Contest Entry Discussion

[Eldritch]

my first question for the more serious writers amongst us: Is it ok that I HATE writing? lol. I usually try to take the zen approach of "Its the journey that matters, not the destination" but in writing, I DESPISE the journey! I love my stories when I finish them, but I'm getting ulcers trying to get them right...does it ever get easier to drag your butt to the keyboard when you just don't feel like it?

Hi there spernst,
I'm wondering if maybe you're setting your self-expectations too high, that you're expecting yourself to produce a polished piece on the first attempt. If that's the case, here's my advice:
1. Lock your internal editor away.
2. Accept that what you're about to write is a first draft, and that it will without a doubt be crap.
3. Then, start downloading all the wonderful, wild, creative words and images from your brain to the screen (or paper).
4. When you're done, begin the process of cleaning, editing, rewriting, rewriting, rewriting and then rewriting the piece some more.

[Dan Hocker]

I’ve got lots of experience reading slush for Dark Recesses and I’ve developed little tolerance for obvious grammar and spelling errors. I did read every single of the stories posted here though and took each into consideration. What I looked for first was “story”. If it was too clichéd—forget about it. (Serial killers, vampires, werewolves—yech!) These stories are very short so it needed to hook me right away. (I still kept going but that only proved that most never got any better. At DR I’d just send it back with a form rejection if I wasn’t caught up in the first couple of paragraphs.) Watch out for your twist endings. Twists can be a pitfall, but nice if you can pull it off. When doing twists you need to be careful not to telegraph the ending. If I can tell how it’s going to end right away, I may want to skip it. It’s an art getting endings right, but a good ending can make a story sing.

MLD

So true about the "Twists", after I guessed the ending of "The Village" in the first 5 min, I couldn't finish watching the movie. I also guessed the ending of "9 Pounds" (I think that's the title) in the first 15 min.

[Draven Ames]

i dont have anyone to proof my stuff - my circle friends is either reading the Wall Street Journal or Sean Hannity's latest book... :/

That is exactly why making friends with writers helps. Often times we can help beta read one another. But you have to get to know them first, you know? That's where networking comes in. Once you make friends with a few writers, you will be surprised at how giving they are (as long as you're prepared to be giving with your time as well).

[mlouisdixon]

I’ve got lots of experience reading slush for Dark Recesses and I’ve developed little tolerance for obvious grammar and spelling errors. I did read every single of the stories posted here though and took each into consideration. What I looked for first was “story”. If it was too clichéd—forget about it. (Serial killers, vampires, werewolves—yech!) These stories are very short so it needed to hook me right away. (I still kept going but that only proved that most never got any better. At DR I’d just send it back with a form rejection if I wasn’t caught up in the first couple of paragraphs.) Watch out for your twist endings. Twists can be a pitfall, but nice if you can pull it off. When doing twists you need to be careful not to telegraph the ending. If I can tell how it’s going to end right away, I may want to skip it. It’s an art getting endings right, but a good ending can make a story sing.

MLD

[RJHubbard53]

Very good point. A lesson hard to learn for some people. When I first started, I thought writers wrote and editors edit. I learned how important a second or third set of eyes can be, very quickly.

i dont have anyone to proof my stuff - my circle friends is either reading the Wall Street Journal or Sean Hannity's latest book... :/

[C.W. LaSart]

Don't worry we'll most certainly be having the final entries proof read!

Of course you will, wasn't implying differently Draven stated my point a little more succinctly than I did!

[Draven Ames]

I doubt there are too many on here who don't have atleast one person who came just to vote for them-my beloved joined and voted for me, but he is also a horror fan and has cast his votes for other groups as well. I am trying not to lose sight of the fact that the winners are going to be published with THREE very respectable writers. Any time a book is put together, it will be reviewed. It doesn't matter how great your story is if some reviewer proclaims the rest to be "crap"! I am trying to vote for the stories that I feel will look the least "amatuer" next to the big boys! So, although story is very important, I feel that editing is just as important. Sure, publishers have editors who will fix your mistakes, but if you aren't sending things out in as polished of a state that you can, they won't even look at them.

