First: I am a finalist in the Writers of the Future Contest!

Today a list came out announcing Finalists and Semi-Finalists for the Writers of the Future Contest, and I’ve known my status for over a month now. My finalist call actually came on Thanksgiving Day, however, that call went to my voicemail at work. I dragged my butt into work that Friday (I almost took the day off), and there in my voicemail was the message that my story was a finalist! I was so glad that I’d gone to work that day. It’s been very difficult to not blurt it out to people, but now that the coordinating judge let the names loose, I’m free to at least talk about being a finalist!

So, what does all this mean? The Writers of the Future Contest (WotF) is the best known contest for writers in the science fiction and fantasy genre looking to turn Pro. The contest is judged blind (meaning only the contest administrator knows which manuscript is yours, the judges do not). The manuscripts (I’ve heard that over 1,000 entries are submitted each quarter) are read by the coordinating judge who chooses 8 finalists. Those 8 stories are then sent on to 4 judges who rank them. The top 3 out of those 8 stories are called “winners” and definitely published in the yearly anthology. If there is room in the anthology there is a chance that a “non-winning” story could be published in the anthology.

So, my finalist story is now being looked at by four more judges (these judges are all huge names in the sci-fi/fantasy world) and I just have to hope that they like it enough so that I place in the top 3.

What does winning the contest mean besides the obvious professional publication?

1. Money. WotF pays more than almost any other short story publication, and even more if you’re the Gold Award winner. The Gold Award is about the same as many advances for a full novel!

2. Workshop. The contest pays for all its winners to attend a week long workshop followed by an awards ceremony usually held in Hollywood. They pay for the airfare, limo from the airport, hotel, and the workshop.

3. Networking. Not only the other winners, but one-on-one time with professionals during the workshop and I’ve heard at the bar after hours.

4. A wonderful professional writing credit that will help when I submit other short stories and novels to publishers.

So, at this point I have to wait and see if my story made top 3, hopefully I’ll know soon. And one more thing: I can’t thank Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith enough, since I wrote my finalist story after taking their short story workshop!

Yes, I’ve been writing and editing a few short stories again. I’ve been trying to piece together the novel and get it to a point where I think I can pitch it to agents and editors at World Fantasy this year, but I needed a break. And what do I do when I need a break? I write and edit short stories.

I was very happy to receive an Honorable Mention for the 2nd quarter of the Writers of the Future contest. Honorable Mention may not seem like much, but considering the amount of entries they receive, it’s affirmation that I’m heading in the right direction. I think the story I submitted for the 3rd quarter is stronger, and I’ll be surprised if I don’t get at least Honorable Mention for that one. Then again, it’s hard to judge your own work. I mean, without actually getting professional feedback in the form of red marks or comments on your manuscript, the only way to learn is to read and write. And keep repeating the process.

So, the story I received an Honorable Mention got revised and submitted to Asimov’s. I probably won’t revise the story anymore, but keep submitting to other magazines, that is, unless I get feedback of some sort. I also submitted a different story to Fantasy & Science Fiction. And tonight I finished revising another short story. It’s science fiction, but more Bradbury like. Now, I’m not saying I write like Bradbury–no one does. It’s reminiscent of Bradbury.

I have a couple of other short stories that are ready for revision, but I think I need to get back to revising the novel–World Fantasy is right around the corner!

It’s been how many months since I posted? Hmm, yes, since February and my nice, long unplanned snow vacation from the day job. Pure bliss that was. The day job has really sucked the life out of me the past few months and I’m afraid it also sapped my writing a little as well. And then a couple of great writing moments happened for me:

I had a short story (novelette really) receive Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future Contest for the 3rd 2nd quarter, and I just got back from David Farland’s Professional Writers Workshop in Dallas, Texas. I met many wonderful people and had a great time–and learned a great deal!

I’ll write more on my experiences during the workshop this week. But now it’s back to the manuscript and major overhauling/revisions.

Yes, I’ve been focused on writing short stories much of the past six months. Oh, I’ve had quite a few great ideas for novel length stories, but I’ve become fascinated with short stories. Why? Well, because it seems many science fiction and fantasy writers break into the business on short stories. And anyone who is interested in attending certain workshops (Clarion, Clarion West, Odyssey, Orson Scott Card’s Writing Class & Literary Boot Camp, etc.) as I am, short stories are what is needed to get into them.

