It's really hard to judge my own stuff. I have the same trouble painting. The ones people gravitate to are not my faves, generally speaking. I'm only looking at fairly recent stories. I don't want to dredge up really old ones for WotF.
[Secret WotF sub]: People remember it. It's pretty clean (though Ris is right, it could use trimming.) It has some good visuals. Overall, though, I'm afraid the idea is not very creative, and it certainly doesn't have much punch. Even after editing I don't think it'll be a vivid story.
Calling In: I think it's funny, and it recently got funnier thanks to some tightening and a plot adjustment. I like that it's very short, the shortest thing I've written. But, it's humor. Humor is hard, and humor pieces deserve recognition, but I don't know if this humor piece does.
Flight: This is the oldest of the stories I'm considering. It's also a shorter story. The tale of the engineered child whose first flight is recorded in JonBenet Ramsey style has some moments that I still think about, but I think I missed the mark with it. I dunno.
Invaders: Although this idea of robots being engineered to imitate alien invaders is nothing new, I think having the pov from the robot is unique. The critique I got from Strange Horizons when I offered it for publication was that it was a near miss but it felt 'slight.' I guess I didn't go deep enough, or the situation was too cliche'. I don't know if I'll be able to get out from under that response to submit it to a contest.
Walking the Earth: This rambling story about an alien born on Earth after his ancestors crash landed here has some fun moments, but plot-wise it verges on a mini-novel. It's a classic Kami short story in the sense that I had a novel plot and tidied it up enough to fit into a short story. I've had cleaner ideas but I really like the characters in this one.
[Secret Future WotF entry]: A story about a general who switches to the losing side of a war. I like that she dies at the end, and how that happens, but the opening starts on one of Diedre's nits--with a bloody fight. I suppose I could change the opening. It wouldn't even be that hard. Despite being last on my list, this is the one I'm closest to considering submitting to WotF instead of [The Current Actual Entry.]
I just realized that I could submit Comes in Colors one quarter, and Causes another.
And I really need to start writing more short stories if I'm going to be submitting to contests. Sheesh, you guys, I'm a novelist! I'm not even supposed to be here!
1 comment:
At least you have a list of stories to draw from! I have, um, two. And one isn't close to finished.
I also feel as though I've come into the wrong room and only now just discovered it. But I'm finding the seat isn't as uncomfortable as I thought, so I'll stay a while.
I think of your list, aside from Colorized, I'd go with Causes. That one jumped out at me as "oh, hey! That looks interesting and tragic!" So, work em both up! And submit one to INK for us to gnaw on after the Masks chunk!
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