Dilemma

I've just discovered that http://www.nzwriterscollege.co.nz/ is currently holding a short story competition: the theme is freedom and the cut-off date for submissions is the 31st September.

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Now here's the dilemma: I feel that my second short-story (Rope in the Closet) would be appropriate for this competition. However, I have already submitted this to http://www.shortstoryus.com/ and previously published works (and authors) aren't eligible for the writer's college competition but... I/They aren't published yet. They might not even be accepted! So, the dilemma is do I submit it anyway?

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I'm thinking I'll wait till the end of September, and if I haven't heard back from shortstoryus.com by then (or if my story is rejected) I'll enter it into the writer's college competition. If however, my story is accepted before the end of September, then my dilemma is solved and I won't be able to enter the story. If only I'd known about this competition earlier...

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What do people think of this plan? Any advice?

Votes & Emails

I've made a decision on my third short story: I've decided to write a backstory for one of my (potential) novel characters! The trouble is, there's a few to choose from... at the current time I intend to write short stories for several of them, but I need to decide exactly where to start. If anyone wants to vote on which one I should do first, please do so! Though that would imply people actually read this...

Top-Contending Potential Characters:

• Assassin: an ninja-like assassin sent to kill the protagonist.
• Female General: a warrior-woman with a head for military strategy.
• Amazon Queen: leader of a tribe of autonomous warrior women.
• Ranger (+Wolf): a wandering hunter and his wolf companion.

In other news, I've created a new email address for me and all things writing. Feel free to email me on it for voting (on things like this) or for anything to do with my writing!

Email: craigsimagination@gmail.com

A Step In The Right Direction!

Update: I have officially just submitted my second short story (entitled 'Rope in the Closet') to www.shortstory.us.com! It'll take an estimated six weeks before I get a response telling me whether or not my submission will be published in their E-zine, and even if it is accepted they (unfortunately) can't offer payment at this time.

However, the fact that the story is complete and submitted is a bit of an achievement in itself for me! It's definitely a good start start to becoming an officially recognized author.

What's more is: they print an anthology at the end of every year and if my story makes it into their E-zine, it may make it into their anthology which would definitely be a great accomplishment for me!

Fingers crossed!

Short Stories & Short Story Awards

Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards: is an annual competiton where authors can win cash, and get their stories published in the Sunday Star-Times! Unfortunately, as an employee of Whitcoulls I'm inelligible to enter, but for anyone interested, it ends on Friday so get your manuscripts in! Here's the link: www.shortstory.co.nz

Update: My second short-story (entitled Rope in the Closet) is officially entering its final stages! If anyone at all is interested in proof-reading it, or even just giving me their opinions, please let me know and I'll send it to you! At the end of the week, if I'm satisfied, I shall be submitting it somewhere, possibly to www.shortstory.us.com. Special thanks to: the ever-wonderful Melissa Reed for once again proofing/opinionating me on my latest piece.

Novel Ideas: When Is Many Too Many?

I have so very, very many novel ideas that it's insane. I finally settled on one (or so I thought) a while back, and did some decent planning for it. Then, another idea came into mind and has received some planning. A few days ago, a third idea (that I've actually had for quite a while) had a resurgence. If I intend to get a novel done, I need to settle down and focus on one, and one only. Therein lies the difficulty.

I've decided to keep bouncing from idea to idea and planning them out for the rest of the year, while focusing on short stories to help me get fully into the writer's lifestyle. At the end of the year, I'll make a decision on one of my mapped-out ideas. I'll probably get opinions from a few people to help me decide. Then, hopefully by the end of next year, I'll have (at least) a complete first draft of that novel. Until then, I guess there's naught to do but... let the creative juices flow!

Quiet Week / 静かな週

It's been a fairly quiet writing week so far. I wrote a couple of random poems and a... short story/monologue/something the other night when I couldn't sleep. I may post them here once I refine them, or I may just toss them: they were good for venting somewhat but for little else.

My short stories thrive on negative emotions. Cheerful stories are... not really my thing, so hopefully I'll be able to channel all the negative emotions I've been feeling lately into something productive. We'll see how it goes, but the next week and a half will be very busy uni-wise so I probably won't get much done, but I'll certainly try!

If anybody's interested in being a prrof-reader/editor for mys second short story, let me know! By the end of next week I intend to have it ready for others, so I can get their opinions and tidy it up with their fresh point-of-view, and with that it'll hopefully be done, and I can submit it somewhere!

Christchurch Writer's Festival

Something I learnt at work today: The Press Christchurch Writers Festival will be happening from the 9th-12th of September! I got a booklet from the lovely Leonie at work today. It appears there's alot of talks from various authors, mostly from New Zealand although there are several international authors who'll be attending. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to attend everything I'd like to, but I'm hoping to check out at least a couple of the talks!

The thing that interests me the most during the festival is the One-day Short Story Competition on Saturday the 11th. I don't know much about the competetion at this point, so I shall do some investigating and keep everyone informed. Hopefully I'll be able to enter it. We shall see!

Short Story Update & External Link

It's been a few busy days of assignments, so my writing time is somewhat limited for the next little while, but I'm still doing my best to make time here and there.

Writing Update: I've typed up my second short story, and made a few minor improvements while I was at it. I'll go through and proofread and edit over the next week or so. Once I've done that, I'll probably get a couple of people to proofread it and give me their thoughts/opinions on it. Then I'll use that information to (hopefully) finish editing it and if I'm satisfied with the end result, I'll submit it online.

Link: http://www.allaboutthestory.com/
Just another wee link from the awesome Ms. Tay. Not sure if this is one I'll use myself, but for anyone interested in writing or publishing, it may be worth checking out!

Minor Progress Report!

Nothing new to really add aside from a couple minor updates on things, which are as follows:

Writing Update: I have my short story draft and notes all together and ready for typing up and editting, so I can submit it to shortstory.us.com before the end of the month. I have also got some minor plans for my third short story, though I won't focus much on that until the second one is completed and submitted.

Translation Update: As for my translation progress, I have made some. I've translated the title. That is all. That said, I've started making a list of vocab/kanji of words in the story so that will save me some time when I launch a full attempt at translating. I have a second list underway with synonyms for other words in the story, as I may need to use them. Once I have a couple paragraphs roughly translated, I shall ask one of my japanese lecturers (likely Rachel-sensei) to look over it and give me some advice, so... stay tuned for that!

shortstory.us.com

Not much to say today. I'm thinking of submitting a short story (once I complete my next one) to the following website: http://shortstory.us.com/ which I have discovered thanks to the lovely Ms. Tay. I've a written draft of a short story that I was intending to enter into the BNZ, but I opted to go with me second one. I'll type it up and begin editting it over the next couple weeks, and if I'm satisfied with it, I'll submit it! That's all for now.