Very good point. A lesson hard to learn for some people. When I first started, I thought writers wrote and editors edit. I learned how important a second or third set of eyes can be, very quickly.

[Dan Hocker]

Don't worry we'll most certainly be having the final entries proof read!

[C.W. LaSart]

insert foot in mouth. I'm pretty certain that 3/5 votes for my story are: wife, mom, brother. sorry, they're loyalists.
I'd like to hear what criteria some of you are using to judge entries- are you voting based on how well written an entry is, or how much you like the story?

I doubt there are too many on here who don't have atleast one person who came just to vote for them-my beloved joined and voted for me, but he is also a horror fan and has cast his votes for other groups as well. I am trying not to lose sight of the fact that the winners are going to be published with THREE very respectable writers. Any time a book is put together, it will be reviewed. It doesn't matter how great your story is if some reviewer proclaims the rest to be "crap"! I am trying to vote for the stories that I feel will look the least "amatuer" next to the big boys! So, although story is very important, I feel that editing is just as important. Sure, publishers have editors who will fix your mistakes, but if you aren't sending things out in as polished of a state that you can, they won't even look at them.

[Draven Ames]

insert foot in mouth. I'm pretty certain that 3/5 votes for my story are: wife, mom, brother. sorry, they're loyalists.
I'd like to hear what criteria some of you are using to judge entries- are you voting based on how well written an entry is, or how much you like the story? I voted for several that had obvious "writing mistakes" simply because I enjoyed their story, warts and all. I also voted for two that I only felt so-so on the story, but they got my vote anyways simply for being very sound writers...thoughts?

I voted based on both. Mostly, if two stories were good, I went for the one with the least amount of 'warts.'

[ozmosis7]

I look at style, voice, plot, theme, arc, are the characters believable, and stuff like that. In the end, the writer is most often telling a lie. If he/she is able to do that convincingly, or in a unique way, I think that is a winning story. That being said, I haven't read enough to vote in every group as of yet, but those are my criteria. Hope that helps.

[ozmosis7]

The main reason I'm looking for constructive criticism right now is that I'm still very early in on an attempt at a writing career: I'm only 19, probably one of the youngest people to submit a story here if I could guess. I really want to know where to go from here as far as my writing is concerned, so, in theory, by my thirties or so I could potentially be learned enough to be a professional or otherwise paid to write. I wasn't trying to stir anything earlier, I hope there's no hard feelings! It was just something that was on my mind, so I figured why not let it out rather than harbor it in.

Well, you certainly have started in a very good place. Keep writing, and don't stop. The rest will come.

[Dan Hocker]

Anything that I voted for (which have only been 2 so far) have been because I enjoyed the story completely. I will say this though, and don't take it personally if you fall into this category. I have been skipping anything that has had really really bad formatting. Mostly because my eyes just can't deal with paragraphs blurring together.

[spernst]

my first question for the more serious writers amongst us: Is it ok that I HATE writing? lol. I usually try to take the zen approach of "Its the journey that matters, not the destination" but in writing, I DESPISE the journey! I love my stories when I finish them, but I'm getting ulcers trying to get them right...does it ever get easier to drag your butt to the keyboard when you just don't feel like it?

[spernst]

insert foot in mouth. I'm pretty certain that 3/5 votes for my story are: wife, mom, brother. sorry, they're loyalists.
I'd like to hear what criteria some of you are using to judge entries- are you voting based on how well written an entry is, or how much you like the story? I voted for several that had obvious "writing mistakes" simply because I enjoyed their story, warts and all. I also voted for two that I only felt so-so on the story, but they got my vote anyways simply for being very sound writers...thoughts? seems like a very good amount of people have lost interest in winning and would just like some constructive criticism once this is over, and I'm starting to adopt that attitude-this is the first piece I've ever submitted for anything and I'm sure I'm not alone in that boat...there are people here who have been at the writing game awhile now and can give some great advice, so thank you cemetery dance for putting us in contact with other writers! Can't wait to get some feedback to help me improve...