I am hoping to find volunteers who can read what I have for all three and give me an honest opinion of which has the best shot, or is the strongest possibility, since I will probably only be eligible to enter once. I don't need in-depth critiques at this point, just overall impressions of each.

This is what you will be getting yourself into, should you choose to help me. The three possibilities are:

1. Starburst

Total jerk Merk is a prisoner in a system of caves, collecting starbursts, which are alien feces. He tries to get revenge against both his wife, Jone, and the head prisoner Davchek, but his plan doesn't work out the way he means it to.
WC: 3500
Status: is completed but needs some work on the tone and flavor.
Sample first paragraph:

quote:

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Merk looked with distaste at the faintly luminescent, greenish clump on the cave floor. It looked a bit like frosting squirted from a pastry tube in a vaguely flower-like arrangement, but it didn’t smell anything like either flowers or frosting. It smelled like crap.

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2. And the Evening, And the Morning

An alien from a race where the adults die every morning at sunrise, as the young are born. It finds it has a unique gift: racial memory. The alien tries to find a way to pass this gift on to the other aliens so their civilization can grow beyond one day.
WC: 1750
Status: Not finished. Perhaps halfway. Has a very unique voice, and I worry that this may be off-putting to readers.
Sample first paragraph:

quote:

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At first, I remembered nothing before my birth; just the warm closeness of the womb. I felt the comforting embrace of warmth and water. There was darkness. Rhythmic, small, internal sounds. Then I felt my parent writhe around me, the womb contracting and expanding with the motion.

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Along with this story, I would love it if you would read the companion piece which I wrote first, called Cycle. This is not truly a story because it is a retelling of the lives of one generation of aliens, but I think it will help you get a good understanding of what I would LIKE to communicate in the rewrite.
WC:1300
Status: Completed
Sample first paragraph:

quote:

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The valley is shaped like a cupped hand, as though the very planet is offering the beasts within it as a sacrifice to a demanding god. The huddled bodies of the creatures blackly carpeting the ground are prostrate, dark scaly backs presented foremost, foreheads touching the earth. It is an obeisance of statues. The creatures are formidable, hard, armored; full of tooth and fang, yet their immobility is out of fearful expectation, not of strength. Nothing moves in the predawn air. The foreheads of the beasts all face the east.

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3. See No Evil

A 14-year old twin, mute but with the ability to communicate telepathically with her sister, keeps a journal of her generation ship's approach to their new world, and how the humans then meet and bond with the sentient Trees on the planet, as well as the avian species. The prequel to my novel-in-progress, Outleaf.
WC: 1000
Status: Not finished. In fact only barely begun.
Sample first paragraph:

quote:

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It’s kind of a joke, you know? My sister is deaf. I’m mute. Ha ha all we need now is a blind one and the three of us would be monkeys. It gets pretty old. Especially since we’ve been hearing that one our whole lives. Not that ‘our whole lives’ have been much to speak of. We’re only fourteen.

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This may sound like a lot, but the total word count here is only 7k. Hopefully the stories are enjoyable. Whichever one I decide on will be my focus every day for the next few weeks. My self-imposed deadline to pick a story is next week, hopefully by the weekend, so if you are able to let me know even just which was your favorite by then it would help tremendously.

The first part of my week is pure madness, but if you can wait until the end of the week I'd love to read. Send everything but Starburst, which I've read already.

Edit: Thanks for the comments I have already gotten, but I definitely still need more. The few replies I have received have been contradictory of each other, although good.

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4. The Contest is open only to those who have not had professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits

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I am finding it hard to believe that you will only be eligible during the next (upcoming) quarter. Keep in mind, first of all, that ACCEPTANCE and PUBLICATION are two different things. You are eligible up to the time that your three stories or one novel/short novel has been put in a public forum and sold to at least 5000 people (or gets 5000 hits on a webzine).

Also, for the quarter ending June 30 (post mark deadline June 30) you cannot have been ineligible during that quarter. If you become ineligible in July, you can still have your entry judged and possible win. The same will hold true for the quarter ending September 30.

I'm afraid I don't have time to judge your stories, but I can give you a bit of general advice from what I've heard about WOTF. (I've submitted three stories so far, although only one made it to the quarter finals.)

First of all, as with anything else it's a bit of a crap shoot. Some editors will like your stuff, some won't. Some will like one story and not another. But you already knew that.

But for this time....A previous winner shared this list with me, if it helps you:

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1. Follow all the rules posted at writersofthefuture.com
2. Make sure your story is not only speculative (science fiction, fantasy, etc.) but gets to the speculative stuff early enough that the judges can tell it's speculative.
3. Use good grammar, spelling, and manuscript format
4. Have interesting characters in a compelling situation
5. Introduce tension or suspense early in the story-and keep it up
6. Write a satisfying ending (if you've read my story, my apologies on this point; I've learned my lesson)
7. Let your imagination roam: Writers of the Future really rewards imagination, and they're open to a wide, wide range of story types
8. Read the current and previous anthologies to help you get an idea of what winning stories are like. And yes, I'm in the current anthology, but no, I don't get royalties (they pay the writers a flat fee for their contributions).
9. Even if you don't place, keep submitting! My WotF finalist was my fifth submission to the contest, and my second-place winner was my eighth. I used the contest as a goad to remind me to get to work and write new stories.
10. Avoid teenage angst pieces and elf-related fiction if you can. Really.

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