Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

If I remember correctly, if your story gets semifinalist or above, it can't be resubmitted.

That's correct. Semifinalists and finalists can't be resubmitted.

I guess that makes sense. If the ones that made it to the very top, but didn't get selected, could go right back in, then they would rocket to the top again and it would be near impossible for other contestants to get their stories in.

I guess that makes sense. If the ones that made it to the very top, but didn't get selected, could go right back in, then they would rocket to the top again and it would be near impossible for other contestants to get their stories in.

That's pretty much it, in a nutshell. It's kind of a mixed blessing. Gives me good reasons to write fresh (although I may not have a fresh story ready for this quarter--I have something brewing, but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it in time).

Chuck, I'll just add semifinalists get a critique from Dave. So that disqualifies them from being re-entered. It would be an unfair advantage.

Bonus Assignment:

1. Locate each of those Super Secrets in the Table of Contents
2. Review each, but this time with the knowledge something within these helped one of your challenge beasties WIN this contest.
3. Share a couple of points from these with the group that you might wish to apply to your next story. If it's good for the goose....

Have started refining the first draft of my Q1 story, so this exercise has come just at the right time...in particular Secret #12 "MAGIC UP FRONT!" which I believe (lack of) may have caused my last quarter entry to suffer (was happy with the HM, but am weeping tears of retrospection when I think on how mundane the whole thing was); and Secret #20 "Employ the 7 Point Plot model" because, to be honest, I've struggled with this and need to break beyond a weak plot problem. #33 KYD goes without saying.

A quick note on my first Q1 attempt (for the record), while I had to complete the story that I started (taking it to second edit stage), I felt it was not suitable for WoTF. In its current form, it would likely qualify as an 'oily tale' (as defined by Mr Farland). Before learning what I have learned here and from the podcasts etc, I probably would have sent it in and wasted three months of opportunity.

Just got a form rejection from the market I sent this month's flash piece to. Luckily multiple excellent events from this week have made me mostly immune to the disappointment, and I believe I've already found another market I'd like to try sending it off to!

ADDITIONAL REMINDER: Last day of November, challenge beasties! If you're part of the bonus flash challenge and have finished your flash for this month, please post here to be rostered, because I will not be chase you down to ask!

If there's an extra credit category I can add another flash piece. I wrote one to the Fatal Error prompt today.
I think I'm beginning to understand the process here. Learn to write flash. Expand to 1500, 2000, and step by step you are writing a short story every time you fire up the process. I like it.

If there's an extra credit category I can add another flash piece. I wrote one to the Fatal Error prompt today.
I think I'm beginning to understand the process here. Learn to write flash. Expand to 1500, 2000, and step by step you are writing a short story every time you fire up the process. I like it.

In all learning, it tends to work best mastering something smaller before you take on something larger. If you learn to write a tight flash piece, you will likely be able to apply that knowledge to writing tighter scenes within your stories, making every word count.

If you do the Kill Your Darlings exercise with these prompts, it won't be simply reduction/expansion. If you do the 250 portion right, it will be a re-evaluation of what is the heart of your story. You will reset your piece to what's most important, what carries the most emotional impact. And then you will expand up fresh from that 250 with the new knowledge you have gained about your piece.

You don't have to do KYD with the prompts. But I do believe it will help you advance faster if you do.

It did for me.

All the beast,

Wulf Moon

SwiftPotato I had a 2nd flash story that I sent to Wulf Moon as a PM, but he said it got lost. I told him there was no hurry and no worry 'cause he is one very busy dude.

Ok, ok, how about this:

Fatal Error
Fred's computer program was finally complete.
It would sequence DNA to show the answer to immortality.
DNA would no longer cause the body to decay.
Fred pressed "Run" and it began.
It would take awhile to run so he went home.
He came back the next day to check on its progress.
As he stepped into the room, the quiet was deafening.
Wondering what happened, he saw a message on
the computer screen which said, "FATAL ERROR -- good try," God.

Just got a form rejection from the market I sent this month's flash piece to. Luckily multiple excellent events from this week have made me mostly immune to the disappointment, and I believe I've already found another market I'd like to try sending it off to!

