Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

NEW ASSIGNMENT

Install your market search engine!

I had already installed the search engine but didn't know about the newsletter or realize how you could add your stories. I had just been doing the searches and not knowing about those cool features. One great thing is that you can see at a glance how many little krackens you have in your brood and just how big those lovelies are! Being able to see those stories (only have two wee ones on there at the moment) will definitely make the submission process easier. Especially, since I was trying to figure out a way to organize everything - not one of my finer skills.

Thanks again, Wulf for making my life easier!

NEW ASSIGNMENT

Install your market search engine!

Thanks again, Wulf for making my life easier!

Happy to help. It's easier to understand a thing when someone with experience shows us the ropes.

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

StarReacher wrote: "I've been researching many of these markets in the past couple of months as I -- FINALLY -- started submitting to magazines rather than just entering the contest. Whew! Confession finished . . ."

Don't worry, StarReacher. You don't need to confess, have absolved yourself by changing your course. There are many like you. It's why I designed this new challenge to address the problem. That you took the challenge says you want to do something about it. Well done!

When you do the reading assignment, I think you will find lots of resonance in my essay to what you just wrote above.

Cheers!

Thanks again, Wulf. I have done the reading assignment and wrote up a response before my internet crashed and I lost everything.

"Never Let Go" definitely resonated with me on many different levels. First, having graduated college in 1991, I can relate to writing for the long haul. All this time, I have never once considered "not" writing. Something we haven't talked about is that the older you get, the more experiences you have when you sit your butt down in the writing chair. You see the world through completely different lenses than when you did in your early years. Being a parent, holding down jobs you might or might not hate, dealing with relationships, illnesses, death, etc. all get reflected somewhat in your stories. There are certain things that are easier to write about because you have lived them.

I also love the imagery of the barnacles. In the years when I was newly married and then suddenly the parent of a four year old child (one that didn't speak English, refused to nap, and had lots of needs), I can see now that I was washing about in that ocean plankton. Sure, I wrote in my journal during those few odd moments alone. But real writing had to wait. Note to new parents: Once your children are old enough to play in the tub, give them foam letters, numbers, and bathtub crayons and let them play safely while you sit next to them with a laptop on your knees. Every day can be a "let's play in the tub" day when you need to get in a few scribbles. I don't know if I was a barnacle then, but at least my plankton was following a sea vessel!

I definitely agree about entering contests. I won my first contest for a children's adventure story back in 1995. It was 750 words and I wrote it in a couple of days before it was due. I hadn't expected a win, although I did think it was a good story. To be honest, I was doing it to see if I could meet a deadline. That thrill of winning gave me hope that sustained me over the years when writing seemed like a distant dream. Later I followed it up with a Second place win many years later. Even though I was never able to publish those pieces in markets, I learned the lesson that I COULD be successful.

You are also right about life trying to get in the way of a writing life. This is a huge year of changes for me. But this year, in spite of those challenges, I have chosen to make writing a priority. This challenge is actually a way to keep me sane when everything else is going topsy turvy. So I am so grateful to have found this group.

Oh, and I have also read Dave Farland's piece as well as Martin Shoemaker. As others have said, what an awesome idea to put this book together with some many different voices!

Which brings me to important questions I've been waiting to ask all of you. Please provide the answers.

1. In view of Officer's comment above, if story determines length, why would you ever write a story to a certain length?

Even though story determines length, you as the writer determine specifically what part of that story to tell. In a flash fiction piece, you are choosing one emotionally charged moment. In a longer piece, you add more moments. So you could literally write a flash piece, and then write a short story focusing on a larger piece of that story, and even one day tell the full novel version.

2. With regular practice, what might the Kill Your Darlings exercise teach you to do?

For me, the exercise is helping me learn to focus on emotional impact moments. I know that Dave Farland has recently included some tips on creating emotional impact in your story. And I've been reading "The Emotional Craft of Fiction" by Donald Maass as well to supercharge my writing.

3. Besides stimulating fresh ideas for stories, what other concept might Moon be teaching with the weekly prompt?

I think that the weekly prompt can help you increase your writing output, even your longer pieces. It changes the way you think about a story and forces you to plan ahead, even if just in your head. You can't have uncontrolled musings running pages and pages if you want to have a succinct piece. You need to think: "What am I trying to say? What is the theme? What is the emotional impact I want to leave with my reader? How can I do that with this limited word count?" That can only help when you are getting to bigger pieces. Because the process is the same, but now you have more words. The beauty is that tight writing is beneficial in longer stories as well.

