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And yes, Charlie's technique of pointing out what could be cut is helpful, but honestly, I'd rather you just make the decision, and cut what needs to be cut to hit the word count target.
In writing, this decision-making process is called "killing your babies." It is something that every writer needs to learn to do. It may be the most beautiful phrase you've ever created, but if it doesn't fit and it doesn't directly contribute to what you're trying to convey, cut it. Save it to a different file for later use, if necessary, but cut it.
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Procrustes!
Now the worst part starts... Waiting.
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Good reference, Treppa!
Drejk et al, we are working hard to make sure that we get through the review and selection process as quickly as possible. Things are really tight for me, right now, because I also have an impending freelance deadline, a weekend birthday celebration at Disneyland, and a day job whose demands have increased considerably within the past two weeks (in fact, I really need to stop checking in here ;) ).
However, I have recruited a talented admin assistant to help with some of the e-mail formatting and distribution stuff. (I think I've already mentioned that my wife is incredibly awesome...she's also WAY more organized than I am.) Hopefully, her involvement will improve those timelines.
I live about 20 minutes from Disneyland! Are you travelling or are you native as well?
Good reference, Treppa!
Drejk et al, we are working hard to make sure that we get through the review and selection process as quickly as possible. Things are really tight for me, right now, because I also have an impending freelance deadline, a weekend birthday celebration at Disneyland, and a day job whose demands have increased considerably within the past two weeks (in fact, I really need to stop checking in here ;) ).
However, I have recruited a talented admin assistant to help with some of the e-mail formatting and distribution stuff. (I think I've already mentioned that my wife is incredibly awesome...she's also WAY more organized than I am.) Hopefully, her involvement will improve those timelines.
We know you are working hard! No one hurries you! Well, maybe a tiny-tiny bit... Not even a bit! Work at your pace!
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I really hope the next theme for Wayfinder is Technology and Space to tie in with Iron Gods. I have so many cool ideas for that :D
Cool, Paris! My fiance's cousin retired from the Navy last summer at the base down there. We came from Ohio in 2010.
@Odraude - I second that motion!
Hitting 1500 words EXACTLY is not what we are asking here. There is a word count limit...a HARD target. What I expect is for authors to come as close as possible. How close? I don't even blink if I see a piece over/under by 25 words or so. 26-50 words...that's workable, but it gets flagged for possible rejection. More off than that? The more you are off, the more work and time it will take to fix the article, and then it just becomes based on whether it's worth the effort or not.This is valuable info. I wasn't sure about the tolerances, either, but I hedged my bets by flagging a nice, but not necessary, chunk of article as a candidate for deletion if my article was over by too much. I'll leave it to Tim and crew to say if that's a legit technique or not.
I Agree this is very valuable info. I do see the new target problem however. Because I have seen students change the font size or margins to meet an X-page paper assignment. Having something like this mentioned in the thread gives a bonus to those who have done their homework.
That bonus for me is knowing the 16 words I didn't kill, didn't kill my chances (my writing will do that all on its own. :)
Also over 100 submissions? Awesome job Wayfinder folks!
My guess is that the limit of 3, despite what you would think at first glance, actually raised the average number of submissions per person substantially while simultaneously cutting down on the people who submitted dozens of them. That's because where some people might previously think "Wow, it's Wayfinder, I should submit something!" this time it was "Wow, it's Wayfinder and I can submit up to 3, I should submit 3!" I know at least one person in that camp.
Now that submissions are closed, is it kosher to talk about what we submitted? I'm curious to see what topics and locations got the most love.
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Now that submissions are closed, is it kosher to talk about what we submitted? I'm curious to see what topics and locations got the most love.
Please hold off until we've had a chance to select the articles and notify those whose work was accepted. After that, those who didn't make it in can discuss their submissions. We don't exactly require an NDA for Wayfinder, but it's kind of fun for people to be at least a little bit surprised by what's in it.
Now that submissions are closed, is it kosher to talk about what we submitted? I'm curious to see what topics and locations got the most love.
People were already saying things on the thread about what city they were gazetteering. For instance, given that someone else picked Brastlewark and posted as such, I'm glad I didn't. I'm guessing nobody else decided to gazetteer the same city I picked, and I'm going to keep mine secret for now, but we'll see.
EDIT: Parisianly ninjaed
Curse me as impatient, but when should we expect the article choices to be finalized?
Well while I cannot say what I turned in, I can definitely say that they were monsters and that I didn't go with the standard Devil usage for them.
Hopefully they get accepted :D
Now that submissions are closed, is it kosher to talk about what we submitted? I'm curious to see what topics and locations got the most love.People were already saying things on the thread about what city they were gazetteering. For instance, given that someone else picked Brastlewark and posted as such, I'm glad I didn't. I'm guessing nobody else decided to gazetteer the same city I picked, and I'm going to keep mine secret for now, but we'll see.