I’m hoping to attend one of those workshops in the near future, but this year I’ll probably have to just try for the week long Orson Scott Card workshop. Maybe next year I’ll have enough time off saved up to go to the six week Clarion workshop. Of course, I’d have to be accepted to these workshops, so I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m hoping my writing is decent enough, or has at least improved enough by application time to be accepted!

I was never attracted to short stories growing up. Maybe I was one of the few who didn’t have a short attention span and preferred novels. <shrug> Now though, I see the merit in pursuing this form of story. So, I’ve submitted a story to the Writers of the Future Contest and as I mentioned in a previous post didn’t even receive an honorable mention. I’ve re-examined the story and identified why a reader may not have wanted to go beyond the first couple of pages. Heck, maybe not even the first page. I’ve fixed those problems, but before I was able to identify them, I had ordered a couple of books that really helped me.

I was excited when Creating Short Fiction, by Damon Knight, Storyteller, by Kate Wilhelm, and Reading Like A Writer, by Francine Prose showed up on my doorstep. Knight and Wilhelm helped to found the Clarion workshop, so I was very interested in what they had to say. After reading their books I knew exactly what was wrong with my short story and have a much improved opening and complete story.

After having written a couple of novel length stories, tackling my first short story was difficult, and forced me to write more efficiently. I believe the short story is much more difficult to get right than a novel. In a novel, the writer has time to let things develop over the course of many chapters, and indulge in minor characters and side plots. In a short story there is little or no room for any of that.

Well, off to read a little Stephen Baxter, Manifold Time, before I hit the hay.

I’ve been concentrating on short stories lately. While my experience writing in that form is limited, I’m finding it difficult to embrace. It has it’s advantages–a complete story in basically what would be the chapter of a novel–there are more that I’ll mention, but there are also disadvantages to the form as well.

Advantages:  Learning economy of words–short of poetry, I can’t think of a better way to learn to be succinct and get the most across in the shortest amount of words. Also, the aforementioned complete story in the space of maybe 5k words. The short story doesn’t allow boredom. One can simply finish a story and move on to a nice new shiny idea and then another, and another. The blood, sweat, and tears just isn’t there in a short story as it is in a novel.  Just the sheer number of words the novel requires makes the short story very satisfying to get ideas out.

Disadvantages:  Developing multiple characters and stretching out. There are times I just want to keep going on a certain topic, and then I realize I need to keep it going or the short story will turn into a novelette, and morph into a novella, or novel. I love to write from multiple POVs, meaning: I like to have multiple POV characters and write chapters based on their POV. Similar to George R R Martin’s Song of Fire and Ice series, but of course I could only hope to write half as well as GRRM.

On the surface, it may seem there are more advantages to the Short Story, but the chance to fully develop characters and be able to live with them for thousands and thousands of words in a novel is very appealing to me. I find it very hard to get in the mind of a character in a short story, and maybe I’m just missing the point in that form. I’ve read that in Science Fiction short stories it’s more the gimmick that the story evolves from, and in the end the character learns something meaningful. I know that is a simplification, but I’m just too lazy to quote from the actual text.

Well, I’m going to keep plugging away on the short stories. I do feel they are a great way to break into writing–at least into Science Fiction and Fantasy. On a related note, I got notification back from the Writers of the Future Contest that I did not win, and in fact, I didn’t even place in the competition. The good news is that I submitted the first short story I had ever written and the coordinating judge for the contest, K.D. Wentworth (a past winner and published writer of fantasy and sci-fi) submitted stories five (5) times before she won. So, I don’t feel bad, I’m still learning and with each story I can only get better.

So for now, I’m busy writing short stories, and revising the ones I’ve finished. I still need to finish revisions on my novel Progeny, which I’m becoming more excited about revisiting.

I’ve become fascinated (after writing some sci-fi short stories) with writing a Science Fiction novel. I’ve been tossing some ideas around in my head, but decided I needed to re-educate myself on modern physics. It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve taken a college level physics class and I’m quite sure there have been major advances since then….

