Submissions

After filling out the form component of the application, the next part of the application process is to submit a writing sample. The writing sample is used by the review team to evaluate the applicant's technical and craft skills.

In general, we recommend that the applicant submit a new short story that has not previously been published and is written just for the application. This application sample will be critiqued in the workshop. You may submit a work that has been previously published, but we will ask you to please consider submitting something new for the first part of the workshop.

We don't expect works to be "Publishing Perfect," but we do expect that individuals have at least a basic understanding of the elements of a story, grammar, usage, and mechanics of writing.

Should there be any differences between the Part II: Writing Sample instructions and the instructions posted below, the instructions below (this website) are considered the definitive guide. 

For a basic example of what we expect submissions to look like, check out this short sample (content warning: strong language).

IMPORTANT: We do not accept, process, or critique works created using Generative AI technologies. If you are interested in writing using Generative AI, this retreat is not for you. Any applicant who submits a story as part of their application, for critique, or uses Generative AI tools to create prose will have their application rejected or be removed from the retreat.  

Document Conventions and Formatting

Length: submissions should be no longer than 6,000 words and should generally be at least 1,000 words.

Margins: 1" margins on all sides.

Spacing: all paragraphs should be formatted as double spaced for ease of review.

Page Numbers: all pages should be numbered, with the exception of the cover page.

Pages Per Sheet: one page (no left-right alternation; simplex output)

Headers and Footers: the header should utilize the following format (or similar):

format:

Last Name / Submission Title / Page Number

example:

Alkani / Shattered Core / 1

Cover Page: must be included. Should have the following information on it:

1. Title or working title
2. Author name
3. Word count
4. Work Status
   
   1. Published - a work that has previously been published in some form or fashion. You may provided details as to the type of publishing if you desire (i.e. self-published, through anthology, through Amazon Kindle, &c)
   2. Unpublished - a work that has not been previously published in any way. We recommend submitting unpublished works as application stories.
5. Content warnings
6. Synopsis (optional)

NOTE: we do not accept excerpts from larger works, such as chapters from novels, novellas, novellettes, or other works. Additionally, we do not recommend submitting flash fiction, microfiction, or other works shorter than 2,000 words. If you only have flash or microfiction to submit, then please feel free to do so. However, keep in mind that we are a short story writing workshop and do not focus on flash or microfiction.

E-Mail Submission Guidelines

File Format: we accept submissions in Microsoft Word 2013-2016 (DOCX) and Microsoft Word 2003-2007 (DOC). If you only have a Portable Document Format (PDF) file available, we will accept it, but it's not preferred.

File Name: please use the following naming convention when submitting files:

format:

RAWR[SESSION]-[AUTHOR]-[TITLE].[FORMAT]

example:

RAWR7-Alkani-Shattered_Core.docx

Note that spaces in the title should be replaced with the underscore ("_") character.

E-Mail Address: send application story submissions to application AT rawr DOT community.

E-Mail Subject: please use the following e-mail subject format when submitting your application story:

format:

RAWR[SESSION] - [AUTHOR] - [TITLE]

example:

RAWR7 - Alkani - The Shattered Core