Will Wight, New York Times Best-Selling Author of 'Cradle'
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In which we ramble on.
And by we, I mean me.

Scripps National Spelling Bee

6/1/2017

25 Comments

 
I can't remember if I've told you this before, because my life is shrouded in layers of secrecy and lies, but I actually competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee when I was in seventh and eighth grade.

The finals are actually on TV right now, and I'm watching them, so I didn't just start taking a trip down memory lane out of nowhere.

If I think about it, this is probably the first step that led to me becoming a fantasy author: every contestant is led backstage through a portal into a Narnia-esque world of sentient letters, where we had to fight for survival with nothing but our swords and our etymological knowledge.

That's the true form of the spelling bee. Warn your friends. And of course the Spelling Bee herself is the queen of a hive millions strong, building up her workers into an army that will consume every dictionary in the world. She will thereby merge her essence into our language, and wherever English is spoken, her power will spread.

Plus, this year the competition is sponsored by Kindle, so that's pretty cool.

​-Will


25 Comments
Walter
6/1/2017 08:41:10 am

What place did you earn?

Reply
Will link
6/1/2017 09:43:09 am

That's always unclear before the finals, Walter. They don't exactly say "You came in 67th!" or whatever until they're under a certain number of participants.

I think I made it to the third round one year and the fifth round the other year? Something like that.

So I was about in the middle. The people competing in the finals today are way better than I ever was.

Reply
Dustin
6/1/2017 07:03:31 pm

Apparently your parents didn't care about you enough to lock you in a small room and force you to study words nonstop with no outside interaction.

Will link
6/17/2017 03:13:51 pm

My parents largely left it up to me to motivate my own studying, which is why I didn't study enough.

But as they put it to me recently, "No, you earned us two free trips to Washington, DC without killing yourself memorizing words. You studied exactly the right amount."

Dustin
6/19/2017 05:18:22 pm

Can't argue with free trips.

John
6/1/2017 10:03:30 am

Hey. I just wanted to say congrats on the house Will. Clearly you are ESTABLISHED. Lol. Hope things are going well and your fans have their fingers cross that you get the all-star bonus for May.

Reply
Will link
6/17/2017 03:14:18 pm

Thanks, John!

Come to think of it, I should be hearing something about that pretty soon...I should check my email. It's been piling up anyway.

Reply
Diego link
6/2/2017 09:28:11 am

Haha Spelling Bees are everywhere even in 3rd world countries it so shaming when u get a word u don't know and have to try. Well good to know ur still up and about. Well wishes and all that. (Should probably go back to my job now)

Reply
Will link
6/17/2017 03:14:51 pm

Spelling Bees consume all that they touch! EVERY WORD WE TYPE IS FOOD FOR THE BEES!

Reply
Lyrian Rastler
6/5/2017 05:52:11 am

Actually, now that you are quite free (at least, that is what I infer from this post) you could actually try doing that youtube gameplay thing that was suggested in the comments a few months back. I do remember u saying that u play terraria.

P.S. I am really bored right now, so I am going to make this comment unnecessarily long and annoying, just so that everyone has to read this random paragraph (evil laughter in the background)

Reply
Will link
6/17/2017 03:15:51 pm

"Quite free"

*Cue Will's laughter, which slowly fades to sobs.*

I was hoping when I made this post that I was almost free, only to have those hopes rudely dashed against the cold, hard rocks of reality.

I'm free now, though!

...mostly!

Reply
Michael
6/10/2017 02:35:30 am

Hi Will,

Sorry for the unrelated topic in here one of my relatives is interested in reading your books however refuses to use kindle and prefers to read paperbacks (turning pages is more therapeutic apparently).

Is there any way to buy paperback versions off you?

Reply
Will link
6/17/2017 03:16:53 pm

Hey Michael! Sorry for the late reply, but I've been dead and have only recently peeled off my mummy bandages.

There are paperback versions of all my books available on Amazon, except for Soulsmith and Blackflame, which should be coming Soon(tm).

Reply
Walter
6/10/2017 07:29:29 pm

I was gonna wait until your next post to comment again, but I check here every day for an update, and now I can't resist. I asked about placement because I only performed in one, and it was our school's but I placed 3rd! The winner of ours made it eventually all the way to nationals. I was content with having placed at all. How're things? I keep trying to pick up another book- I even made it to barnes and noble and picked out two, but I don't have the heart to open them. Post-blackheart syndrome it seems. I was going to read the elder empire series but someone replied in another thread with massive spoilers so I'm attempting to recover my interest in that as well, all the while still eyeing another re-read of cradle. Anyway, I hope things are well!

Reply
Will link
6/17/2017 03:18:55 pm

Sorry about the lack of content, Walter. A new house is a demanding and exhausting little infant.

Massive spoilers, huh...I'm honestly not sure it's possible to spoil Elder Empire in such a way that it ruins the reading experience. That's part of the way it's constructed. If spoilers would ruin it completely, then reading one set would ruin the other.

Reply
Dustin
6/17/2017 10:25:44 pm

The biggest mistake I see many people moving into a new house do is to not tackle it all right away. They drag it out for months and sometimes years without ever unpacking fully or organizing it because they feel it's too much.

Will link
6/19/2017 11:12:37 pm

I know, but I'm getting it all done all at once, and I hate it. I'm starting to think I should just keep my stuff in boxes. What is a house but an elaborate box, anyway?

Diego link
6/11/2017 12:03:28 pm

Hey idk if u get this Will.(Or anyone else) I think u mentioned u were looking for some reading material. Have u tried Savage Divinity by RuffWriter? It's my favorite web novel atm and I thought I would share if using have free time, are bored or in need of inspiration.

Reply
Will link
6/17/2017 03:21:51 pm

"looking for some reading material."

Always!

"have free time, are bored or in need of inspiration."

I love inspiration, and I can only wish for boredom and pray for free time. BUT I'll make some for Savage Divinity! It looks interesting, but the cover is...unfortunate...and the fact that it's on RoyalRoad makes me immediately assume it's not great. Which is bad of me, really, and if you like it I'll check it out!

What's so great about it?

Reply
Diego link
6/17/2017 04:19:16 pm

I like that the main character is talented, but doesnt become a God over the course of a year. Also he is idealistic but knows he cant change the big world by himself. Its more about him adapting to the local customs of a world so largely diffrent from our own. Also the first few chapters are a bit rough but the writer gets better with practice. I mean not everyone likes everything so what works for me might not work for u, but it makes me laugh a few times so i thought id share.

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12/11/2018 08:26:43 am

Actually, you need to be proud that you had been part of Scripps National Spelling Bee! Actually, it's an honor to be on a completion because you can prove to yourself how good you are. Besides, joining a spelling bee contest has never been an easy task that's why you need to tap your back and congratulate yourself for a job well done! You may not have won, but the experience and pressure of being there was just too priceless. I want to commend you for that.

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Tucker Patrick
5/20/2022 09:09:18 am

Hi Will! I was in this spelling bee too! I had no idea that you were in it until I was looking up the times-union article. I went 2 years in a row, were you in the theater or in a smaller room? I was the unusually small child that cried when he lost :)

The photographer put a big ol' picture of me being a crybaby about losing in the paper, I didn't know how to feel about it at the time.

Reply



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