Wednesday, March 6, 2019

IWSG March - Heroes vs Villains

March! It's supposed to be spring soon, but what that means in Colorado is the most snow of the year. Right now we're having regular snowstorms on the weekends, which is rather annoying, but we usually have some gorgeous, warm days mixed in, as well, so here's hoping.

It's also the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for IWSG!


Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group exists to provide community and support to writers of all stripes and levels. All are welcome to join. Simply click on Alex's name above and sign up. Post about your insecurities or reassurances for others, and bop around to visit different people. It's a great way to meet new folks.

This week's co-hosts are:
Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard! Be sure to stop by and say hi.

The optional question is Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero or the villain? And why?

You'd probably expect me to say I prefer the villain's POV, and I do get a maniacal delight out of writing from the antagonist's view, but I get something different out of writing from the hero's POV, and I enjoy that, too. And I write from that POV more often.

I didn't really answer the question, did I? There's fun in writing the villain, but I probably glean more satisfaction from writing the hero.

I've been busy with work, and just finished with the big annual event for my volunteer job (a half-day mini-conference with six speakers), so my writing has been minimal, but I finished a short story this past week, and I'm happy with that. I've had time to get some other writing done, as well, so yay! I'm calling that a victory right now.

My short story submission stats for February:

7 submissions
5 rejections
1 short listing
0 acceptances
3 releases
11 currently on submission

Now for some links. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores is seeking short fiction in science fiction and fantasy. 1000 words and up, but they prefer shorter. Pays $.06/word. Only open for submissions from March 21 to 28.

Darkhouse Books is seeking mid-century murder stories. 2500 to 6000 words. Pays royalties. Deadline March 31.

Crannog Magazine is seeking poetry and stories. Up to 2000 words. Payment unspecified. Deadline March 31.

tdotSpec is seeking speculative fiction stories for Imps & Minions. Up to 10,000 words, but they prefer 2000 to 5000 words. Pays up to $25CDN/story. Deadline March 31.

Orbannin Books is seeking short epistolary horror for Letters From the Grave. Up to 10,000 words. Pays $.05/word. Deadline March 31.

Death's Head Press is seeking bizarro short stories for Breaking Bizarro. 3000 to 8000 words. Pays $10. Deadline March 31.

Verity LA is seeking a variety of written word and performances. Up to 5000 words. Pays $AU100. Deadline March 31.

Davetopia is seeking horror and thrillers about clowns, but the clowns should not be the bad guys. Anthology name is Fears of a Clown. 1000 to 10,000 words. Pays royalties. Deadline March 31.

Prospective Press is seeking stories of female predators. 4000 to 7000 words (or up to 1000 for flash). Intends to pay $.04/word (depending upon Kickstarter success). Deadline March 31.

How has 2019 treated you and your writing aspirations, so far? Do you prefer to write villains or heroes? Have you been submitting? Any news? Any of these links of interest?

May you find your Muse.

20 comments:

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

I feel the same way - "I do get a maniacal delight out of writing from the antagonist's view...." :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Call it a big victory! And you put out another awesome IWSG newsletter last week.

Chrys Fey said...

I have a lot of fun writing about the bad things the villains do in my stories, but I've never written in their perspective. One day, perhaps.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Way to go with all of your submissions!!! You are inspiring!

Jemi Fraser said...

Yay you on the submissions!
I enjoy writing both povs as well - I do prefer when good triumphs for my longer stories though :)

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Yeah, I really didn't answer the question directly, either. LOL Good luck with all your submissions. You are busy!

Tonja Drecker said...

Hope you see sunshine on weekends soon!
Good luck with the submissions—you really keep things going well.

The Cynical Sailor said...

I really want to try writing from the villain's point of view after reading everyone's answers to this question. I think it would be a fascinating challenge.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

If you can get a story written with a big event like that, that's really good.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on finishing a short story.

cleemckenzie said...

As always it's great to see your list of submissions and publications.

Anonymous said...

We've got more snow coming in, as well. My daughter is visiting from San Diego, where it was an unseasonably cool 60 degrees, while we sat in front of a roaring fire today.

I must say, getting "a maniacal delight out of writing from the antagonist's view" is about as poetic a description of how I feel about that POV. But of course, we're invested in our protagonist, however flawed, and must fight to victory for them.

Diane Burton said...

Congrats on finishing a short while being so busy! I stay out of the villain's head as much as possible. I don't even watch Criminal Minds. Creeps me out.

Olga Godim said...

I never write from the villain's perspective. I don't understand what drives them. Money, power, greed, revenge - I know. I just can't feel those on the guts level. How could anyone put his need for super money above the need to help someone or save a life is beyond me. And without that understanding, I can't write the POV.

Andrew Leon said...

I don't know about writing it, but I've never much enjoyed going to the villain's pov.

Andrew Leon said...

*reading from the villains' pov*

Juneta key said...

Congrats on those submission and for sharing the ones accepting.

dolorah said...

Anytime I write anything - including a blog post - is a writing success for me, lol. But, I won an award for a flash fiction post (at WEP) this month. Yay me.

Good that you are able to get so much writing done through all the work demands. Sounds fun though.

Mark said...

Glad you're making submissions:) Crannog Magazine...wow, what a cool name :)

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Well done getting stories written and out! You have inspired me repeatedly with your perisistence in that, and I managed to get one story submitted in December, and another in February (January was a lost cause for all writing). And I’ve sent the Feb. story back out this week, just because I was thinking about your little lists and my own desire to have a little list! :)