Starting to hit some real meat of the contest. This has become a very chewey endeavor. I have opted to randomly pick entrees and these last four or so have my head scratching. They are so damn good!
Darn it, I knew I should have had some food in my story.
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I am at the 14 and a 1/2 range. So there is still a little less than a quarter to go. We pass the torch to James Sutter Sunday. I already know of two that will hit his hands right off the bat. However, we have a serious "pow wow" Saturday night to get behind our favs. Just keeping fingers crossed that we are all on the same sheet for our favorites, but somehow I am sure we can't be for about eleven or so.
So the five finalists will be revealed on Oct. 1, at the same time as the winner?
that is the plan, no other way that they can go blind to SutterSo the five finalists will be revealed on Oct. 1, at the same time as the winner?
You could always just reveal the titles. Sutter will have those already.
You could always just reveal the titles. Sutter will have those already.
Nah. It would be too easy for someone to then say, "Hey! That's mine!" and thereby spoil Sutter's ability to judge without knowing whose submission he's reviewing.
I'm glad I didn't know beforehand how tough the competition would be.
It'd be cool to maybe get an idea of perhaps who *didn't* make it in. I wouldn't mind feedback on mine.
Man, I wish I had known about this before the deadline... I would have loved to try my hand at writing PF fanfic.
You pretty much still can. It doesn't require a contest to try your hand at PF fan-fiction. Just head to Pathfinder Chronicler and you'll see they've been soliciting and posting up PF fan-fiction for awhile now. The contest helps highlight that fact and, hopefully, steer that much more traffic and participation to the site. So don't let a submission deadline hold you back. There are no deadlines for ongoing fan-fiction there.
Just my two-cents,
--Neil
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Man, I wish I had known about this before the deadline... I would have loved to try my hand at writing PF fanfic.You pretty much still can. It doesn't require a contest to try your hand at PF fan-fiction. Just head to Pathfinder Chronicler and you'll see they've been soliciting and posting up PF fan-fiction for awhile now. The contest helps highlight that fact and, hopefully, steer that much more traffic and participation to the site. So don't let a submission deadline hold you back. There are no deadlines for ongoing fan-fiction there.
Just my two-cents,
--Neil
Hehe, let me rephrase...
Man, I wish I had known about this before the deadline... I would have loved to try writing PF fanfic for competition.
That is not to say I have written PF fanfic(I guess I could be, but it's not Golorian and actually just my way of writing out an arc in a free-form game that seems to have died...).
You could always just reveal the titles. Sutter will have those already.Nah. It would be too easy for someone to then say, "Hey! That's mine!" and thereby spoil Sutter's ability to judge without knowing whose submission he's reviewing.
I'm just saying that it'd be a nice gesture to let people know where they stood on the 25th.
Rejection hurts. knowing someone sat on your rejection for a week hurts more, as that wait is bad enough.
Other options:
- email rejections to those who didn't make it
- email notices to those who did make it with an admonishment to keep their mouths shut
- post those moving forward in a spoiler tag and trust your judge not to peek
- post a list of titles in Alpha order of those stories that DIDN'T make it.
What I don't understand is this idea that it's bad for Sutter to know who made it through to him. I don't see how that's bad, UNLESS he also knows WHICH story the author wrote
Now... I have the benefit of having written for Dungeon during the black hole years, so long waits are nothing new to me. But some of the new folks are probably already past the stage of tearing their hair out.
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It'd be cool to maybe get an idea of perhaps who *didn't* make it in. I wouldn't mind feedback on mine.
I will make sure everyone get some feedback, quite possibly directly to your own emails or chat (some thing are better discussed than just pointed).
But it might drip slowly as I have neglected a few things mysefl (cough Wayfinder #4 cough)|
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Man, I wish I had known about this before the deadline... I would have loved to try my hand at writing PF fanfic.You pretty much still can. It doesn't require a contest to try your hand at PF fan-fiction. Just head to Pathfinder Chronicler and you'll see they've been soliciting and posting up PF fan-fiction for awhile now. The contest helps highlight that fact and, hopefully, steer that much more traffic and participation to the site. So don't let a submission deadline hold you back. There are no deadlines for ongoing fan-fiction there.
Just my two-cents,
--Neil
Thanks Neil, and very true.
The idea to the contest is both to bring the desire of writing on you all guys, and to point to a place where we all strive to make ourselves better on this craft.The prize of James Sutter getting his hands on this texts is just an opportunity many of us strive for, and which (considering his and everyone in Paizo busy agenda) is very generous from him.
I'm just saying that it'd be a nice gesture to let people know where they stood on the 25th.
Rejection hurts. knowing someone sat on your rejection for a week hurts more, as that wait is bad enough.
Other options:
- email rejections to those who didn't make it
- email notices to those who did make it with an admonishment to keep their mouths shut
- post those moving forward in a spoiler tag and trust your judge not to peek
- post a list of titles in Alpha order of those stories that DIDN'T make it.
