Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

@wulfmoon since I didn't find this group until after the challenge started, I'm selfishly hoping you'll have the time and energy to do this for one more year so I can enter the lofty realms that these legendary writers inhabit. Kudos to all! I humbly follow in your path.

Posted by: @cweaver

@wulfmoon since I didn't find this group until after the challenge started, I'm selfishly hoping you'll have the time and energy to do this for one more year so I can enter the lofty realms that these legendary writers inhabit. Kudos to all! I humbly follow in your path.

The Super Secrets of Writing program is about to expand exponentially this year with the Kickstarter this fall, the books through Mark Leslie’s Stark Publishing Solutions, and additional workshops, both live and recorded. It requires a tremendous investment of time and energy to lift a new business off the ground, let alone have it start turning a profit.

And a profit I must turn—I am not independently wealthy and my wife keeps reminding me I can’t keep helping others at the sacrifice of my own career and income needed to take care of my family. You see, I’m an idealist champion, ENFP, and I’m energized by helping others and seeing them reach their potential. It’s never about money, it’s about easing the trials, helping writers streamline their path and learning curve so that they can reach their goals and peak potential faster. I am happy to say the Super Secrets have accomplished what I created them to do, and that is all the reward I ever wished for.

That said, as my wife has reminded me over the years of this project, I do have an obligation to provide for my family. Time is money, and I do have to find ways to convert time spent into money earned. It’s how I’ll be able to continue doing what I love, which is not only about writing, it’s about helping people. Dave knew this, and he talked with me about it as well, both privately and publicly when he interviewed me as an Apex guest speaker. As he said, as much as we want to help people, we do have to eat—life has its expenses.

But even as I grow my teaching business, I will still have my mentoring projects, and this is one of them. How it will shape up for the coming year, I haven’t decided yet. But I’m sure I’ll keep doing something like this here. It’s helped a lot of people. Stay tuned.

And don’t tell my wife. ?

Beastmaster Moon

Seems fun, but maybe I'm too late to the game? I submitted the first time for Q1 and got SHM, and have Q2, and Q3 in. Still not sure what I'll be doing for Q4. I have a few stories IP. 

@mattnwife Hi, Lauren! Welcome! You're always welcome to follow along, but the workshop is well underway this year, as we are now in Q4.  I did an open call for forumites to register at the start of this Contest year, but the group and class is now in session. I do know that many what we call "lurkers" have followed along while studying the Super Secrets, and many have written to me that the Secrets helped them to improve their writing, make their first sales, helped them to earn finalist, or even helped them win this Contest (and that's not counting all the alumni that have taken this annual workshop and won!). So even though the workshop is closed to new members at the moment, you can still benefit from the teachings. If you go back to the very first post, you'll find a table of contents to help you out.

And don't miss the WotF Online Workshop! It's free, you can take that any time, and it's at your own pace!

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

@wulfmoon My biggest progress these past 9 months is the personal rejections I received. I'd never received detailed, personal rejections before this challenge, and it wouldn't have happened if I wasn't writing stories consistently or even submitting consistently. Submitting has always been my hang-up, and this helped me push through to sit down and get it done.

Thank you for encouraging us!

@wulfmoon okay thank you

Posted by: @wulfmoon

the workshop is well underway this year, as we are now in Q3

We're actually in Quarter Four, aren't we? The last one for this WOTF year?

It's home straight now, high fliers.

I thought I'd throw a mention in here that I reached one of my yearly goals today - 100 submissions to respectable markets. Boom! Get them krakens out there. Now back to my novel.   

Posted by: @scott_m_sands

Posted by: @wulfmoon

the workshop is well underway this year, as we are now in Q3

We're actually in Quarter Four, aren't we? The last one for this WOTF year?

It's home straight now, high fliers.

Thanks, Scott. Corrected. Well done on 100 submissions to respectable markets!!! Nicely done!

Sorry there’s no prompt today, I was out all day on errands. Will post it tomorrow. 

All the beast!

Your Monday writing prompt, on Tuesday!

One of my sayings that I believe you'll find truth in: "Writers find air to breathe by writing their stories. Readers find air to breathe by reading them."

Your KYD writing prompt this week is:

Air to breathe.

It may seem simple, but there's lots of ways to play this, literally, and symbolically.

Happy writing!

Beastmaster Moon

Posted by: @cpapa

@wulfmoon My biggest progress these past 9 months is the personal rejections I received. I'd never received detailed, personal rejections before this challenge, and it wouldn't have happened if I wasn't writing stories consistently or even submitting consistently. Submitting has always been my hang-up, and this helped me push through to sit down and get it done.

Thank you for encouraging us!

You're welcome, Cherise. I actually made submitting to other markets a requirement of this workshop when I discovered many writers were only submitting to WotF and nowhere else! Writers of the Future is certainly the *first* place one should be submitting their work, but it should not be the only place. The objective is to become a professionally published writer so your work will be read by more than your mom or spouse.