EDIT: Parisianly ninjaed
I guess I missed that. But I just searched for the name of the town in my Gazetteer, and no one mentioned it (or at least, they didn't spell it correctly), so I think I'm good on that account.
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
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Now that submissions are closed, is it kosher to talk about what we submitted? I'm curious to see what topics and locations got the most love.
I would kind of rather that you didn't. If we do select your submission, but you've gone ahead and told everyone about it....it's no real surprise in July then, is it?
We don't have NDAs but let's pretend we do, OK?
So I am asking that people not share their article info for now. once we make the selections, and let everyone if they are in or out, then those submissions not selected would be free and clear to share. For those articles selected, we are asking that authors hold off until release day.
I ask the same from the artists, btw. They are asked not to show their art until we release the issue on Paizo.com
Sweet! I await with baited breath!
Gah! Time got away from me and I completely failed to submit something. Ah well I'll get something in next time.looks like there was no shortage of articles anyways, it'll be nice to just sit and read Wayfinder for a change.
We're aiming to have decisions made before next week. And since our schedule is compressed by the requirement to have copies printed for PaizoCon, we don't have much choice but to hit pretty close to where we're aiming.
Excellent, I wish you luck in juggling all of your growing responsibilities.
One more question: will people denied receive a rejection notice or will silence be the rejection notice?
We're aiming to have decisions made before next week. And since our schedule is compressed by the requirement to have copies printed for PaizoCon, we don't have much choice but to hit pretty close to where we're aiming.Excellent, I wish you luck in juggling all of your growing responsibilities.
One more question: will people denied receive a rejection notice or will silence be the rejection notice?
In the past, you could email them to see if your submissions made it in.
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In the past, you could email them to see if your submissions made it in.We're aiming to have decisions made before next week. And since our schedule is compressed by the requirement to have copies printed for PaizoCon, we don't have much choice but to hit pretty close to where we're aiming.Excellent, I wish you luck in juggling all of your growing responsibilities.
One more question: will people denied receive a rejection notice or will silence be the rejection notice?
That said, don't start sending in emails asking if your article made it in just yet!!!
Give the editor types some space to do their thing in an expeditious manner, so the articles can be finalized and those of us who do layout can get our anxious mitts on them and start piecing this puzzle together. ;)
Good point, Z. When the time comes, we will post a notification that we have sent an e-mail to all writers who had work accepted. That will be the cue to start pestering...er...I mean, send us your queries. ;)
Okay, you have completely answered my question, thank you! I hope to receive an email soon and if I don't by next week, expect to hear from me complaining about how you overlooked my obvious greatness ;)
But seriously though, good luck on sorting through all the submissions.
I would be curious to know about how many of each type of article were sent in, if that's information you feel like compiling and revealing.
Yeah sorry, I should have included that part. Gotta wait for the notification.
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Good point, Z. When the time comes, we will post a notification that we have sent an e-mail to all writers who had work accepted. That will be the cue to start pestering...er...I mean, send us your queries. ;)Okay, you have completely answered my question, thank you! I hope to receive an email soon and if I don't by next week, expect to hear from me complaining about how you overlooked my obvious greatness ;)
But seriously though, good luck on sorting through all the submissions.
I would be curious to know about how many of each type of article were sent in, if that's information you feel like compiling and revealing.
I can try and get a final update to the total submissions in each category later tonight. So some of you can see how many others you are up against!
How about a first ever double issue?! :)
How about a first ever double issue?! :)You paying? ;-)
If I was Bill Gates - I so totally would!
Gah! Time got away from me and I completely failed to submit something. Ah well I'll get something in next time.looks like there was no shortage of articles anyways, it'll be nice to just sit and read Wayfinder for a change.
*cracks whip*
Back to work, you!
I can try and get a final update to the total submissions in each category later tonight. So some of you can see how many others you are up against!Good point, Z. When the time comes, we will post a notification that we have sent an e-mail to all writers who had work accepted. That will be the cue to start pestering...er...I mean, send us your queries. ;)Okay, you have completely answered my question, thank you! I hope to receive an email soon and if I don't by next week, expect to hear from me complaining about how you overlooked my obvious greatness ;)
But seriously though, good luck on sorting through all the submissions.
I would be curious to know about how many of each type of article were sent in, if that's information you feel like compiling and revealing.
That would be much appreciated. You are exactly right too, I want to know what I'm up against!
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FINAL TALLY: 133.
Submission categories
Adventures 3 (these are pre-arranged with some chosen authors)
Bestiary: 25
Class: 23
Crunch: 7
Magic Item:15 (many of these have multiple items)
Fluff: 19
Fiction: 15
Game: 1
Poetry/Song: 5
Side Trek Seeds: 7 (many of these have multiple items)
Weal or Woe: 13
Likely that only 45-50 of these will be selected.
Good luck everyone.
Tim
Sweet! I await with baited breath!