That's great to hear you're bouncing right out of the rejection to keep submitting. That's how one finds success. I need to follow suit.

ADDITIONAL REMINDER: Last day of November, challenge beasties! If you're part of the bonus flash challenge and have finished your flash for this month, please post here to be rostered, because I will not be chase you down to ask!

I did my flash for this month, so mark me down when you have time. Thanks so much.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LIZ (disgrunteledpeony) FOR BEING AWARDED THE SUPERSTARS WRITING SEMINAR SCHOLARSHIP!

Eric Flint said at our Writers of the Future workshop that Superstars is the next level up. Liz just won her Advance to Go, Collecct 200 Dollars card! Only it's worth far more than that! Well done, Liz! I look forward to meeting you in Colorado Springs!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Got you down, oishisushi! I think it'll be easier to bounce back if I pick out another market suitable for the piece as soon as I send it out, then make all the preparations (new formatting, cover letter, etc.) at that point. Then, if it gets accepted, it's a pleasant surprise, but if it's rejected all I have to do is click a few buttons to send it out again.

CONGRATS, LIZ!!!! I'm so excited for you! I'm trying to pull things together to get there in February as well. Hope to meet you there!!

GO LIZ! We are so proud of you! What a week for the forum! I’m so happy for everyone!

I figured I was going to write a more coherent post about this in the morning, but I'm running on some serious adrenaline, so sleep isn't going to be a thing. Basically, when Joni called tonight, she told me that she meant to contact me and say I was a finalist last week. However, due to some health issues with one of the final panel judges (everyone is okay!) and other insanity, it just didn't happen until tonight. She chatted with me about the contest for about fifteen minutes before telling me, all in the same breath, that I was a finalist and also the third place winner. I had zero words. As a writer, I felt like I was supposed to have words, but I didn't.

The two biggest things I give credit to for this win: my wise reader (my husband) and the super secrets. I know I haven't been around the forum long, but I've been reading this thread and applying its contents to my writing since June. They really, really work, y'all. They made so many things click for me. Between my first and second submissions, I studied the super secrets and every bit of writing advice I could get.

I'm not leaving the forums just because of this win! I signed up for a challenge, and dang it, I'm going to complete it. I'll just be sending my stories off to two other markets instead of one other market and WotF. I'd also love to continue helping where I can after the challenge is over. I wouldn't be where I'm at without this forum.

I wanted to reply much earlier to jump in on the congrats train but everything kept pulling me away from this forum whether it's work or life or whatever. Grr. When I first saw this post, I grinned ear-to-ear. I thought I should feel jealous but it was more like WOW IT CAN BE DONE! A miracle among us! Heh. I had drafted a reply to Wulf's earlier summary of honors and semi-finalists from the group, thinking that was cool, not bad group, let's keep trucking! Then the amazing news that we have a winner among us. It's so impressive that you could apply the secrets here in a matter of months and make your work leap from rejection in the first submission to 3rd place winner on the second. Keep up the excellent writing. Glad to hear you won't be ditching us!

So when you say you had zero words does that mean in reply to Joni saying "You won third place!" your response was a mere "Oh." That's hilarious if true! Congrats again!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR LIZ (disgrunteledpeony) FOR BEING AWARDED THE SUPERSTARS WRITING SEMINAR SCHOLARSHIP!

Eric Flint said at our Writers of the Future workshop that Superstars is the next level up. Liz just won her Advance to Go, Collect 200 Dollars card! Only it's worth far more than that! Well done, Liz! I look forward to meeting you in Colorado Springs!

Congrats for scoring that workshop, Liz! Sounds like an amazing opportunity to learn and progress. Enjoy it!

I figured I was going to write a more coherent post about this in the morning, but I'm running on some serious adrenaline, so sleep isn't going to be a thing. Basically, when Joni called tonight, she told me that she meant to contact me and say I was a finalist last week. However, due to some health issues with one of the final panel judges (everyone is okay!) and other insanity, it just didn't happen until tonight. She chatted with me about the contest for about fifteen minutes before telling me, all in the same breath, that I was a finalist and also the third place winner. I had zero words. As a writer, I felt like I was supposed to have words, but I didn't.