Putting all our eggs in one basket is not a good idea. I'm happy to have motivated so many like you to go beyond their comfort zone and expand their horizons. Brittany Rainsdon will tell you she was one of those only submitting to this Contest, and I gave her a good talking to when I found out. She listened, took a story she had expanded from a KYD exercise I had given her, and sent it out to Deep Magic magazine. "Prettily Painted Lies" was the first thing she sent outside of WotF. It sold, and to a pro-paying market at that! And made it into their Best of Deep Magic 2 anthology as well. Moving past her fears and expanding her horizons increased her chances of getting respectably published.

I'm very happy to hear you are doing the same. May good things come to you as you expand your horizons!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Response to @wulfmoon: "I encourage you to make a stair step chart up a slope. Mark where you were at when you started, and then on those stairs, some significant achievements you’ve enjoyed over the past nine months. Next, add a step beyond, something achievable through your own efforts in the next three months, completely independent of the judgment of others. It could be to add additional words to your output, to read more books, to take a writing course, to attend a seminar—anything that will help advance your skills. This is your next target of growth."

In looking at my stair step chart and contemplating on the progress I’ve made since accepting Moon’s Volume 39 challenge, I do see growth. I find myself having a different mindset towards writing and the contest in general. I’m excited by the number of potential markets that accept speculative short fiction submissions. Writing at least three 3,000+ word stories per month is a valuable writing goal. It has a two-fold purpose: it gets me writing more in a flow state and it provides more stories to enter or submit. I’m beginning to acknowledge that WOTF is not just a contest with benchmarks, but a market meaning that a strong story won’t necessarily place unless it fits what the first reader and coordinating judge are looking for. Receiving a couple of personal rejections and an RWC for my Q1 boosted my confidence. I feel that the main things I need to keep in mind is to include an obvious genre cue up front and to make sure my main character starts their quest fast enough. I’ve made a lot of progress with endings after taking Dave Farland’s 318R course and attending Moon’s Hammer Your Ending seminar. Kary’s post on endings in the forum was also extremely helpful. Having three submissions to pro-markets each quarter keeps me from twitching so much when quarter results are expected. The hardest part of the challenge for me is the KYD requirement per month. It’s hard to write a KYD which includes all the things it should. My first mistake was trying to tell the whole story in 250 words.  I now find myself struggling to include an obvious heart’s desire and vivid setting which reveals a strong genre cue within the 250-word limit while also having a strong protagonist with a tough choice to make. I also struggle to craft a title that reflects theme. But mainly, I don’t think I’ve managed a particularly strong KYD yet. Anyway, I’m chipping away at my Q4 goals. I have managed to do at least one extra thing beyond Moon’s volume 39 challenge per quarter. My extra things for Q4 include taking an online fiction course for young readers, apply for a Superstars scholarship, and get another submission ready for IOTF.

Thanks Moon for pushing me to level up,

@physa you will get there! Keep doing KYDs. Your writing has improved exponentially this year from participating in this workshop. You are well on your way. Be patient with yourself and keep working at it. I believe in you!

One day you'll not only win WoTF, but IOTF too, and illustrate my winning WoTF entry.

Well, we can dream, can't we?

@physa Amy, I’m glad you see all the positive growth you’ve made. It’s good to reflect on, because it will help you stay the course. It may not feel like it in the short term, but when we look back, all those baby steps actually equal giant strides. You’ve come a long way, baby. ? Just look at your output and submissions! Well done!

My KYD 4-phase system is not meant to be easy. It’s meant to challenge you  on specific focused aspects of writing which will train you to become a better writer. People think KYD is just a simple matter of editing extra stuff out. These exercises go far beyond that, and I’m glad to see you realize what you’re seeking to accomplish with each phase. Those that do and stay the course, though challenged, eventually grow through learning these skill sets through highly focused effort. Nothing valuable comes without work, except maybe an inheritance. ? Keep up the good work. The difference between a pro writer and an amateur is that the pro kept working at their craft and never gave up.

Im proud of your intrepid attitude. That is what will fuel your quest and help you achieve your dreams.

To all in this challenge. This is Q4. Last chance to write your winner, or it’s another year in the WotF trenches. Don’t chase rabbits this Q. Put some important totems on your vision board that will motivate you, and focus all on crafting your power story that will evoke powerful emotions in the judges through the sacrifice made by your protagonist to obtain their Heart’s Desire. Remember what I’ve taught you. Review the Super Secrets, especially all the expanded ones I have published at DreamForge magazine. Save you, it can.

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Posted by: @crlisle

@physa you will get there! Keep doing KYDs. Your writing has improved exponentially this year from participating in this workshop. You are well on your way. Be patient with yourself and keep working at it. I believe in you!

One day you'll not only win WoTF, but IOTF too, and illustrate my winning WoTF entry.

Well, we can dream, can't we?

Thanks Candice. I appreciate your mentorship! And yes, yes we can dream and we should...

