Categories
Uncategorized

Cone of silence, fortress of solitude, etc

img_2351-10
your humble host

Time to start reading the March Word Weaver entries.

 

I wait until they are all in because I think reading one a few weeks before reading another kinda gives an unfairness to things. I’m not sure how, but it’s my contest and I think it does.

 

Anyway, we had a good showing – not our biggest; I won’t lie – and it’ll be fun to read and critique the stories.

 

THANK YOU if you participated.

Patience, now, as I read and rank them, then send the finalists on to our celebrity judges.

 

I will announce all the winners at once in a big blog post on the date I said I would in the original contest notice, which I’m too lazy to look up at the moment, but it’s a few weeks from now.

And…

I will then decide if we are going to hold another Word Weaver Writing Contest in July and/or November.

We did well with those last year, so I might. I haven’t decided. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun to do this, too. The prior contests have resulted in a lot of people publishing their work when they probably wouldn’t have done so otherwise, and if nothing else it’s worth it to keep going just for that reason.

This isn’t a cry for attention. I just haven’t decided, and a lot of people will be asking, so I’m saying – I don’t know.

But if we did…

  • what should the theme be?
  • What would get you to participate?
  • What would get your writer friends excited?

Be honest. Let me have it straight.

Pros and cons, I want a contest that generates buzz and interest, and that will only come from you guys helping figure out what will work best!

So?

What can we do to improve?

 

10 replies on “Cone of silence, fortress of solitude, etc”

I know this is going to sound weird, but maybe stricter rules as to word length, a picture which we’ve to write a short story about as per your theme? Maybe. I think the contest is pretty much great as it is, but I did use the little grey cells to think of something. 🙂

Liked by 1 person

Ha!

I think if we do one in July it needs to be a Halloween/scary/horror/macabre theme. That way we can get something created in October and start to have that be an annual event.

Other than that, I’m wide open to ideas. Maybe a bigger umbrella is better for the other ones.

Liked by 3 people

I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone else, but this time of year is CRAZY for me- tax season plus Spring Break (and end of quarter for those of us who have to do grades) plus Lent/Easter. Maybe that made a difference for entries?
Aiming for a ‘scary contest’ in the summer with the goal of publishing in the all is a great idea. It lets people know what to expect so that they can get thinking early (which is good for over-thinkers like me :)) and the idea of doing an anthology along WITH the contest is a pretty cool extra incentive along with the fabulous prizes. 🙂

Liked by 2 people

I only know about putting out a scary anthology in October from what we did last year. In order for everybody to write and edit the stories that go into an October 1 release, they have to be done a few months before that.

As for other themes, we’ve been experimenting with that. Too early to say what the results are, but I think everybody had fun trying to write something scary for the October anthology. Eventually we will figure out the other ones and schedule contests accordingly.

Liked by 2 people

What do YOU think? Let me hear from ya.