For some light reading I chose Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku. Very easy read so far, it’s definitely written for the layman, and at times I find myself wanting a little more number crunching and pure science. Overall I’d recommend the book if you are at all interested in cosmology but are afraid to pick up a book on it for fear it will be over your head.

Alistair

What began as a short story quickly morphed into a novelette. I finished the first draft of the story today with close to 13k words. The revision process will begin tomorrow and I hope to have it mailed out to the Writers of the Future contest by the December 31st deadline.

I began research for the story right around Thanksgiving, so the entire process for the first draft took almost a month. Not bad, but I should have been able to hit those 13k words much sooner. The revision process at least should be easier since I think the opening will need the most change in order to have it mesh with the events occurring at the end.

I’m a bit of a pantster. Oh, I have a pretty good idea of where the story is headed, but a lot of what happens comes to me as I write. I’m not by any means an outliner. I feel too constrained by it, but I can see the merit in using an outline as well. I had a few ideas for the ending of the story, but it came to me today while I showered (the ideas always come when I’m not in a position to do anything about them, like when I am jogging or working out). I couldn’t get out of the shower fast enough and down to the computer to begin putting down the ideas. Once I started on the end, the final 2.5k words were easy.

Anyway, I’m excited to be done with the first draft and look forward to this story joining my last one as entries into the Writers of the Future contest.

Alistair

I’ll start with what’s been going on in my writing world:

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted to the blog, but I’ve been updating my word counts daily on the main webpage. I’ve been working on another science fiction short story to enter into the Writers of the Future Contest. I submitted a story back in September for the same contest, and should be hearing within the next month whether or not my story has been chosen. I’m a little nervous, but I know that either way I’ll continue to learn the craft of writing, and improve with each story I write. For those who are not aware, this contest has been discovering new writers for over 25 years now, and is judged by well-known and respected names in the Science Fiction and Fantasy communities. To be a finalist in the competition opens quite a few doors, not to mention publication in an annual anthology.

Once I’m finished with the current short story, I’ll be working on the revisions for the Progeny novel. I completely rewrote the beginning a couple months back and I think it has provided some grit and immediacy to the entire story. I’ve learned that revising is difficult. It isn’t hard for me to chop off words, or make subtle changes.  The hard part for me is the macro editing: looking at the entire story and seeing how all the pieces fit, and if they’re all doing what they are supposed to be doing, as well as knowing when to add or subtract big pieces from the story.  I thought I’d be able to have the first revision to Progeny done by the New Year, but….

Life happens, and it has happened in good ways for me:

I got married to my long time girlfriend on November 1st, 2009 in Washington, D.C., which was an amazing event in my life. We then took a transatlantic voyage on the Queen Mary 2 from New York to England, and spent a few days in London. An incredible honeymoon, and an absolutely awesome way to begin our marriage.

The month leading up to the wedding was full of stress however, as our day job didn’t see fit to cooperate with our carefully laid plans for her to move down to Northern Virginia.  In the end it all worked out, but getting to that point was pure hell. So, with my personal life at an all time high, I’m poised now to enter a very creative phase, and I’ve even felt an itch to compose some music again, but we’ll see.  I don’t want other creative endeavors to take away from my writing, so the music just may need to take a back seat until a few things are completed.

So, now that my life has somewhat settled down again, I believe I can find the time to blog on a more regular basis!

Alistair

Well, I broke down and joined the Twitter sensation. I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it, but so far I’ve found it to be fascinating. I’m not the kind of person who likes to give constant updates, and I’m not sure anyone cares if I went to the bathroom, or what I had for lunch.  And, I don’t really care if what other people eat or when they need to take care of bodily functions…  At least I have the option to stop following people who insist on reporting everything they are feeling, doing, or thinking about doing. I can see how there’d be a lot of TMI on something like Twitter.  Having said that though….

I see many uses for Twitter. I’ve focused my following on mainly literary agents, authors and publishers. I feel it keeps me in the loop, makes me feel like I’m part of the industry–even though I’m still an unknown and outsider. Seeing the updates keeps me focused and is a constant reminder that I’m involved in writing, that I am writer.