4. When open submission calls for anthologies are announced, what is the case with every anthology?

I'm not as familiar with submitting to anthologies but guessing that what is needed is attention to the theme as well as the word count. Editors will ostensibly have limits to how many pieces that they can include. They will probably want to include as wide a scope of voices as they can. Which means that word counts will be enforced.

5. How can this knowledge improve your targeting?

Make sure that your story fits the advertised theme and word lengths. Look at previous anthologies (if they exist). Research the editor putting the anthology together. Will your piece feel out of place?

6. Why is it a good idea to sign up for market newsletters and to continue to do market searches, even after you've set up your personal market list?
You want to be aware of any potential market your piece(s) might be a good fit for. A new market, one you have personally never heard of, may be actively looking for pieces that are perfect fits for your pieces. Also, editors sometimes move around and you don't want to address a cover letter to a previous editor. Although, I almost always visit websites and double check names, what editors are looking for, etc.

There's your current ASSIGNMENT. Get kraken!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

I won't give a detailed critique, but only a short overview of those words she feels are clunky and troubling: (not in alphabetical order)

Hey Retro! Thanks for that ... you have saved me a job

Glad you've benefited from my KYD exercise. Imagine the benefits doing this exercise every week for one year if you had the time!

I'm going to do my best ... have got a daily writing routine going, so if I can put aside one day in the week for the flash then should be possible. Write in morning, slaughter darlings by night.

1. In view of Officer's comment above, if story determines length, why would you ever write a story to a certain length?
If our stories fall outside the word count for a particular publication, we may choose to (1) submit to a different publication or (2) modify the length of our story. This option #2 is a matter of learning to master our stories. Sure, our original story may only be xxxx words long. But mastering our stories may include modifying our plot complexity. In doing so, we end up with a different story—yet, this new story will (ideally) fall within the parameters of the desired word count.

2. With regular practice, what might the Kill Your Darlings exercise teach you to do?
This exercise has been gold to me. If I learn nothing else this year, “killing my darlings” will have been enough to make it all worthwhile. Telling a story with fewer words isn't merely about an economy of words, it's about packing intensity in our words without having them watered down by superfluous linguistic acrobatics.

3. Besides stimulating fresh ideas for stories, what other concept might Moon be teaching with the weekly prompt?
Working to a deadline. This little gem encompasses the differences between the Rothfuss and Sanderson.

4. When open submission calls for anthologies are announced, what is the case with every anthology?
There are many ways to answer that question. I’m not sure I understand the essence of the question.

5. How can this knowledge improve your targeting?
As above

6. Why is it a good idea to sign up for market newsletters and to continue to do market searches, even after you've set up your personal market list?
Because each of us just spent a day reviewing dozens of submission guidelines. Signing up to market newsletters lets the latest news come to us, fresh and new. Besides, it’s always a good feeling when you open a newsletter saying a publisher is looking for stories exactly like the one you’ve just finished. If we’d not signed up to the newsletters, we’d have likely not known about a particular anthology.

Henckel, your piece is a thinker. Interesting take to have the protagonist helping her stay on Earth and enslaved - if that's what is going on, as it's possible I missed something. Is her homeworld terrible and servitude therefore more appealing? Unclear, to me. I think some of the briefer orientation in the 250 served you well, as in the first version I thought she was a cat for most of the story. I like the twist on the underground railroad, too. If this were expanded, I might try to develop the characters a little more, so we have a clear understanding of the stakes and problems.

Sorry, I completely missed this. Thanks so much for your comments, RSchibler. You're right, I was a bit too vague. It doesn't help that I have two conflicts going on here. The first is Lee is being bullied by his dad to help free the galactic slaves. The second is that Lee is opposed to freeing the slaves. He thinks it's theft. Perhaps a bit much for flash fiction.

I missed last year's challenge by few days. I missed to join the challenge this year too. I guess I'll have to spend another year as lurker. But thank you all for precious information and tips. It really helps

I've updated my Grinder settings so I can use their system. Between that and my wall hanging notes I'll have the ability to monitor where my baby krakens have landed.

In view of Officer's comment above, if story determines length, why would you ever write a story to a certain length?
If you want to compete on a level playing field it is imperative to follow the zines guidelines closely. Match your story wordcount to the prompt or as close as possible without going over.

With regular practice, what might the Kill Your Darlings exercise teach you to do?
Your writing style will become more condensed. You will learn to say more with fewer words. With enough practice you will be able to enter the zone of writing without thinking.

Besides stimulating fresh ideas for stories, what other concept might Moon be teaching with the weekly prompts?
Streamlining your storytelling ability. Learning to let your imagination soar.