What I don't understand is this idea that it's bad for Sutter to know who made it through to him. I don't see how that's bad, UNLESS he also knows WHICH story the author wrote
Now... I have the benefit of having written for Dungeon during the black hole years, so long waits are nothing new to me. But some of the new folks are probably already past the stage of tearing their hair out.
As much as I would love to know whether I got into the top five as soon as possible, the way they're handling it is really the only way that makes sense. Even listing those who didn't make it still reveals those who did. If I look at the list and see that I'm not on it, I then know that I am in the top 5. I could then start posting on these boards, "Hooray! I made it! I made it!" Not that I would, but I could. And warnings not to are no guarantee that people won't do so anyway. I suppose a threat to disqualify anyone who does might ensure people don't, but really, is a few more days waiting all that bad? Just because some people may be new to the process of submitting fiction and waiting for a response doesn't mean they shouldn't be patient. For the fairest results, the stories have to go to James without him knowing who wrote them. In exchange for that fairness, I'm more than willing to wait until October 1st.
Fair enough. Yeah, I can wait as well. It's different having a messageboard to post on and commiserate as opposed to sending something into the slush pile black hole of Asimov's or somesuch. Two to three weeks is nothing compared to that.
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I'm just saying that it'd be a nice gesture to let people know where they stood on the 25th.
Rejection hurts. knowing someone sat on your rejection for a week hurts more, as that wait is bad enough.
Other options:
- email rejections to those who didn't make it
- email notices to those who did make it with an admonishment to keep their mouths shut
- post those moving forward in a spoiler tag and trust your judge not to peek
- post a list of titles in Alpha order of those stories that DIDN'T make it.
Kooldon, I will let Ted consider these options.
What I don't understand is this idea that it's bad for Sutter to know who made it through to him. I don't see how that's bad, UNLESS he also knows WHICH story the author wrote
The idea of getting the blind text is because the mind work in strange ways, even if I don't know which text was written by someone knowing he/she is the list and having read something from them (from forum discussions, Superstar entries, Kobold articles, etc) will ensure that the brain begins working by itself to try to link which author did which story. And while I have my utter confidence on Sutters objectivity, the story should rise or fall by its own merits, not withstanding the name that accompanies it.
Which if I had my way I would have done the same with my fellow judges :P, but efficiency came first... and the mad rushing of 30 stories in 2 days afforded that it was the right decision.
I myself even after reading 60 stories still can link some of the most well known names in the community with their stories just by checking the titles again (and my list has no names on it :P), by reading the title I can almost identify which were done by a male or a female, I have 4 stories specially marked, but i know i surely don't need that (I just like colors to work easier). So if I can do that after 60 stories, I am sure Sutter can link 5 names to 5 stories without consciously trying.
Now... I have the benefit of having written for Dungeon during the black hole years, so long waits are nothing new to me. But some of the new folks are probably already past the stage of tearing their hair out.
Believe me, I understand the feeling. I have participated in a few contest (without winning any) and I know sometimes wants just to hit their heads against the wall in desperation.
But 6 more days won't kill anyone and might let me prepare some feedback from among Ted, Derek and my own comments (we have been commenting on all pieces so its easier to pick the general idea).
Fair enough. Yeah, I can wait as well. It's different having a messageboard to post on and commiserate as opposed to sending something into the slush pile black hole of Asimov's or somesuch. Two to three weeks is nothing compared to that.
It's true. I regularly have stories linger for six months before finally getting rejected. And sometimes acceptance takes even longer... I recently waited about a year for a big-name fantasy mag to buy one of my stories, which they finally did, and now I'm in about month six of waiting for that contract to be delivered.
Editors, they are busy people. :)
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lots of truth
Thanks for the support and understanding our point, and thanks for everyone else for being patient...
Man I am the 1st one who wants to say what I think of some of this stories, I like to comment and discuss some things with some authors... but I can't... yet.
revealing and enlightening stuff
Thanks for jumping in James, and good luck with that contract :)
From what I'm hearing, it's clear there are a lot of very good stories in the contest that aren't going to win, or even make the final 5.
I'm just thinking of it like running a marathon. You know some hyper-focused, super-trained runner from Kenya or someplace is going to win the thing, so you just go in trying to a) finish and b) make the best showing you can.
Just throwing my two cents in - a week, two weeks, three weeks -- for anyone who's submitted any written work, the wait on this contest is really minimal.
I'm surprised and impressed by the rapid turnaround.
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Just throwing my two cents in - a week, two weeks, three weeks -- for anyone who's submitted any written work, the wait on this contest is really minimal.
I'm surprised and impressed by the rapid turnaround.
that is because we are crazy :P
that and we knew we need a fair time to deliver the winning story to Wayfinder 4
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The wait doesn't seem that long to me. In fact, I was concerned that the judges wouldn't have enough time to read through and evaluate all the stories before their deadline!
aye, a friend of mine told me the same thing...
certainly it had been an interesting race if a bit mad.I am done with my own, and at least know two other judges shouls be ready later today or tomorrow, the other two i am sure would be ready tomorrow too.
