TWB Sci-Fi Contest Top Five!
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaxeEQVmug1rvXhGBpA8mtvbGpxGytERbVitBMcz3Pca9/image.png)
The Writers’ Block has selected its top five for the Sci-Fi contest!
Before I announce them, let me just say that this contest has been spectacular. Far and away, it’s the best one I’ve hosted so far. We drew talent from the Steemit community that is simply exceptional. Every writer who entered this competition has a bright future. Not placing in the top five is less of a downer than it would in many contests. Each author got intense feedback on their work and improved it dramatically. This is valuable, not only for the benefit of the stories submitted, but for the learning experience each entrant takes away.
I chose the top five because we believe they are closest to being publishable in their current form. This doesn’t mean we’re giving up on the rest. Please, please, please, authors—if you didn’t make the top five this time, re-submit your story to the main fiction queue and let’s keep working! Curators swarm Steemit day and night looking for great posts to upvote and resteem. We’d love to see each one of you get a nice whale slap for the work you’ve produced.
Methods I used to determine the top five finishers:
Quality of the writing.
The entries didn't need to be flawless upon submission. This was an "editing" contest, for crying out loud. But any author who persistently struggles with grammar and syntax just isn't ready for this level of exposure, although I believe everyone who entered the contest will rise to the challenge over time.Originality of story, and message.
If I've heard it or seen something similar, I passed. It's true that there's nothing original under the sun, but there's always a fresh twist. If one of these stories reminded me of another story, I did not select it for the top five.How easy they were to "blurb."
If I could not, within the space of a couple minutes, write a short "elevator pitch" for the story that defined the thru-line in a way that could sell it, I passed on that story. Struggling to identify thru-line and message is a clear sign to me that the story isn't ready, that it's still disorganized and lacking a cohesive arc. These top five are not the only stories I could easily "blurb." However, combined with other factors, that was one of the deciding points for me as I evaluated the entries and made my decision.
Our top five stories are not finished yet. They’ll go through at least one more round of editing, and the author will be assigned a mentor who will help them decide whether to post on Steemit or submit to a mainstream publisher. Each of these five stories will be assessed by our top fiction editors and all will receive at least one monetized award of accomplishment from the Writers’ Block. Congratulations on the authors of these five stories! You truly brought your A-game, and I’m thrilled you brought it to the Block.
In Alphabetical Order By Username:
@anikekirsten – “Almost Everyone”
Asha was born with the answers to shortened life span in her blood, but how much will she ultimately give to make sure the truth ends up in the right hands?
@ellievallie – “The Human Touch”
Politicians don’t always know—or care—what’s best for their constituents, and sometimes have to be taught a lesson about the needs of the people.
@steemedchitty – “Hans Crashed Into His Reflection”
Living a double life takes on a whole new meaning for Hans when he looks in the rearview mirror and meets his maker.
@valued-customer – “Fresh Meat”
Collateral damage will end with Faron Sanger’s AI swarm of killers. Unfortunately, collateral damage isn’t the only problem they’re programmed to eradicate.
@witchguard – “Living The Dream”
Is it love or abuse of the system? Ray knows exactly what he’s doing, and why. But expecting other people to understand the truth about his intentions is a gamble on some very long odds.
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbGXwd3Dxju37f6iEdsQ42ktGJ52EDYKEiuebxumtmw3f/image.png)
Alrighty, an error I'd like to point out:
Aaaahh! Great catch! :-) I actually think I borked the subheading with an edit after posting, and then didn't think to see if I had messed anything up in the process. But the "you're" is just shameful! LOL Thank you so much for spotting that for me. FIXED
wonders if she can hire @svashta
Stuff happens when and where you least expect it :3
I'm afraid to admit how much I edit posts after posting myself. It just looks different in the "preview". =.=
For a small fee of free I will read your posts in detail and point out mistakes! Speaking of which, I'll check your previous post.