When open submission calls for anthologies are announced, what is the case for every anthology?
Match an existing story from your stockpile to the guidelines for the anthology you're considering or write something new to fit their needs.

How can this knowledge improve your targeting?
Every move you make should help you become adept at finding and matching your efforts to ezines that are in your comfort zones. It's always more fun writing when you feel good about your prospective sale.

Why is it a good idea to sign up for market newsletters and to continue to do market searches, even after you've set up your personal market list?
The internet is growing on a daily basis so as more potential readers come online there will be a need for quality stories to fill society's need for entertainment. By signing up for newsletters your email box will be the first thing you see when you start your day. If you start getting too many you can always unsubscribe from the ones that don't fit your personal agenda.

If you'd like to see the next WotF cover illustration, it's on my FB page (send me a friend request if you'd like to keep up with things like these). Echo Chernik did a glorious work of art! IF YOU WIN Q4, THIS WILL BE YOUR BOOK COVER!

And in more news: Here's one you won't want to miss! DAVID FARLAND will be interviewed on Chatting With Sherri Tuesday, November 5th, at 1 pm PDT. Here's the link: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/rithebard ... id-farland

Also, John Goodwin asked me to get the word out that he'd like everyone that's listened to the WotF podcast to answer a brief survey so he can bring you more! Help the man out by scrolling down a couple posts on my FB wall to the survey. Seven quick questions. Thank you!

1. Story determines length. True. We write a story to a certain length if we don't want it rejected outright. We do this by the Kill Your Darlings exercise.

2. KYD teaches the power of using one word to mean two or three and eliminating the fat in our writing to produce at least 90-10 beef.

3. The weekly prompt stimulates originality and fresh thinking, story seeds, and the ability to produce a story based on what an anthology requires.

4. Every anthology has open submission calls. What's open eventually closes. It is important to note the dates and word length to schedule your writing to meet time parameters.

5. By coordinating targeting specific stories with parameters of anthology submission dates.

6. Life is fluid. Newsletters are continually in flux. Market research changes with each evolving season. Similar to the song by the Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn."

1) In view of Officer's comment above, if story determines length, why would you ever write a story to a certain length?

Sure, the story can dictate word count, but as writers, we determine the story. There are many elements to a story that can be modified so to expand or contract its length. For example, we can alter the plot, go deeper into the character’s emotional state, alter the syntax, etc…Word counts aren’t calculated willy nilly. The constraints make for more deliberate writing, tighter prose, and often more powerful stories. Further, publishing is a business. Each word costs the publisher money, which if the publisher wants to stay in business, must get a return. We want to be professional writers—emphasis on professional. We follow guidelines because we wanna get paid.

2) With regular practice, what might the Kill Your Darlings exercise teach you to do?

I found this exercise very valuable, and I’ll continue to do it. First, it requires more deliberate writing, a critical skill that I need to improve upon. Overall, my stories can use a little liposuction. Second, I can see short stories and even novels growing from these planted seeds. Third, it has open up markets to me that wouldn’t have been available. Frankly, I’ve been intimidated by the prospect of writing Flash. Now, not so much. I’m excited to write more.

3)Besides stimulating fresh ideas for stories, what other concept might Moon be teaching with the weekly prompt?

If we want to be professional writers, we can’t wait for some muse to knock us on the head with that perfect idea/concept to write the story. We just got to sit down and write. As we hone our story-telling chops, we can write a kick-butt story with any beginning prompt.

4)When open submission calls for anthologies are announced, what is the case with every anthology?

If the story doesn’t match the anthology’s theme or its guidelines, it won’t get published. You’re simply wasting your and the anthology’s time.

5)How can this knowledge improve your targeting?

See #4 above.

6)Why is it a good idea to sign up for market newsletters and to continue to do market searches, even after you've set up your personal market list?

Calls open and close, editors play musical chairs, new zines open up, some close-up shop. Having your finger on the market-place pulse, provide your stories with the best opportunity to be read.

Thank you RSchibler for your critique on my soup story! I've been aggressively working on bettering my writing's syntax, so I found knowing precisely which sentences caused you to stumble very valuable. Thank you!

Signed up for Submission Grinder account and entered in my Krakens. Also signed up for the newsletter.

Many many thanks SwiftPotato and Wulf for putting together the market list! 

I’ve been spending the past week becoming more familiar with each. In the future, I’ll be rapping on the door of the following: F&SF, Asimov, Diabolical Plots, Clarkesworld, Escapepod, Psuedopod, Strange Horizons, The Dark, Drabblecast, Grimdark Magazine, Constellary Tales & Reckoning. 