I hesitate to think what you're baiting your breath with... or what quarry you hope to catch! ;-)
Wow, 133! That is quite amazing folks.
So basically we have around a 1 in 3 chance of making the issue on average.
Unfortunately for me, mine are 1 in 15, 1 in 19 and 1 in 7. Just like the yearly Superstar meme, I hit the popular categories pretty accurately here too, grin.
Good luck everyone!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my submission, which is one of the 25 bestiary entries.
The creature would have been my RPGSS 2014 2nd round entry, had my wondrous item(s) advanced (Vinculum Vests).
Whether I make it in or not, I'm looking forward to the new pub. I'm relatively new to this site, Wayfinder and RPGSS, and I'm finding a lot to like. I recently reviewed and read Wayfinder #10 and found it very enjoyable. The Genie-in-a-bottle mini adventure was a highlight.
I think next time, I really should try doing more than just Bestiary articles. Gotta be brave :D
Great news! So many submissions really underline the Paizo marketing slogan 3.5PF thrives (and so does our community)!
Will there be an audio file with the songs/poetry available, too (or a link to Wayfinder's new youtube channel)?
As an alternative, everybody who's going to pick up his/her physical copy at PaizoCon is pressganged into an improvised performance!
My family and I live in San Diego. I'm in the Navy, but we've been stationed in this area since 2006. Not quite native, but we've put down a few small roots.]/quote]
Wish I'd known that before! I've been to San Diego last week for a conference. But hey! Maybe I walked you by while visting down town...
Ruyan.
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Wish I'd known that before! I've been to San Diego last week for a conference. But hey! Maybe I walked you by while visting down town...Ruyan.
Were you here for the NAEA Conference? Because, if so, that would be too funny. I had very close friends visiting this past weekend, one of whom attended the conference.
What are the names (links if someone's not busy) of the fonts that Wayfinder uses?
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Will there be an audio file with the songs/poetry available, too (or a link to Wayfinder's new youtube channel)?
As an alternative, everybody who's going to pick up his/her physical copy at PaizoCon is pressganged into an improvised performance!
If anyone wants to perform karaoke of any of mine, I would be thrilled to see it.
If anyone can play the instruments, and perform them from scratch, I'd be over the moon.
Were you here for the NAEA Conference?
Hehe, unfortunately not--sounds like a lot of fun. I attended the Phosphor Global Summit (26th-28th) discussing the next generation in lighting and displays.
[/thread derailment]Don't let me distract you further from reviewing all the submissions for WF #11!
Ruyan.
Wow, 133! That is quite amazing folks.
So basically we have around a 1 in 3 chance of making the issue on average.
Unfortunately for me, mine are 1 in 15, 1 in 19 and 1 in 7. Just like the yearly Superstar meme, I hit the popular categories pretty accurately here too, grin.
I only submitted a Weal and Woe. I had plans to submit both a monster and a Side Quest Seed that was related to the Weal and Woe characters.
Unfortunately, a project at my day job exploded which required a couple of 60-hour-weeks, and I wasn't able to finish the other Wayfinder articles by deadline.
(I'll just have to use them in my home campaign!)
In writing, this decision-making process is called "killing your babies." It is something that every writer needs to learn to do. It may be the most beautiful phrase you've ever created, but if it doesn't fit and it doesn't directly contribute to what you're trying to convey, cut it. Save it to a different file for later use, if necessary, but cut it.And yes, Charlie's technique of pointing out what could be cut is helpful, but honestly, I'd rather you just make the decision, and cut what needs to be cut to hit the word count target.
Word count requirements are a great tool for writing.
I use them to help improve my work.If I have gone over my word count, I "cut my baby" to focus on the nuts and bolts of my article, but if I'm short, I have to add "more meat" without sounding wordy or whatever.
I find that it almost always makes my writing better. (Although, not always perfect.)
=)
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Word count requirements are a great tool for writing.
I use them to help improve my work.If I have gone over my word count, I "cut my baby" to focus on the nuts and bolts of my article, but if I'm short, I have to add "more meat" without sounding wordy or whatever.
I find that it almost always makes my writing better. (Although, not always perfect.)
=)
Flash fiction can be a fun exercise to help develop efficiency of language. Here's an example of one I did a while ago.
http://www.wilywriters.com/blog/pennangalan-by-paris-e-crenshaw-iii/
I know this is continued thread derailment, but it does have some value. ;)
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I'm happy to work within the word counts given, but I confess I've never understood why it's the norm to ask for word count, instead of character count.
1500 words in the style of "The fat cat sat on the flat mat" is going to take up far less space, than if I were going for a Clark Ashton Smith pastiche, in which my nocturnal Terpsichorean heroine, with the eyes of chalcedony, wafts through forests of iridescent fungi, weaving arabesques among the cyclopean architecture of long-dead, damnable, antediluvian psychopomps.