The two biggest things I give credit to for this win: my wise reader (my husband) and the super secrets. I know I haven't been around the forum long, but I've been reading this thread and applying its contents to my writing since June. They really, really work, y'all. They made so many things click for me. Between my first and second submissions, I studied the super secrets and every bit of writing advice I could get.

I'm not leaving the forums just because of this win! I signed up for a challenge, and dang it, I'm going to complete it. I'll just be sending my stories off to two other markets instead of one other market and WotF. I'd also love to continue helping where I can after the challenge is over. I wouldn't be where I'm at without this forum.

I wanted to reply much earlier to jump in on the congrats train but everything kept pulling me away from this forum whether it's work or life or whatever. Grr. When I first saw this post, I grinned ear-to-ear. I thought I should feel jealous but it was more like WOW IT CAN BE DONE! A miracle among us! Heh. I had drafted a reply to Wulf's earlier summary of honors and semi-finalists from the group, thinking that was cool, not bad group, let's keep trucking! Then the amazing news that we have a winner among us. It's so impressive that you could apply the secrets here in a matter of months and make your work leap from rejection in the first submission to 3rd place winner on the second. Keep up the excellent writing. Glad to hear you won't be ditching us!

So when you say you had zero words does that mean in reply to Joni saying "You won third place!" your response was a mere "Oh." That's hilarious if true! Congrats again!

Thank you!!

Haha, you're not far off...my response was more like *five seconds of total silence* ...OH! I...have...zero words! Wait, you're serious?? And she had a bit of a laugh at me, said yes, and started asking about the story. She was very, very sweet about the whole thing.

Congrats, Liz!!

SwiftPotato, I just finished writing my Flash piece for November! So... technically it's December 1st by like 20 minutes in my time zone, but it can still count for November, right? My story is VERY rough and I still want to put it through a round of KYD and then build it back up to something better, but I have a first draft of a flash piece written now based on the Undeserved Pardon prompt. I really wanted to do the full KYD and have it all done before reporting in, but that just did not happen. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get a piece done this month at all, so I'm excited I at least got this far.

Thank you, everyone! I hope to see you there, Leah.

So those are the Super Secrets that helped Leah produce a WotF Winner. Now you know. You heard it here first.

And now YOU have your next Assignment:

1. Locate each of those Super Secrets in the Table of Contents

2. Review each, but this time with the knowledge something within these helped one of your challenge beasties WIN this contest.

3. Share a couple of points from these with the group that you might wish to apply to your next story. If it's good for the goose....

Here is my response to the assignment to review the super secrets with Leah’s win in mind. (I should've applied KYD to this--I wrote too much!)

The first thing Moon pointed out about Leah’s story was that she “wrote a story to make Dave cry.” That's super secret #4 “Pick a major emotion and make your reader FEEL it down to their core!”. I also bring this one up first, as I just accidentally wrote a story that made me cry. After being frustrated that I didn’t get much major writing time in during November, despite this group and the NaNoWriMo push, I devoted the whole day to writing on Saturday (yesterday for me here in Japan). I wrote about 23k. I finished two new stories started that day. One of them was a 10k piece that made me cry twice. I can’t get it out of my head now. So, I’m thinking that will be the piece to submit at the end of December. I will go back through the story soon and consider the points that make it a tear-jerker and consider if they are properly expressed to the reader or not. And as SwiftPotato mentioned my favorite writing book, The Emotional Craft of Fiction, I’ll certainly review my notes on that one and apply them during my revision.

SwiftPotato said that #3 “Set the Hook” was vital to her story, and I believe I have a solid one in my opening. After writing half the day on other projects, with sad news from real life confronting me every time I left the writing desk for a quick bite or stretch, I realized that I wanted to confront that sadness, and I knew exactly the hook that would say this is messed up, this is meaningful, this will make you cry, you should stop reading, but I know you won’t. And just like that, I couldn’t stop writing it. Now I plan to go back through the story for revision and insert hooks throughout and double check I linked the scenes with hooks as I believe I did in those hours of writing rush.