Signed up for Submission Grinder account and entered in my Krakens. Also signed up for the newsletter.

Many many thanks SwiftPotato and Wulf for putting together the market list! 

I’ve been spending the past week becoming more familiar with each. In the future, I’ll be rapping on the door of the following: F&SF, Asimov, Diabolical Plots, Clarkesworld, Escapepod, Psuedopod, Strange Horizons, The Dark, Drabblecast, Grimdark Magazine, Constellary Tales & Reckoning.  And Writers of the Future, of course! I assume that goes without saying.
I like this line of yours: "Overall, my stories can use a little liposuction." Very funny. I may just plagiarize that saying...

Best of success on your submissions. You've improved your targeting! Glad my KYD is working for you. With weekly practice, there will come a point where the writing will start coming out of you and onto the page in concise, potent sentences, first time you write it down. You'll see a sharp contrast from older work.

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Retro wrote: "2. KYD teaches the power of using one word to mean two or three and eliminating the fat in our writing to produce at least 90-10 beef."

Funny! And true! That's a quality meat product there. You're heading for ground chuck!

I missed last year's challenge by few days. I missed to join the challenge this year too. I guess I'll have to spend another year as lurker. But thank you all for precious information and tips. It really helps

Aidanka, sorry you missed the call, but you can do all the exercises and read the references just like everyone in it. And you're always welcome to cheer the runners in the challenge on. Positive comments are always welcomed, and thanks for yours!

This will likely be the last year I'm doing the challenges--Writers of the Future is preparing something special for all of you next year. In the meantime, you have me and my SUPER SECRETS. May they provide you with everything you need to produce a winning story! And win can mean a professionally written story that sells to a respectable market!

All the beast!

Finishing an editing job and meeting a writing deadline. Sorry for the delay on the next Super Secret. It will be worth the wait!

While here, here is one reason why learning to write to prompts is important. Kudos if you mentioned it in your answer. Every anthology has a theme. They will tell you their theme in the call for submissions. The publisher may be seeking tales of krakens, stories of alien artifacts, robots gone wild, you name it. If you have developed your skill of writing fast to weekly prompts (like I've challenged you to do here), you won't walk away saying, "Nope, got nuthin'." Instead, you'll say, "I have my prompt. It's your theme! Thanks for giving me two weeks to write this. Piece of cake!"

Pros get invited all the time to write stories for themed anthologies. It's because the publisher knows they will produce a quality story, based on their theme, delivered on time. Pros get a lot of business thrown their way because of this. You aren't there yet. I would say I'm not there yet either, but I did recently have my first desperate last minute invite by an editor to fill a slot, and I did get in with what I wrote in exactly one day in under eight hours start to finish. SUPRISE! It was "Never Let Go" in HOW I GOT PUBLISHED AND WHAT I LEARNED ALONG THE WAY. Because I had trained to write fast, and to write to theme, I could create what the editor needed on demand.

If you learn the same skills--and I'm training you to learn them with the weekly prompt and the KYD exercise--you'll be able to custom make stories for any call for any theme the editor of the anthology chooses to name. You won't be trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole. You'll be custom lathing a fresh block to their exact radius. Make sense? Good. I knew I'd get some sharpshooters for this challenge.

To your future!

All the beast,

Wulf Moon
Who does have a new story out in the anthology INFINITE LIVES: Short Tales of Longevity by Third Flatiron Publishing. This is the sequel to "War Dog" that won Critters Readers' Choice Award for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Story of 2018 (2,000 readers from around the world voted!). I might add, to my possible detriment because you beasties are good writers, that you are crazy not to be getting a copy and studying this market. FIVE WotF previous winners are in this volume, including David Cledan from last year.

My little brood of krakens grew by at least 6 today. I was looking through some thumb drives and found some stories that I thought I'd lost when a computer was hijacked by ransomware. It's like Christmas in October. 

Idle thought and a pair of IFs – Wulf, IF the volume and steady stream of submissions increases exponentially each quarter (or even yearly), and IF the top brass at WOTF offered you an opportunity to serve as ADDITIONAL FIRST READER to David Farland, would you consider it?

Respectfully submitted,

Retro

My little brood of krakens grew by at least 6 today. I was looking through some thumb drives and found some stories that I thought I'd lost when a computer was hijacked by ransomware. It's like Christmas in October. 

Awww, look at all of Storysinger's new baby chooks. Gootchy-gootchy-goo!

OW! THAT WAS MY FINGER! I NEEDED THAT!