Along with Twitter, I obviously have my website and blog to keep people informed. If I ever manage to attract a following other than my fiance’ and the furry feline congregation at home, they will come in handy. So Twitter will be for announcements and other nonsense, and the website and blog will be for much larger ideas and updates. I like the setup, it makes sense to me now, and I’m somewhat annoyed at myself for not joining Twitter earlier. Oh well.

On another note, this weekend I’ll be heading up to North Jersey to spend time with family and friends. I’m looking forward to spending Saturday evening eating, drinking, and talking with my old high school buddies.  One of which, is also a writer, but much further along in the process than me.  His blog can be checked out here:  Traveler’s Tales. I’m looking forward to seeing him and discussing writing and what’s been going on the past eight years or so since I last saw him.

And one last thing:  I’ve completed the edits on the short story which now has a name: Shadowsphere. I’ll be submitting it soon and hoping for the best!  In a very general sense, Shadowsphere is a story of loss, loss of faith, and the restoration of faith in a science fiction setting.

Until next time–happy writing and happy living!

Alistair

It’s been a while since I last posted, but quite a few things have been happening!  First off, before I went on vacation to Novia Scotia, I finished the first draft of the fantasy novel and a first draft of a science fiction short story.

The short story I intend to enter into the Writers of the Future contest.  It’s actually the first short story I’ve ever written.  I wasn’t sure if I’d like to write short stories, but I have to say, it was quite enjoyable.  So, I’m polishing that story in order to submit it by the end of August. I intend to keep writing short stories while in revision mode on the fantasy novel.  I may just end up with a short story that begs to be turned into a novel.

Vacation was great. That trip to Nova Scotia was the first time I’d been to a foreign country since 1988 I think.  Quite a long drought huh?  Canada was a lot of fun, and during the course of the trip I got engaged to the most wonderful, intelligent, caring, and beautiful woman.  I was very lucky she said yes.  :)

It was hell coming back from Canada though…I had to be back in Virginia for the movers the morning after we got back, but the flight was delayed.  It was beginning to feel a lot like the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles for a while.  In the end I made it home, but only had a few hours to sleep before the movers showed up.  But it all worked out.  I am now in an even better townhouse, in a better neighborhood.  My fiance’ (what a wonderful thing to be able to write) will be joining me Virginia in early October.  So for now I continue to be looked after by my two furry little friends Juniper and Woobie.

Anyhow, it’s great to be back, and there will be more updates soon!

Alistair

I spent the 4th of July in Pennsylvania with my girlfriend.  She’s been a faithful alpha reader from the beginning of the project.  Without her input and enthusiasm, my journey through the process would have been difficult, if not close to impossible.  Thank you, my lovely alpha reader.

So, after spending a little over five months on this project(piecing together the story, researching, writing, etc), I’m happy to write that I finished the first draft this evening!

I’m looking forward to digging back into the novel and seeing what worked and what fell flat, or was just plain awful.  I suspect there may be some sections that worked really well, and those will be a pleasant surprise.

I had originally planned on this book being 200k words, but based on current trends I decided to cut it down to about 115k words.  I know I’ll be able to cut quite a bit in the revision, but I may need to add as well.  I bet I’ll end up with around 110k, but we’ll see.

I don’t want to start the second book in the series until I’ve had time to do a macro edit on the first one.  So, with that in mind:  I belong to a writing group called:  book-in-a-week, it takes place once a month(usually the first Monday of each month) and lasts for, you guessed it:  one week.  The goal of the group isn’t for critique, nothing that is written gets turned in, it’s simply a way to get motivated and just type away.  You post your daily totals and also get to see how many pages other writers are cranking out each day.  It’s a great group.

Anyway, since I don’t feel comfortable starting the second book in the series, I intend on using the upcoming week to write a science fiction short story that I intend to enter into the Writers of the Future Contest.  So, between now and Monday morning when book-in-a-week starts, I’ll be piecing together my ideas for the scifi short story.

Tomorrow night my girlfriend and I will be celebrating the completion of my first draft with a bottle of champagne!  I can’t wait!  This draft is significant since I haven’t finished a novel since about the 8th grade back in 1984, so it’s a big deal!

Anyway, happy writing and happy living!

Alistair