As for the new thread, I was planning on starting another one for next quarter just after I mail my manuscript off. (Yes, I'm still making finishing touches. I'm such a freak. lol) Setup should be the same. Will look for everyone to sign up. Thanks again for all of the help that everyone gave me, and for everyone's willingness to make this group work.

But, there are other quarters, and other contests. I'm going to keep moving with some other nifty ideas. I'm also still reading Story by McKee which keeps giving me meaty ideas for how to work with my stories to give them the maximum impact. I almost feel like if I could just power through the rest of that book (I am slow because I like to take lengthy notes of parts that are particularly helpful to me, and because usually it gets read in the twice weekly 45 mins I have while the kids are in gymnastics and tae kwon do, LOL) I'd be a much better writer. Funny how that insecurity creeps in.

Thanks too, to everyone who's wished us luck.

IAB. When did you show up? Thought you were out for the quarter? Anyhow, glad you got something in. Joining us for next quarter? Hope so.

I'm putting in a vote for Dan's story too.

I think it's the type of story the contest is looking for. It should do well.

NOTE: If it doesn't place, Dan, you should submit it to other places. It was a fun story to read and crit. I hope it gets read by bunches of people.

Alright...is everyone gearing up for next quarter? This critique group is hummin' along good now. With all of us critiquing each others stories (all the brain power we've got focused on the task), I think it is just a matter of time before someone places in the contest.

Thanks to everyone.

Let's keep on keepin' on.

quote:

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Congratulations on the HM, Patrick James! Woo-hoo!! Our first award of the group!

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Good job, Patrick and Darklight. Our first awards for the group....hopefully with many more to come.

As I said before, WriterDan, not hearing means nothing. I didn't get an email or a call, just found my name up there on the blog (after a tip off from an esteemed member of Hatrack )

So far I've read of two people who have gotten the "finalist" call for Q02 (Utah & Oregon). Nothing on the semi-finalist front yet though.

And thanks for trying to cheer me up darklight. I appreciate it.

Just got my rejection letter today.

My story didn't have a lot of speculative stuff at the beginning.

I decided to risk it. Probably not a great idea.

I'm thinking that, due to that, it might not have even been read beyond the first page or two.

Oh, well. I still like the story.

Letter: Thank you for entering. Your story did not win this quarter.

quote:

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I hope you'll submit it elsewhere.

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I'd like to sub mine too, but since its quite long, not sure there's many markets for it.

Tracy

Edit to add: I only say this because I work and work on a single piece until I have no kinks left that anyone can find. Whether you would want to do this, depends greatly on if there was a strong storyline or not. Most of my pieces have a strong storyline. If you have a piece that had a fairly casual storyline and relied heavily on the merits of the writing, then I agree you should move on. If it was a great idea with strong plot then I think you should try and fix it, otherwise, what a waste.

If you got an HM or a letter, then only KD Wentworth saw it. She is the sole judge up to that point. If you got an HM, that means she found little wrong with the quality of writing but the story was too weak when stacked against the competition. Remember that she can only send 8 stories forward to other judges. If you got an HM you need not worry because that means you may only have been the victim of an extremely strong quarter. She is saying, you’re a contender.

If you got a letter, she is saying, you are not a contender. Now yes, that’s her opinion but she does this a lot! So time to suck it up like a good writer and ask, why was I not a contender? I my opinion you need to figure that out to truly move on.

Many people who attend Bootcamp come back saying things like, I was starting my stories in the wrong place, or I have great ideas but my characters lack intriguing motive or attitude so the audience assumes weak ones. It could even be simple grammatical errors, which is easiest of all for the group to find. I understand the frustration but perhaps some of you may be missing opportunity here.

I'm thinking back on Heinlein's rules here. Once you've polished it it might simply be better to move on to the next piece, rather than retinkering with the whole thing again.

<shrugs> My two cents.

I've been busy with the Heinlein contest and that group.
I'm thinking of sending Ghosts of the Void there. Getting near the wire so I've been obsessing over the opening a bit.

I think the story -- which was one of those in my self-challenge of a story a week -- needs to simmer awhile on the back brain so sending it off to the Heinlein contest who'll keep it for a year is probably a good idea.

I can't believe it!
The only reason "Redlight" did not make it to the finals is that at the bottom of page three a line was dropped. The last three words of a sentence somehow didn't get printed even though they are in the file on my computer!!!

That's it! That's all that was wrong!!