TWB Sci-Fi Contest Top Five!

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.