I know, I know. I don't announce the openings and closings of submissions anymore. It's not really useful, because the slightest lag means the post will go up too late, and if it's a tight contest, that means you've missed your opportunity to get in.
At any rate, it's midway through the day, the first window (25 entries) has filled, and the second window opens at 7 PM EDT (25 more entries).
Also? The plotters among you will be happy (or perhaps gloatful) to know that I'm, um, planning a new story. As in...yeah. Planning.
They're just scribbles in a notebook! There are no numbered items. I AM NOT OUTLINING.
It's just...well, I feel good about this. I'm still gonna pant my way through the actual prose, but this is the closest thing to a skeleton I've ever had.
There. I've admitted it.
Carry on!
That's very exciting! I know the feeling!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first Authoress contest I managed to actually make it into and I apologize if there was a problem with my submission - it was rejected three times because it was 256 words instead of 255 and I kept trying to cut and whatever it was I was cutting wasn't enough. Very strange as I thought my entry was 249 words. Anyway - if it ended up being formatted strangely I can re-send the text.
I am also working on a new work in progress - it's scary - but very exciting at the same time.
Good luck!
In lieu of a comment, please imagine me doing the I told you so dance. Carry on...
ReplyDelete*glares at Holly*
ReplyDeleteYou're very unattractive when you're smug. :P
I recently completed a 12,000 word early chapter book in three days, all because I had an outline (this after vowing to be a sassy pantser for the 3 yrs it took to revise my previous mss that lacked an outline). Feels kinda good to have a map, doesn't it? :-)
ReplyDeletep.s. I've read your blog forever and finally had the guts to enter secret agent...thanks for such an amazing opportunity :-D
I was hoping I could get into this month's secret agent as this is the first time any of my stories have actually qualified, since they're all adult fantasy/sci-fi.
ReplyDeleteBut I cannot be here to press send at the right time (the little one will win over anything to do with writing every time, especially when it involves school).
Ah well, there's always next time (whenever that may be).
Congrats to whomever got through (especially you Rena :) ) and good luck for those who're trying for the next window.
Aldrea -- Lots of folks ask friends or spouses to submit for them. :)
ReplyDeleteI love this site. I've been lurking for a few days since I discovered it. I wanted to post here about a blog I've just started. Readers might like it. The focus is on comparing the first pages of two novels. Two pairs of comparisons are up already.
ReplyDeleteqkelly.wordpress.com
This sounds like fun! Also glad to hear you are PLANNING! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteAuthoress said... Aldrea -- Lots of folks ask friends or spouses to submit for them. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, how I wish I'd people I could trust to do that. Hubby's too forgetful (I mean seriously) and labours away from a computer anyhow, rest of family is either working or is out with me. And as for friends ... of the couple I have, neither would know what to do.
Goodness, I make me sound like a recluse. -_- Suppose that's sort of true; I tend to keep my head down and mouth shut a lot. Guess that makes me the 'quiet one'. ^_^
Congrats to those in the second wave who got through! Can't wait to see what we got.
SIDE NOTE: "Pantsing" the actual prose is not pantsing. Nice try, though.
ReplyDelete(I think the only way to plot actual prose is to diagram sentences before you actually write them).
Adam Heine -- consider yourself slapped. ;P
ReplyDelete:-D
ReplyDeleteI made a mistake this afternoon when I was getting my submission ready. I hit send, instead of the save for draft button, which is right next to it. It got returned immediatly, of course. I sent an apology with the heading Ooops, it did not get sent back. But when I tried to send the submission at the correct time it was sent back to me with the message;
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry; your entry has been disqualified for the following reason: You must include the following at the top of your submission:
SCREEN NAME: (name you use when posting comments)
TITLE: (title of submission)
GENRE: (literary genre)
I took the time to redo the entire thing, even though the info was there. This time I put those items in the subject line. It was returned immediatly again. Was my email address blocked? I stayed home from dinner to do this contest because I have no one to ask to do it for me. I was rather disappointed.
kj -- Your "oops" email would have been treated as any entry, since the email address is set up to go directly to the contest bot.
ReplyDeleteThe error message means either a) your headings weren't formatted correctly (they have to look exactly the way I show them, including the colons...if the colons are missing, the bot can't read them and thinks they're not there). If your email was not sent in plain text, it could cause problems, too.
I found your entries and noticed you sent from yahoo. You might want to consider getting a gmail account to participate in contests and crits, as it's among the most reliable.
If you are reading this post before the end of Tuesday, please email me at facelesswords(at)gmail.com. :)
Wow, what bad writing. I had "either a)" with nary a "b" to be found. o.o
ReplyDeleteI wrote my first novel without an outline and I would never, ever do it again. The second book is going to be planned within an inch of its life. Index cards! Three ring binders with colored tabs! Summaries, graphs, charts, and character questionnaires! Maybe even a Scrivener program!
ReplyDeleteGail: I did the same with my first novel (is that some rite of passage that all new writers do or something? ^_^). What a mess that was. Took me several years to sort it all out.
ReplyDeleteNow I do my best to outline as much of each scene as I can. Though the last half of thr story can change a little along the way, I've now got a clearer idea of where my chracters are going and how they're gonna get there.
I'm kicking myself. I prepared the email last Friday. Then life bit me in the backside and I forgot all about the secret agent contest until just now.
ReplyDeleteThat's it I've missed my chance! LOL, guess I'll just save that email and hope life slows down enough to catch/remember it next time.
Good luck to all the entrants.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for the explanation. You're right, I didn't think I would need the headings with the colon's just the actual subjects. I'll get it right next time.
ReplyDelete