Posted by: @wulfmoon

@physa Amy, I’m glad you see all the positive growth you’ve made. It’s good to reflect on, because it will help you stay the course. It may not feel like it in the short term, but when we look back, all those baby steps actually equal giant strides. You’ve come a long way, baby. ? Just look at your output and submissions! Well done!

My KYD 4-phase system is not meant to be easy. It’s meant to challenge you  on specific focused aspects of writing which will train you to become a better writer. People think KYD is just a simple matter of editing extra stuff out. These exercises go far beyond that, and I’m glad to see you realize what you’re seeking to accomplish with each phase. Those that do and stay the course, though challenged, eventually grow through learning these skill sets through highly focused effort. Nothing valuable comes without work, except maybe an inheritance. ? Keep up the good work. The difference between a pro writer and an amateur is that the pro kept working at their craft and never gave up.

Im proud of your intrepid attitude. That is what will fuel your quest and help you achieve your dreams.

To all in this challenge. This is Q4. Last chance to write your winner, or it’s another year in the WotF trenches. Don’t chase rabbits this Q. Put some important totems on your vision board that will motivate you, and focus all on crafting your power story that will evoke powerful emotions in the judges through the sacrifice made by your protagonist to obtain their Heart’s Desire. Remember what I’ve taught you. Review the Super Secrets, especially all the expanded ones I have published at DreamForge magazine. Save you, it can.

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Thanks Moon! I shall keep working on my craft and not give up. I appreciate your encouragement and mentorship via this forum and discord.

So, last night I received my first ever personalized rejection from the editor at Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and I had only submitted it the day before with the queue placement of 584. How on earth did she get to me that fast? Usually takes weeks to get a form R. Interesting, to say the least. And beyond elated to have received a personalized one.

@dragonchef Congrats on the personal! I'm pretty sure those are rare with F&SF.

@ccrawford - Thanks CC. And all in under 24 hours. I'm still in shock.

@dragonchef That’s a good sign, Dragonchef. Editors are busy people. If they take the time to write some comments, it means they liked what you wrote, want to help, and hope you’ll try them again. Good work!

@wulfmoon Thanls, Wulfy! Couldn't have done it without you.

Posted by: @dragonchef

@wulfmoon Thanls, Wulfy! Couldn't have done it without you.

Happy to help, Dragonchef. A little light on the path makes it easier to move ahead. 

Keep up the great work!

Your Beastmaster

@wulfmoon That is AWESOME!!! Definitely going to order a copy today.

And congratulations to David J Hankins, Shannon Fox, Yelena Crane, Brandon Case, Daniel Cojocaru, and Cray Dimensional. You guys rock (and/or roll).

I can't wait read your stories. 

Posted by: @wulfmoon

David J Hankins, Shannon Fox, Yelena Crane, Brandon Case, Daniel Cojocaru, and Cray Dimensional, as well as the rest of the fine authors in this anthology by Third Flatiron, including yours truly.

A hearty congrats to each of you. When is the print edition to be released? 

Posted by: @storysinger

Posted by: @wulfmoon

David J Hankins, Shannon Fox, Yelena Crane, Brandon Case, Daniel Cojocaru, and Cray Dimensional, as well as the rest of the fine authors in this anthology by Third Flatiron, including yours truly.

A hearty congrats to each of you. When is the print edition to be released? 

Thank you, Dragonchef and Don! It was a remarkable accomplishment for one writing group—filled with aspiring writers, no less—to fill out the open call of a respected pro-rate anthology. Really proud of the Wulf Pack—two are actually in this current year of the Super Secrets Workshop. Another two had never been published before! 

Trade paperback of After the Gold Rush has now been released as well. You can order at the link below. Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoy our stories, the result of studying the Super Secrets and then doing the necessary work. And if you leave a review, we’d all be most appreciative. ?

https://amzn.to/3xvfJwY

Thank you and cheers!

Beastmaster Moon

Thanks for the link, Wulf. I should be reading it next Saturday.  

Your Monday writing prompt, on Monday!

Your KYD writing prompt this week is:

How long will they kill our prophets?

Happy writing!

Beastmaster Moon

EXCITING NEWS! It's now official. I've been invited to be an author guest at Salt Lake FanX! I'll be teaching a SUPER SECRETS workshop there, speaking on panels, and signing books--including Writers of the Future Vol. 35--at my booth in the exhibitor hall. PLUS, I have a TOP SECRET release that will be exclusively launched at FanX! (You're going to love it!)

Please come howl with me at the WULF MOON booth, at my SUPER SECRETS workshop presentation, or on a program panel. Who's going? I'd love to see you there!!!

"Please come howl with me at the WULF MOON booth, at my SUPER SECRETS workshop presentation, or on a program panel. Who's going? I'd love to see you there!!!" Moon

I'll be howling from South Carolina and will be looking for updates during the actual event. Why can't there be more cool writery things in the Southeastern US?