Expect to hear from me there. :p
I'm with the Writers' Block. I don't need to pay a fee. Clearly I didn't workshop this post. BUT, your skills are valuable and there is definitely work for paid copyeditors.
No bonuses for any member of any group! Sheesh. There's no escape. My fee is same for all. Free. :P
Your upvote was more than payment enough. ^^ Thanks! :D
Well, yes! We are leveraging the blockchain to hopefully pay our editors a real salary some day. We has a plan. (Intentional typo.) We've incorporated the publishing house now, so we have that coming up, too. I just tagged you in general.
I came across the publishing house the other day, yeah... And that does indeed sound absolutely amazing! Looking forward to that! And, of course, producing something worthy of publishing sometime soon....ish.
Thank you, Rhonda, and many thanks to all of the wonderful editors at the Writers' Block who provided invaluable feedback!
You're so nice for commenting on this post. For that, I gave you a vote!
You are so nice for giving me a vote. For that, I gave you one!
💚
Nice you win my friend
I'm thrilled to be amongst this company. I really enjoyed the process, but more importantly, learned a great deal from it.
I loved all these stories, and many more I got to read during the editing process. I can only imagine how difficult it was - but all of these really stood out to me in terms of the depths of their characters, and originality of plot.
Thanks so much for letting me grow as part of this competition!
So, @valued-customer, where can this story be read? I don't see it on your blog anywhere. I was so interested that I'm now a member of that Discord channel writer's community. Let the games begin!
I noticed that just now, in fact =)
I think it's a great place. Good stories and better folk. I have learned much in just a couple months there. You're a great writer, and it'll be a place where you can find like minds and get more attention to your posts.
I confess, the constant editing of my entry has cost me a lot of commenting time on posts of folks I follow, including you. I think it paid off though, cuz the story I came up with isn't half what the story that placed in this competition is, thanks to the good editing and thoughtful suggestions I got at The Writer's Block.
'Fresh Meat (V4)' is currently under the red pencil in the queue for the competition, where you can see the next to current version.
I could show you the current version, but I'm not sure that's allowed by the rules. If it is, I'll drop you a link as soon as I hear it's kosher. Or halal. Not judging =p
You'll do better than I have on the discord for TWB. I'm a poor joiner, despite my best efforts.
Ah, yes. They do control the media. ;-}
I'll wait for the final version. I'm excited about this group. And fret not about all the editing. Writing is like portrait painting...it's never really done. Every time I read one of my short stories I change something, a word, a phrase or word order. Sometimes I delete entire paragraphs. Many of my stories were written 10 or more years ago. Their technology is out of date. It's process and it's fun.
I'd like to believe that. I am mostly a recluse. I never join. Social media has never called to me. I'm not even sure how to proceed. Though I love to clack away at the keyboard, doing it in public is stressful for me. I tend to alienate people. What I write about isn't very popular because it is designed to make people to think about and examine their motives. Most people read for escape. I need to learn how to become more clandestine, to create fiction that slips under their radar. I hope TWB can help me with that.
I want people to read my writing and at this point I'm trying to make that happen. I definitely need guidance.
Hi @rhondak, I just stopped back to let you know your post was one of my favourite reads and I included it in my Steemit Ramble. You can read what I wrote about your post here.
If you’d like to nominate someone’s post just visit the Steemit Ramble Discord
This post has been deemed resteem & upvote worthy by your friendly @eastcoaststeem ran by Steemian @chelsea88
@chelsea88, you are awesome! I love this initiative you've started. :-)
I'm psyched, and so happy to be among such quality company. Participating in this and getting to know The Writer's Block has changed my writing permanently for the better. It's amazing the difference a good editor/s and having access to hard earned general writing advice can make.
Congrats to the top five! You're all lovely people, and I'm glad I could (somewhat) help with the editing process :D
congrats for this sucess
Congratulations everyone! I really enjoyed reading some of these and look forward to seeing more! :-)
Congratulations to the top five and great work for the editors who reviewed the stories for the writers