Idle thought and a pair of IFs – Wulf, IF the volume and steady stream of submissions increases exponentially each quarter (or even yearly), and IF the top brass at WOTF offered you an opportunity to serve as ADDITIONAL FIRST READER to David Farland, would you consider it?

Respectfully submitted,

Retro

Shhh, they might hear you, Retro.

Answer? I love the contest. I love everything it stands for, always have. It would be very hard for me to say no. But it is a huge job. I'd have to talk to Kary and find out how much time is involved. You see, I told myself long ago that when I won Writers of the Future, I would have proof positive that my writing would be at a competent enough level that I could now progress on to my true goal of writing novels full-time. Being a first reader requires time you could be devoting to your novels. I've already done this for Future Science Fiction Digest. It can swamp you in a hurry if you're not careful. I'm also doing a lot of paid editing work now. It can swamp you in a hurry if you're not careful. You aren't writing fiction anymore, you're editing. Ask my friend Alex Shvartsman how tough it is to find time to create when you're an editor. Make no mistake, first reading is entry level editorial training. Normally done as an internship, but WotF is nice, they pay Kary. It's a huge job to read for an international contest with thousands of entries each month.

So my answer is I don't know. I would have to stand at the fork in the road, gather my data, and hopefully make a competent decision. Thankfully, I face no such crossroad. Honestly, I would much rather become an NYT bestselling author, and have WotF invite me to be a judge. Seriously. Let me work on that.

All the beast,

Wulf Moon

Thank you for your honesty, candor and intellectually objective response, Wulf. I'm sure whatever you decide, things will work out well for you.

Best,

Retro

Here's another gootchy if for Wulf...I think I might have found another helpful technique that would help us to become better writers, but like Wulf said, it would take away his time and ours from writing....but hey, it's a great brain technique I find that works...we can all play with the grand master Scrabble superstar, Wulf and try to beat him at Scrabble, because man oh man...sitting there looking at only those letters and try to use them to one's advantage to beat Wulf in points....that would be the day Wulf will know we are becoming great writers...
So what do you think???

IN VIEW OF OFFICER'S COMMENT...

In view of Officer's comment above, if story determines length, why would you ever write a story to a certain length?
To match your market.

With regular practice, what might the Kill Your Darlings exercise teach you to do?
Become a decisive writer.

Besides stimulating fresh ideas for stories, what other concept might Moon be teaching with the weekly prompt?
Exercising creative pathways to write on demand.

When open submission calls for anthologies are announced, what is the case with every anthology?
They have specific requirements or theme that your story needs to match.

How can this knowledge improve your targeting?
Target anthologies that match your strengths and style.

Why is it a good idea to sign up for market newsletters and to continue to do market searches, even after you've set up your personal market list?
Otherwise, you may miss valuable opportunities. Also, part of being a professional is having a keen understanding of your skill domain and newsletters are a great way of gaining industry updates.

grand master Scrabble superstar, Wulf and try to beat him at Scrabble, because man oh man

That would be one tough challenge !

Here's another gootchy if for Wulf...I think I might have found another helpful technique that would help us to become better writers, but like Wulf said, it would take away his time and ours from writing....but hey, it's a great brain technique I find that works...we can all play with the grand master Scrabble superstar, Wulf and try to beat him at Scrabble, because man oh man...sitting there looking at only those letters and try to use them to one's advantage to beat Wulf in points....that would be the day Wulf will know we are becoming great writers...
So what do you think???

My wife is the Scrabble expert--she plays daily and is lethal. I play her now and then--usually when I cook a brunch--and I give her a run for her money, but it's a day for celebration when I win.

It's a good memory jog for words. Reading is better. But the KYD exercise? That's where you're going to grow your skills. If you do it the way I outlined.

Thanks for thinking of playing, however. Working with words is always a good thing for writers to do!

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Speaking of writing to theme for anthologies, notice the response I got tonight after I submitted to this 6 cents per word anthology with Kevin J. Anderson's WordFire Press. (11:58 pm their time before midnight close, but I custom wrote it today and got it in!)

____________________
Thank you for submitting to MONSTERS, MOVIES, AND MAYHEM. We are eagerly reading all the submissions searching for the ones that best fit the theme. We will get back to you by the beginning of December with our final decisions. We appreciate your patience.

We wish you luck,

The Editorial Team of Western Colorado University Graduate Program in Creative Writing, Publishing MA Students
____________________

See what I've been saying? "earching for the ones that best fit the theme." Really, really important when you're submitting to anthologies. And getting them in on time. : ) This was a Hail Mary--today was my first day I haven't been working on the editing job. Now, I sleep!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon