Chuck's Final Set of Reviews for Anthology Volume 1 Nominees
We've made it! Chuck's last round of feedback on an entire year of top selections. Below, you'll find the last set of semi-finalists for Anthology Volume 1. Congratulations to all included! In the weeks ahead, we'll find out which stories make the final cut for our print anthology.
For the protection of the work, the stories below are made available to Workshop Members only. If you're a member, you may click inside and read these at your leisure. You'll find loads of great lessons on the writer's craft within. So read on.
The last set of semi-finalists include:
Tiger, Tiger - B.H. Ebert
Carousels - Austin James
Engines, O-Rings, and Astronauts - Jason M. Fylan
Little Toy Soldiers - Dan Lobo
Phantom Pain - Tony Liebhard
Revenge - Davey Watts
If you'd like to participate in our ground-breaking workshop, read exclusive How-To craft essays from Chuck and maybe have your shot at Anthology Volume 2...
Comments
Stoked! Great work guys. I cannot imagine all the hours and days it must have taken putting this huge and complex thing together. Respect!
Volume 1? Does that mean there will be more than one book?
And are these just the stories by the writers from the workshop or will there be commentaries by Chuck also? I always imagined this anthology as a "How to write"-book by him with lessons and then the winning stories to show the methods etc. mentioned by him. Will the project be anything like this?
Yes, there is a shared intention to continue and produce future volumes. But that intention isn't yet a working plan. When the time is right to open the reading period for volume two, we'll announce it. In the meantime, it's a good idea for new members to get into the shop, read Chuck's craft essays, write some reviews, and test out a few stories through the peer review process.
The Anthology rewards the best efforts of our workshop participants. It doesn't operate like a traditional story contest--where you'd typically pay a reading fee just to get a single shot each year. Time and again, it's the folks who'd use the workshop daily, even when we aren't reading for the Anthology, who tend to survive every tier of the screenings process when we do.
And yes, there's a good chance this book will have an instructional component that includes essays and/or commentaries from Chuck, in addition to the introduction he'll write for it. The final shape isn't set into stone yet, but all of these ideas have long been part of the conversation.
Yeah, what Mark said. I scored two stories in front of Chuck, and a handful of long list nominations, and I didn't submit anything I'd written before the workshop window opened. Some people made the top of the heap with stories they had obviously worked at length before joining the WS, and simply treated the joining fee as a submission fee, and did not utilize the workshop. Some of those people didn't even comment/thank on their own story's thread, who knows if they even realize they made it? But those who stuck around are names you've seen in this list time and time again. The WS is what you put into it. The competition is only going to get tougher once Vol 1 sees print so I'd suggest you get cracking sooner than later.
The intentions to use the application of Chuck's essay devices as ear markers for nominations wasn't announced until several months into the process, but once this became clear and the stories getting to him were more applicable Chuck's critiques notably became more enthusiastic overall. Point being, your exhibited prowess of his minimalist devices is going to be paramount in scoring top honors in Vol 2 as well.
Thank you very much for these detailed responses!