What’s Up Doc #38: Quick Update — #NYCMidnight SSC Round 2 GR13

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Subject: An App
Character: A backstabber
R2 G13

The second round is in process for NYC Midnight SSC2018. To be perfectly honest I thought I crashed and burned with a Pompeii like destruction.

Y’all, I came first in my heat for my psychological horror story in round 1.

I didn’t think it was scary enough! I swear, I don’t know what to think anymore. When I think I will do well, I tank. When I think I’ve done horrible, I do well. This is why writers are on an emotional roller coaster all the time.

Anyway, I drew ROMCOM this time.

With all the REAL LIFE STUFF going on right now, I am seriously on the end of a tether. I trashed three stories that had no resolution 1500 words in. The third time I kept it simple. Maybe too simple. My humor isn’t the slapstick kind.

I tend to write spontaneous zingers and puns by accident in true pantser form. It is a rare thing that I have a punchline first and then write a story around it.

Fingers crossed.

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3 comments on “What’s Up Doc #38: Quick Update — #NYCMidnight SSC Round 2 GR13”

Richmond Road
April 4, 2018

And well done to you! My own predictions of personal failure in the NYC Midnight competitions (and any others, for that matter) are more reliable. I am always confident of bombing out at the first opportunity and am invariably proved to be absolutely correct. The feedback is sometimes a little out of step with the marking ….. such as …. (‘what the judges liked’) “{1807}The formal execution of the prose is masterful and evocative. Your descriptions are brimming with imagery and a textured sense of time and place. You’ve fully developed an entire world within the story — from the landscape to the characters to their unique way of speaking. Extra points for the clean, crisp, elaborately engaging prose. Very good work.” …..and then (as what they didn’t like) …”{1807} It’s mildly dismaying to see such formal expertise implemented in service of a rather typical story. You’ve told a standard tale with imagination and an incredible, striking amount of focus”.

Maybe it would be more honest just to say that I suck at writing.

Do I sound bitter and twisted? Sorry.

The fact is that I did read your story and it was really effing good. I will likewise read your 2nd round entry.

I confess to just a bit of jealousy.

But I sincerely wish you luck.

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- Laissez Faire
  April 14, 2018
  
  Thank you so much. I am happy to hear that you though the story was effing good, because to me that’s high praise. LOL
  
  I have a hard time understanding what it is that judges want and its so frustrating. 😦 Especially when responses are inconsistent. It’s a situation that requires some heavy duty aspirin. It’s disheartening.
  I think every writer thinks they suck. I think I suck and it gets in my way all the time.
  
  Do you have beta readers? More than anything else having readers I trust and respect have helped get better and efficient more than anything else.
  
  I hope you keep at it. Much luck to you.
  
  Oh, and when I’m feeling really down I will look up a popular, mainstream book that I know is dreadfully written and feel better about my skills. Jealous of the bank it makes sure, but … you know what I mean 🙂
  
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Richmond Road
April 14, 2018

To be honest (and a bit immodest at the same time) I have run failed stories past professionals in the industry and all have been a bit shocked I get relative to others that progress. I am sure, like me, that you have read things that score well yet are clearly dreadful. So it is a bit hard to understand. To be fair, I do notice that eventual winners are always beautiful pieces.

All that said my last effort was definitely my worst to date so probably didn’t deserve to progress.

I think my main problem is that I am far more interested in the writing itself rather than the story and the competition is looking at things the other way around. Certainly I would never normally set out to write to a certain ‘genre’. I think ‘genre’ is something you assign to a work after it is written and not before (or not at all).
Anyway, let me know how things pan out for you.

Lisa Fox was encouraging me to enter the screenplay comp but I have not the first idea how to write one. Gotta start somewhere I suppose.

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