories. q. Over the top metaphors. ( 3. The first reader notes the following a. Get the speculative element of your story out on the first page of your manuscript. b. Introduce tension, conflict, and suspense early in the story, and maintain them throughout. c. Point-of-View characters should be sympathetic—no serial killers or baby eaters. d. Read previous anthologies to get an understanding of what wins. e. Follow the submission guidelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How much sex, profanity, and graphic violence are acceptable in entries? A. Not very much. Because the anthology’s publishers are trying very hard to attract younger readers (high-school age), they are sensitive to sex, gore, violence, and profanity. If you stay in the realm of PG-13, you should be all right. NOTE: Several folks who have been published in the anthology have noted that profanity and some sex-scenes were removed from their winning entries—they were given the opportunity to approve the changes, or to work with the editors to make the changes palatable.
Q. Which is preferred—science fiction or fantasy? A. It runs about 50-50.
Q. Who judges the stories? A. Professional authors—here’s a list of some: Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Eric Kotani, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Robert Silverberg, K. D. Wentworth, Jack Williamson
Q. How is the judging carried out? A. I have no idea. Sorry.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Wow, some of my favoritest heroes and heroines. Way cool.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Q: How long does it take to find out if your entry is a finalist or winner?
Not only is it a common question for any writing contest, but I really want to know!
--Enigmatic
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Good question!
A: It depends on how slow the judges are. It took them five months to get back to me, notifying me that I was a finalist (via email); another month and a half for them to inform me I was a winner. I understand that they were slow this time around though. Generally, start looking for responses after three or four months.
BUT-- no news is good news.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
What's wrong with a story that starts with a main character waking up?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
>>What's wrong with a story that starts with a main character waking up?
KD Wentworth (one of the judges) said that it's kind of a cop-out. It's not a hard and fast rule that it's unacceptable if you have your main character start waking up-- my Blackberry Witch starts with the POV character waking up. But she says she doesn't like it as a device.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Thanks, Scott. That's interesting. I thought it was a strange rule, since the main rule about a story is that you start the story where the story actually begins. For most people, their day starts when they wake up and leads them into their day. It's something anyone can identify with. I guess it's sort of like Stephen King's dislike of using -ly adjectives.
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 5938) on :
> For most people, their day starts when they > wake up and leads them into their day.
And that's probably why it's a bad way to begin a story unless you absolutely have to.
Put yourself in the place of an average beginning writer. You wonder, where should I start the story? Well, my main character's day starts when he/she/it wakes up, so I'll start there!
Now put yourself in the place of K.D. Wentworth, reading a stack of manuscripts from beginning writers. After seeing a lot of stories starting as the protagonist awakes from slumber, you're going to be pretty sick of reading that beginning.
You want your beginning to be something interesting. Most of the time, people waking up to begin their day isn't all that interesting.
Of course, as Scott's story proves, you can break that "rule" and still win at WOTF. But that really only means his story was outstanding in other ways, not that you should also start your story with a character waking up.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
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Alas, I used them. I feel cheapened. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)