Thoughts on the Dream Foundry Writer’s Contest
Every successful writer has their beginning story and it usually involves a long and difficult struggle. Yes, some exceptionally talented writers have had quick triumphs, where not only do they sell their first submitted story to a big name publisher, but also sometimes win awards. Even these rare cases of what look like overnight success usually only come after the writer has quietly toiled away for years, polishing their work and perfecting their style before feeling it was good enough to show to the world. For most writers, it is an even longer journey, through a confusing, depressing, and often overwhelming alien environment.
In a very real sense, the deck is stacked against beginning writers. When sending their submissions to the top publishers, they must compete—for the already too few open slots—with long-time pros, award winners, and big names in the business that often get an automatic read or bump from the slush pile. Then their reply is usually a form rejection that gives them no feedback about why their story didn’t make the cut. It is grueling, lonely, and demoralizing. The good news is that nearly every successful writer you can think of has been in this same dark wilderness, and made it through.
While determination and a sometimes-irrational refusal to give up are probably the primary forces behind a writer’s success, there can also be other contributing factors. Luck, being prepared to take advantage of opportunities, a community, and a helping hand from other writers can all help beginners. We here at the Dream Foundry can’t give you the determination or the luck, but we do strive to give you the community and the helping hand. This contest (and hopefully future contests) is designed to reward the hard work and dedication of beginning writers.
As the contest coordinator, I’m hoping to use my experience running other contests to make this one as fair and successful as possible. Many more advanced and experienced writers have helped me, and now I’m glad to have that opportunity to help others in their journey in this small way. So thank you to all the first readers and Dream Foundry volunteers who have made the contest possible and good luck to all the beginning writers who enter.
William Ledbetter
William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award winning author with more than seventy speculative fiction stories and nonfiction articles published in four languages, in markets such as Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Escape Pod, Baen.com, and the SFWA blog.
He's been a space and technology geek since childhood and spent most of his non-writing career in the aerospace industry. He lives near Dallas with his wife, a needy dog and two spoiled cats. His new novel, Level Five, is available from Audible Originals. Learn more at www.williamledbetter.com