Form and Genre Update
After 15 challenges, the Form and Genre Challenge is taking a month’s break. We recognise producing quality writing week-in, week-out is exhausting, and just as schools and universities close down for breaks between terms, so are we.
The intention behind The Challenge was not just to coax writers out of their comfort zones, but to develop solid writing habits and practices around creating quality stories: picking a “market” and setting goals; working unique ideas through several drafts—polishing and refining at each stage; developing relationships with other writers through beta-reading and line-editing; and throughout managing time to present the best possible stories and poems. This is tough if you are doing it all in a week, every week. It’s also a huge workload in terms of judging and administration.
So—the Challenges are on hold for a month, to allow us time to catch up on administration and judging. Next week we’ll post a revised schedule of challenges, including a built-in rest week each month.
For now, have a small rest and make the effort to go out and get to know your co-challengers outside the weekly submission platform… then start setting goals! Make plans, harvest ideas and put it all in motion for July!
I think my biggest hindrance in the challenge is that I am flying solo. I have no Beta readers, and even after several re-writes my work still comes across as unpolished.
We’re working behind the scenes to get the beta reading forums up and running so you’re not flying solo – and I haven’t been around at all to help out with beta readings – so I apologise profusely.
I clock off editing for an 8 month stint of writing this Friday afternoon so I will be around more.
Jodi, please don’t apologize for being busy. We all have lives we are tending to, while trying to keep our craft alive. I was only making an observation about my own work. I still have a great deal of fun writing these pieces. One thing I would like to see, possibly is that rather than leaving a one sentence comment saying that the piece was like by other participants, (which I’m guilty of too) is to see them comment on one thing they liked about the piece, and maybe one thing that didn’t make sense or didn’t work. Also I’ve noticed that there have been some submission weeks in which only three or four pieces are submitted and yet I receive NO comments or page hits. I don’t expect anyone to hit every piece as I try to do, but if I recall there was a requirement in the rules to read at least three other submissions. If I’m wrong please correct me on that.