On this next point, #13 "Don’t Overedit", I’ll be honest. I’m on the fence here as I think that it depends on the story. My first submission to WotF was a rejection and second submission was the same story with more editing after a smart reader looked it over, and no surprise, it grabbed an Honorable Mention. So, revision is important. On the other hand, I do agree that it’s important to capture that energy of the first draft. And I think that’s clear from Moon’s win, as well as from Leah’s. Leah said she didn’t change that first line. She knew it was what the story needed and so she “left it the heck alone and didn’t overthink it.” I’m going to follow their sage wisdom and do the same with my story. There are certain points I can recall that made that story sing, and I’ll be very careful to retain them as I revise over the next few weeks. As Moon said “beware the rewrite. You can ruin a good thing, so decide whether you really and truly need to back in.” Also, I wanted to point out that it was after writing 13k of 3-4 other stories the first half of the day that I reached this moment of subconscious drive to create this story. It was after warming up with plenty of other writing that I went straight through a 10k story that made me cry and I believe was solid with the hook, try and fail progression, and a connected, meaningful climax with slight denouement. This engages the essence of secret #13 because as Moon said, “The more you write, the less you will feel it necessary to redo what you have created.”

Also, secret #18 “Start your #%$@#%!& hero’s quest! We’re on the clock!” I think this was another thing that helped me finish a solid story on Saturday. The MC has a clear plan in the first line, and within the first page, the MC is rushing into it. I’ll seek out lulls and bumps in the push of that on-the-clock goal as I revise.

#33 KYD will be something to challenge this story with. I do tend to write novelettes, so I’m working on writing shorter. I want to shorten this story from 10k closer to 6k-8k. I’m hoping to use the KYD exercise to help me do so without overediting. I’m not sure about this last one, but basically, I plan to save some side KYD attempts for a few scenes in my Scrivener project folder and test run them to see if they fit into the story without draining its raw energy.

Congrats, Liz!!

SwiftPotato, I just finished writing my Flash piece for November! So... technically it's December 1st by like 20 minutes in my time zone, but it can still count for November, right? My story is VERY rough and I still want to put it through a round of KYD and then build it back up to something better, but I have a first draft of a flash piece written now based on the Undeserved Pardon prompt. I really wanted to do the full KYD and have it all done before reporting in, but that just did not happen. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get a piece done this month at all, so I'm excited I at least got this far.

No problem at all, Cindy. I told you you get extra slack for pregnancy, birth, and those newborn responsibilities. Turn in what you can and we all know you are doing your best in your circumstances. This should be challenging, but fun!

I owe you guys a super secret, but a client has had me working every day over the holiday on this ongoing editing job. It's nice to have the work, but I need to have some free time with good brainergy to finish the next secret. Hoping to find a window soon, it's a good Secret, and Swift just proved its validity once again!

One month to go! Don't submit too early, you never know what you might learn or who might be moved to help you if you believe you have your winner.
This is our first quarter of writing two and picking the best of the litter for WotF. Let's work this system and create another winner!

BEASTMODE! THIS IS YOUR QUARTER!

RJK Lee, good review of those Secrets, thank you. I'm having everyone do a review on them because formulating your words to write the assignment actually embeds the lessons. And we know these particular lessons helped Swift win (and me!), so they will likely help you and everyone else as well. It's why I wrote them.

I am trying to shave years off your learning curve. It's all there. If you apply it.

As for over editing and destroying all the energy in your story, I learned that lesson years ago from Dean Wesley Smith. You just created something that is deeply moving. Be VERY careful you don't destroy that power by messing around with it. We think we're fixing our stories, perfecting them. More likely, we're destroying the very thing that made them powerful--all that energy and Voice.

But you must do what you feel is right, of course. : )

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

The secret I'm trying to work on from those Leah mentioned helped most is "#4: Pick a major emotion and make your reader FEEL it down to their core!"

My brain's frazzled and I can't think of much useful to say. I think emotion is one of the main factors in readers remembering a story long after they've read it. Donald Maass talks about how readers don't necessarily feel the emotions that are written on the page, but instead feel based on their own experiences. Maass says that when characters struggle with their feelings, the reader will pass judgement, and this is one way of making the reader feel. Another way is to use surprising emotions, rather than the generic ones we're used to. I haven't quite got my head around this yet, but it's well worth reading in his oft-mentioned book.
"Set the hook" is something I always try to do, within the first paragraph, never mind the first two pages. Competition is fierce, so why should Dave, Kary or any reader read on if there's no hook? Setting a hook shows you know what you're doing. To me, it's similar to "Start your #%$@#%!& hero’s quest!" I want to know who I'm rooting for and why I should care early on in a story.

