#ONC2023

53 about the city in the Atlantic? Sounds like I could…do my underwater princess story. But that part would be a prologue. The entire story will not be about scientists discovering a city.

so, probably won’t work?

Do you edit as you go? Because grammar and such are judged.

(and now, yes, I do recognize you XD )

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You just do it. I kinda did it last year. I only had a rough idea and as I wrote the novella, things became clearer. I would write notes of scenes in the midst of writing a chapter. The only trouble I had was finding an ending for the novella version.

I usually preview and revise the chapter before posting it. Even so, some mistakes escape my eye. I noticed I had a small number of mistakes when I edited the story for the wattys, yet I made it to the ONC '22 shortlist. I don’t think they mind editing mistakes as long as they’re minimal and it’s readable.

Yes! Do it and see. What matters is your enjoyment in writing the story.

Yes. My novella was a prequel of my series and made it so far, so it’s fine as long as it follows the prompt.

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I do nottt. Editing as I go is a death sentence to my writer’s brain lol Unfortunately I’m going to have to try for the ONC so wish me luck lol. I will have a friend look over it for grammar and punctuation mistakes though as that skips my eyes easily.

(hah hii :P)

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I posted one story, which is an idea I already had and had some bits and bobs drafted for. Unfortunately, I may have had the idea for too long and now it’s starting to bore me (I’m sure I can get into it though as the idea does still feel solid and marketable). But my brain seems to want the thrill of just churning out a chapter of a new story, that I had no idea I would write before I saw the prompts, so it’s currently spouting ideas all over the place.

Damn it! I said I wouldn’t do two ONC novellas this year! :sweat_smile:

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Some of how @DomiSotto has described this being a good time to do a 1st draft/short version of a Watty’s prep book is a great way to look at this.

They don’t read this when you turn in the 1st, 2nd round. They read it at completion, so as long as you are well done before the time allotted, you’ll have time for a 1st edit, which fixes the worst of 5he grammar.

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My submission (or the first chapter thereof) is live. Here goes nothing.

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I am being a good girl, mainly sticking to just one project. Even got up early to work on the second chapter. Love adding all the new stuff to my reading list… even had to start another one, because my first one overflowed! Gosh, such a fun event!

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You can do it! Resist the temptation of writing two projects.

Good luck :crossed_fingers:t3:

I also just posted the first chapter of my entry. Please, let it be like last year Luck and let me complete this novella as well. That would be an accomplishment to have a story that has nothing to do with my series on my profile.

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I’m likely going to pants this ONC, too. I’m going to try and do what M_elade is doing, and write as much as I can before the deadline so I kind of know where the book is taking me. Going to let myself write out of order and everything this year :'D since not doing that last year left me struggling to write the ending to Seedling.

As for editing: I’ll go through and make sure all of my scenes flow together before posting each chapter, and then also run it through prowritingaid to catch grammar and other mistakes. And then if readers tell me something’s confusing, I’ll go back and clarify. I’m not going to do any rewriting if I can help it, though. At least, I tell myself that :joy: We’ll see.

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I’m doing a whodunnit with a stoner detective.

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Mine is already up. I published it before I had a story idea even. :laughing:

Btw, announcement to all first time ONCers: publish your book asap. Don’t miss out on the beginning hype.

It’s only logical.

Oh, I still have them. I might be able to add some of it back in later.

But in other news, I think it’s a good sign that I liked it so much. Hopefully readers will too.

Yes. Sequels/spin offs are welcome.
I’m writing a sequel too.

The trick is in treating it as a standalone. Prior books shouldn’t be required reading to understand the story.

Just run it through grammarly to avoid embarrassing typos.
You can worry about proper editing later. The first two rounds are pretty lenient.

I love that prompt too.

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I was going to wait until last minute to publish but now I’m like sdkgfhjsghds (that’s how I panic via text lolol) maybe I should just post my blurb and a quick hello note to have it out there?? lol

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I chose three prompts! :smiley:



I feel like these mesh together well :raised_hands:

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That shows how determined you are. I’ll jump by your profile and add it to my reading list.

If you liked it, I’m sure readers who will give your story a try will too. There’s nothing wonderful than a writer liking and enjoying their work.

Feel free. Most writers are only posting blurbs and an introduction as their first chapter for now.

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Do you mind giving me some feedback on my blurb? Share your blurbs for feedback here

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Lots of people have just an author’s note published.

It’s worth it to publish it asap because people add it to their ONC lists. The hype calms down later so if you wait, you might miss out.

It won’t hurt to have it up but it could hurt to not have anything out at all.

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I’ll post it up now :smiley: It’s my first time posting on wattpad so I might have to fiddle a bit with the site lol

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Check out a couple of other ONC books to see how people are handling it.

Make sure to add ONC tags.
#ONC2023 #OpenNovellaContest2023

Most of all, have fun. Good luck!

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I see you. I added yours too. I’m curious how you’re going to use the prompt but so far it already sounds like a completely different story. Isn’t it awesome in how many ways one prompt can be interpreted?

In other news, I think I’ve fixed my blurb just by adding one catchy sentence at the end. It doesn’t give away too much but gives a nice tease of the stakes.

I’m happy about it.

Now to actually write the story!

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