You still have time to get those submissions in for the next IWSG anthology. Get those fantasy stories ready. There is an adjustment in the details. Submissions can be between 3,000 and 6,000 words. There's still time to write that short story. Publication in a story anthology with the promotional power of IWSG behind you is a great career opportunity.
Here are the details.
The question this month for IWSGers to use or not is:
When do you know if your story is ready?
As you visit all those blogs today, you'll gain insight into each writer's process and their methods. Everyone has a checklist, either one they've found or one they've created. If you take notes today, you can probably improve your checklist. But you'll also see things that don't work for your process. Read and learn, but do your own thing.
If you're looking for words from the pros, check out The CliffsNotes Checklist for Improving Your First Draft. It's pretty detailed and has a lot more items on it than what I look for in my first draft but everything is something that eventually needs to be done.
Writer's Digest has this Checklist for Your Final Draft. This list actually fits into what I shared on my own blog for the most part. I do these things much sooner than the final draft.
This list is called The Ultimate 15 Point Writing Checklist and is somewhere in the middle of the other two.
But the truth is, you must design your own checklist and do what works for you to make your story ready. Taking advice from professionals is a good place to start if you don't know when your story is ready. And be prepared to adjust if needed.
Are you making a list and checking it twice? Do you come up with it on your own or find it elsewhere?