ADDITIONAL REMINDER: Last day of November, challenge beasties! If you're part of the bonus flash challenge and have finished your flash for this month, please post here to be rostered, because I will not be chase you down to ask!

I wrote 3 flash in November (2 from the prompts here), but haven't managed to put them through KYD yet.

And congratulations, Liz!

CCrawford, exactly what Moon said - I've got you down for completing your November flash. That's what all that fine print is for, written in blood right under your name.
I've got yours down as well, AlexH!

Fantastic job, guys! Every single person who signed up for the extra credit flash challenge completed their goal (and sometimes more!) for November. Now it's December. Keep going! Get those two stories done and submitted (but not too early) and get your December flash done! Don't forget to post here if you've submitted either or both of your two stories for Q1.

oishisushi, I love your analysis of those secrets. "Don't overedit" is one of the more subjective ones for sure, in the sense that some stories do need more editing than others. My Q4 needed that last 2-3 scenes completely scrapped and rewritten. One of the ones I wrote for Q1 needed some added sentences and some sentence level edits. The other one I took in such a wrong direction that I needed to scrap more than half of it and rewrite it. I think this is because, as an individual, I'm still figuring out how to choose the correct ideas and discard the wrong ones. This will likely get easier as I get closer to the magical 500k and, as Dr. Pournelle said, writing the story instead of writing about it.

But you do have to make sure that the bits that make you cry hold onto their magic. If it made you cry, you did it right! Best of luck with your edits!

Oh, additionally: Moon asked me to post about a market called Frozen Wavelets a while back. For anyone who was interested, their submission window opens between December 2-15.

By the way, for those flash prompts, I believe I've written 500-1000 words for all of them, except last week's (Fatal Error). They really inspired me, some more than others, though I've also been writing stories unrelated to the prompts, too. Sadly, I've only put two through the full-on KYD exercise, besides the first entry one. I need to do more, because I'm still not very great at pinpointing that essential emotional or kernel of story, though I may be getting closer, as I seemed to be reaching deeper while writing fresh stories on Saturday. I figured I'd only report in as doing one KYD each month so I wouldn't have any excuse to avoid doing them. I know I can be good at making excuses. I can hear myself now saying, hey you, you did like eight KYD already, you can just skip them completely this summer. Nah, I don't want to have any months skipping flash prompts. They're a wonderful source of extra creative energy.

Oh, additionally: Moon asked me to post about a market called Frozen Wavelets a while back. For anyone who was interested, I believe their submission window opens today.

Oh, looks like a nice place to submit flash. Also, it's not quite open yet. Soon though. On the website, it states, "THEY WILL BE OPEN IN BETWEEN 2-15 DECEMBER 2019."

Thanks for the heads up - I'll edit my post!

Congratulations, Peony, on your scholarship to the Superstars Writing Seminar. Dress warm. Colorado in winter can be challenging.

Swift Potato, I read your post. Don't give the magazine rejection a nanosecond of attention. I don't believe it's dawned on you yet, but YOU ARE A NATIONAL BESTSELLER. You became one the instant Joni called you and stated her intention of YOU being published. Since their anthologies are bestsellers, and you're part of their anthology, the concept attaches. Congratulations on this penultimate life goal!!

Down to the nitty gritty of your meticulous record-keeping, I submitted my Q1 entry on 10-24-19 and received the following: Writers Thank you for your submission! I think Joni is extremely busy. If I haven't heard anything additional by December 15th, I'll e-mail to ask if the Q1 was officially entered. As per Wulf's direction, I e-mailed you my e-mail address. The other fresh story I wrote for First Quarter, I already sent to a magazine where it did not find traction.

It's intriguing that Swift Potato and Peony made it to the top four. Both wrote different stories. I'd be curious as to the commonalities between the two, the common denominator, so to speak, which make them shine. And, of course, the word counts.

Best,

Retro