freeman by friday
That's right. I just need to get through these next few days then I'm on leave - my first vacation from work for the entire year. That should give me a week of resting, puttering around and finally, writing, before flying off to the US for the holidays.
And that's a good thing too, given the fact that the storywriting requirements have ballooned. Apart from the projects that I've been fiddling around with, there's the need for a story for Vin's Draconic antho, one for the Fully Booked/Gaiman competition (see, I told you), one as a Christmas gift for a friend, and another for a magazine (by the way, one of my stories, Four-Letter Words, is supposed to appear in this month's issue of Manual).
Of course, I could just attempt to shoehorn the stories I'm already working on for one of those needs - because four new stories in two weeks is insane. But then again, I have been known to dance perilously close to insanity when it comes to getting writing done. Therefore, as usual, we'll see.
While all the story needs above are important to me, it seems that the Gaiman story requires more attention. It is the first instance of competition and it seems truly pathetic if I do not at least make an attempt - and frankly, the money is enticing.
The implication is that Gaiman will judge the entries. If so, that's stupendous, given the fact that he is both an excellent writer and more exposed to the different manners of writing speculative fiction. However, I suspect that he won't be alone. Perhaps a board of Filipino judges will be selected to at the very least sift through the entries. The quality of those judges is a potential issue to me. By now you must be aware of my stand vis-a-vis realism, and I know that the number of Filipino spec fic writers is quite small. If they gather Palanca-type judges, especially the writers of the older generation (the fiction award is named after Greg Brilliantes, after all), then they will bring their biases to bear. Which means that a viable strategy for someone who wants to win may well be to infuse his or her entry with a degree of social realism - which, in a sad and terrible way, means writing for the judges.
Don't mind me, just shifting things around my head before I go off to a client meeting (it's so hard to concentrate on work now but dems da breaks).
And that's a good thing too, given the fact that the storywriting requirements have ballooned. Apart from the projects that I've been fiddling around with, there's the need for a story for Vin's Draconic antho, one for the Fully Booked/Gaiman competition (see, I told you), one as a Christmas gift for a friend, and another for a magazine (by the way, one of my stories, Four-Letter Words, is supposed to appear in this month's issue of Manual).
Of course, I could just attempt to shoehorn the stories I'm already working on for one of those needs - because four new stories in two weeks is insane. But then again, I have been known to dance perilously close to insanity when it comes to getting writing done. Therefore, as usual, we'll see.
While all the story needs above are important to me, it seems that the Gaiman story requires more attention. It is the first instance of competition and it seems truly pathetic if I do not at least make an attempt - and frankly, the money is enticing.
The implication is that Gaiman will judge the entries. If so, that's stupendous, given the fact that he is both an excellent writer and more exposed to the different manners of writing speculative fiction. However, I suspect that he won't be alone. Perhaps a board of Filipino judges will be selected to at the very least sift through the entries. The quality of those judges is a potential issue to me. By now you must be aware of my stand vis-a-vis realism, and I know that the number of Filipino spec fic writers is quite small. If they gather Palanca-type judges, especially the writers of the older generation (the fiction award is named after Greg Brilliantes, after all), then they will bring their biases to bear. Which means that a viable strategy for someone who wants to win may well be to infuse his or her entry with a degree of social realism - which, in a sad and terrible way, means writing for the judges.
Don't mind me, just shifting things around my head before I go off to a client meeting (it's so hard to concentrate on work now but dems da breaks).
posted by Dean at
9:51 AM
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