But we were certainly surprised with the number of stories. It was heavy, but for those being part of Pathfinder Chronicler, I think I can say its quite satisfactory that the contest had this kind of response.
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It'd be cool to maybe get an idea of perhaps who *didn't* make it in. I wouldn't mind feedback on mine.I will make sure everyone get some feedback, quite possibly directly to your own emails or chat (some thing are better discussed than just pointed).
But it might drip slowly as I have neglected a few things mysefl (cough Wayfinder #4 cough)
Take your time. Many of us have already torn our own work to pieces already. There is no harsher critic than a writer reading his own work.
Take your time. Many of us have already torn our own work to pieces already. There is no harsher critic than a writer reading his own work.
Which is probably why writers have such surly attitudes regarding critics...
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I just want to pipe in. Could not resist though I am finishing up my last stories tonight.
Let me be clear, there were very few bad stories. When I mean bad I mean turn your head away and seek a therapist.
The majority of what we receieved failed slimly in one of two directions: either they were very gifted storytellers or they were very gifted writers of prose. Some of these stories could be categorized by being strong in one or the other but seldom both.
I created Pathfinder Chronicler to be a place for all of you. A place where you can build upon your writing skills, so you can go win any contest. The site is very modular. We can have seven people creating great fiction or sixty. We edit everything thrown under our plate but we guarantee that anything Golarion will be put up on our site after three edits. We ask that everyone particiaptes in this process because...gush darn it...writers are intelligent peers who are equipped with a special skill set that offers a thorough, honest critique. It seems everyone wants to write and have a judgement given but I really beg to say that it won't be what you want to hear. What you really want is to "give and receive."
Let's say I write something and you write something. We hand each other our writing with an understanding we won't hold back. We find what we like in each other's works and what we think needs help. Then we share this with each other so we can make ourselves stronger writers. Now imagine if you did this with the same story, with three different people...giving and receiving. All of sudden it is easier to take criticism because you give it. And not only do you give it...but people want to hear it. They know you are insightful, and seek you out. No longer is this an exercise in someone dashing your hopes and dreams but rather it has become an exchange of minds. It has become a way for you to become self aware of your true talents. This contest...this is just a taste. A morsel. A pittance.
Not only do we do Pathifnder Fiction, but we do edit pieces that go on to compete with other submissions on writing websites such as Wily Writers. We put in for other writing contests too.
We are a factory of writing and our hammers are our editors. You can edit the dickens out of a story until it is fine blown glass. We create great fiction.
If you need a contest to rise to the occassion than we will throw one again, this time next year.
However, if you are seriously looking for satisfaction, the kind of satisfaction that you wrote the best story in this contest...than I suggest you stick to Pathfinder Chronicler like glue. With enough edits, your story will reach such a level that nothing in this contest stood a chance.
I swear to you that.
The only thing I cannot vouch for is your determination to do it.
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Which is probably why writers have such surly attitudes regarding critics...
Take your time. Many of us have already torn our own work to pieces already. There is no harsher critic than a writer reading his own work.
agreed in both accounts
Writers are their harshers critics or their most devout defenders...while there are those who find wrong were others wont see it, a lot more would not acept critics or changes... not because they want to close their eyes... but damn every father sees their children as being beutiful... just ask my mother :P
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However, if you are seriously looking for satisfaction, the kind of satisfaction that you wrote the best story in this contest...than I suggest you stick to Pathfinder Chronicler like glue. With enough edits, your story will reach such a level that nothing in this contest stood a chance.
Thanks, Zuxius! Win or lose this contest, you have inspired me to participate in Pathfinder Chronicler's fiction tank.
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However, if you are seriously looking for satisfaction, the kind of satisfaction that you wrote the best story in this contest...than I suggest you stick to Pathfinder Chronicler like glue. With enough edits, your story will reach such a level that nothing in this contest stood a chance.Thanks, Zuxius! Win or lose this contest, you have inspired me to participate in Pathfinder Chronicler's fiction tank.
good to hear that :)
if you have any problem joining (we need to fix the forums) please send me an email and i will fix it|
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Ok everyone, hold your breaths. We are about to decide in the next few hours.
... you do realize that if you're not actually revealing the top 5 until next week after Sutter judges that you will, in fact, kill a lot of people by having them hold their breath that long?
You are one harsh dude, Zuxius ... harsh harsh.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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ok after checking our scores, one and a half hours of debating them, we have make our selection of stories, and we are quite happy with them. I will fixing them and sending tomorrow to James... so yes, don't hold your breath... we don't want any of you to be told in the morgue that you won :P
[intentional misunderstanding]The winner gets a morgue?[/intentional misunderstanding]
Good Luck to the Final Five, whomever they are.
I'm still going to lose
You never know. Maybe you wrote about an area or a character that really grabbed one of the judges and they fought for you.
Don't give up. It's not a rejection until the rejection slips come. And then the rejection is as likely to be about what's right or what fits with the piece that wins than a reflection on what's wrong with your own work.