NYC Midnight : Creative Writing & Screenwriting Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > GENERAL DISCUSSION > Creative Writing Corner
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Will there be a Short Story Challenge in Jan 2021?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Will there be a Short Story Challenge in Jan 2021?

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <123>
Author
Message
claviercat View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Regular
NYC Midnight Regular
Avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Location: River Vale NJ
Status: Offline
Points: 389
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote claviercat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 10:48am
Does anyone know what the numbers look like compared to the other competitions? I've only done Flash - there are more people in it this year than ever before, but I'm wondering if there are even more in the SSC.
Please read my Short Story 2021 Challenge #2 story: https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic40583_post419488.html#419488
Back to Top
theinquisitor View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 10 May 2020
Location: Scotland
Status: Offline
Points: 5036
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote theinquisitor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 10:53am
Originally posted by Suave Suave wrote:

I think with the longer story the price for all the judging goes up. It just takes the judges a lot longer to look at each piece and they have to keep the judges interested in doing the job. We get 2,500 words this time.

Yes, that makes sense. I'm just a bit disappointed because I was looking forward to the competition, but I'm not sure I can afford that fee at this time of year.

Edited by theinquisitor - 01 Dec 2020 at 10:54am
Back to Top
Suave View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2015
Location: Thailand
Status: Offline
Points: 25027
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 10:54am
Originally posted by claviercat claviercat wrote:

Does anyone know what the numbers look like compared to the other competitions? I've only done Flash - there are more people in it this year than ever before, but I'm wondering if there are even more in the SSC.

The short story is popular, last year there were 5,000 writers and a 150 heats in the first round. The prize money is pretty good though. First prize is $6500!
Back to Top
Suave View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2015
Location: Thailand
Status: Offline
Points: 25027
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 10:59am
Originally posted by theinquisitor theinquisitor wrote:

Originally posted by Suave Suave wrote:

I think with the longer story the price for all the judging goes up. It just takes the judges a lot longer to look at each piece and they have to keep the judges interested in doing the job. We get 2,500 words this time.

Yes, that makes sense. I'm just a bit disappointed because I was looking forward to the competition, but I'm not sure I can afford that fee at this time of year.

Sorry to hear that. You can get a $5 off again by tweeting or FB, not a huge drop but makes it cheaper.
Back to Top
timmytimtimothy View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 15 Jul 2020
Location: London
Status: Offline
Points: 3003
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote timmytimtimothy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 11:02am
Just got the email about this. Flash this year was my first comp, now the micro, so naturally keen to to give the Short Story comp a go too. 

Crazy that only 5 people from each group progress to round 2, though! 
Back to Top
amlewi08 View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Addict
NYC Midnight Addict
Avatar

Joined: 16 Jul 2019
Location: Lexington, KY
Status: Offline
Points: 1125
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amlewi08 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 11:25am
Can confirm, also just got an email!

Make it cheaper even by signing up early if you can. Even then, it's still a little pricy, especially considering you're only guaranteed to write once.  So I understand if the investment isn't worth the potential reward.

I entered last year and ended up not writing--life was hectic and writing didn't feel important. Gotta redeem myself this year!
Back to Top
jennifer.quail View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt


Joined: 07 Feb 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 7931
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jennifer.quail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 6:35pm
Originally posted by timmytimtimothy timmytimtimothy wrote:

Just got the email about this. Flash this year was my first comp, now the micro, so naturally keen to to give the Short Story comp a go too. 

Crazy that only 5 people from each group progress to round 2, though! 

Well, it used to be there were only three rounds.  Now they've started jacking the numbers up to almost 5000 entries, they threw in a third elimination round last year. 

I'll probably do it, but $48 (or $43) is awfully high for laughably stupid judges' feedback and PMs expressing amazement a story didn't advance. 

Back to Top
Mrsnetpro View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Addict
NYC Midnight Addict
Avatar

Joined: 20 Nov 2020
Location: NJ
Status: Offline
Points: 601
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mrsnetpro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2020 at 6:11pm
Originally posted by jennifer.quail jennifer.quail wrote:

Originally posted by timmytimtimothy timmytimtimothy wrote:

Just got the email about this. Flash this year was my first comp, now the micro, so naturally keen to to give the Short Story comp a go too. 

Crazy that only 5 people from each group progress to round 2, though! 

Well, it used to be there were only three rounds.  Now they've started jacking the numbers up to almost 5000 entries, they threw in a third elimination round last year. 

I'll probably do it, but $48 (or $43) is awfully high for laughably stupid judges' feedback and PMs expressing amazement a story didn't advance. 


I cannot imagine they'd be able to do any kind of deep dive with hundreds of entries to read through. In fact I would be surprised that they actually read every word of every story. If it doesn't grab their attention just like any reader, they might just skip over it and focus on the beginning and glance at the rest and offer feedback about the beginning. 
If most submissions are five pages and they have to read 200 entries that's 1,000 pages. That's a lot to read and respond to.

All that aside, I wouldn't enter these contests and expect the feedback from judges to have the same value as the feedback from friends, beta readers or people on this forum because reading one on its own is going to be different than reading and having to somehow rank/rate the submission and come up with the ones that should advance.

This one is interesting and I might enter it, but it would be for the experience and to say I completed a submission. I'm horrible at finishing what I start so that entry fee might be enough to motivate me to get it done and submitted.




Back to Top
jennifer.quail View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt


Joined: 07 Feb 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 7931
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jennifer.quail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2020 at 8:19pm
When you're charging $48/entry, a copy/pasted review (one judge got caught doing that) or a few lines that suggest they didn't read or understand it, and feedback that suggests the judges have NO idea the word counts for these are actually hard limits are not what they ought to be delivering. If it's THAT onerous, they need to sharply reduce the number of entries, or stop advertising the feedback as a selling point. 

Back to Top
BuryBadBooks View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Addict
NYC Midnight Addict
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2020
Status: Offline
Points: 598
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BuryBadBooks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2020 at 8:32pm
What's the diff between Flash Fiction and Short Story?
You read mine, I read yours. SS #1: Grand Finale
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <123>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.05
Copyright ©2001-2022 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.219 seconds.