Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

Did I hear someone say they brought pizza? 🍕 

Posted by: @crlisle

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Did I hear someone say they brought pizza? 🍕 

Nope. Just popcorn to watch the Q3 winner announcements. 😄

Sharing something amazing with friends since I created the Super Secrets right here and so many of you have been with me for the ride. How to Wite a Howling Good Story reached Top 10 Best Seller in paid Fiction Writing books today on Amazon! Save the Cat and On Writing are just above me in this category! This is over nine months since release! Thank you to everyone that helped make this happen! I appreciate you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How to Write a Howling Good Story hit Top 10 Best Seller in paid Fiction Writing books on Amazon yesterday as well! It's surreal to see your book ranked next to some of the top writing books in the industry. It was #1 New Release for over a month, ranked #6 bestseller in this category on release day, but this is over nine months since release. That doesn't happen. Sales normally die out in the first couple months, and for many books in the first week. 

I'm happy the Super Secrets of Writing built here with all of you is reaching so many writers across the country and indeed, the world. I'm getting wonderful emails from people on how much this book has helped their writing, and even that it helped them win this contest. That makes me happy.

It's why I created this project. To help emerging writers just like the contest does.

Now get those Q4s written and submitted! Great things can happen for you too when you win this contest, but you gotta be in it to win it!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Image by Alexandr Ivanov from Pixabay

I'ts Monday, and that means it's time for another KYD "Kill Your Darlings" Writing Prompt! Here you go!

Message from your future self

Just think if you could find a way to send a message back to a moment you regret where you made the wrong turn. You could do magic or SF with this one. Could you have changed your future, or would you have worsened it? And what happens if you went back or sent a message back to fix the fix? This concept has yielded many interesting stories. Give it a shot and change your destiny! 

Beastmaster Moon

I'ts Monday, and that means it's time for another KYD "Kill Your Darlings" Writing Prompt! Since yesterday was Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, we watched a tranquil movie with our favorite ginger cat actor last night. Knowing how much Jody loves cats, why not write her a space cat story? Here you go!

In space no one can hear you meow.

Have fun! Last month to get a story in for the last quarter of the year. Pull out all the stops for this Q!

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

Did they clone Jonesy as well as Ripley?

Here's an obvious KYD prompt for you this week!

Howling From the Darkness

Sounds spooky to me! Write your freaky winner from it, but don't forget to end your story with something upbeat by the end. We do love our positive, hopeful endings here!

Less than three weeks to go to write your Q4 winner. I did it in 36 hours at the end of Q4. You've got plenty of time yet! Just don't wait to submit until 11:56 PM like I did. That's cutting it waaaay too close!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

It’s Monday! Time for your KYD Writing Prompt!

Kiss of Judas

Betrayal is never fun in real life, but it makes for shocking twists in stories and novels. Have at it!

What’s the target for above? Q4 is almost over! Last chance to get into Volume 41! Send your best, because everyone does on this quarter. It’s the most challenging quarter to win in. On Q4, Volume 35, Dave said he had four first place stories in that quarter. Thankfully, the judges chose mine as one of the winners, but it shows you how tight Q4 can be! 

Get that fresh story written and submitted! I wrote these Super Secrets to give you the edge you need to nose ahead of the pack. You have the power! Stay on target!

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

Do prompts expire the week after they're posted or are they good for the whole month?

Posted by: @wehlingfl

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Do prompts expire the week after they're posted or are they good for the whole month?

Ah, you're in my SUPER SECRETS Year-Long Workshop & Challenge, Fred. I hold that separate from here now, in the Wulf Pack Writers group on my Patreon page. The WotF Forumites and visitors here can use these prompts whenever and however they wish. But for those of you in the Year 6 workshop (Year 7 starts October 1st), you have all month to use these prompts to create your required KYD Kill Your Darlings exercise. Of course, you also get the Patreon bonus prompt as well each week, so you've got options if this one doesn't turn your crank. And if you have my books, you've got the option to do a d100 roll from the prompt generators in the back, but the rule is if you use those, you have to go with whatever fate gives you. No cheating and rolling again!  

Learning to write to prompts is great training for writing to themed anthologies. They stretch your imagination and force you to write outside your comfort zone. 

Speaking of prompts, it's Monday! I best get the new one up!

Cheers!

Beastmaster Moon

IT'S MONDAY! THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR YOUR KYD SUPER SECRETS OF WRITING PROMPT!

Yeah, it's a tradition. Every Monday, I post a new prompt here to spark the writing fires of those in my Wulf Pack Writers workshop or for those that want to give one a try here in the Forum. I've been doing it for years now, and WotF winners and other contest winning stories have been created from them. There's a secret to doing them, and those that learn the method and practice it regularly advance swiftly. Some even wrote the foundation of their first professionally published stories through my KYD workshop. Others wrote contest winners from them, like stories for this one.

So here is today's prompt:

guardian angel

Does that seem benign? An overworked trope? Your job as a writer is to give it a new twist! There are many beings that could be called guardian angels. They don't have to be spirits from heaven ....

You only have a week left on Volume 41, Q4! Make this week count and GET THOSE FRESH STORIES IN!

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

Last day to submit a story to Q4, Volume 41.

Get those stories completed and submitted. You can’t win if you aren’t in! 

It’s time for your Monday KYD writing prompt!

I must be brief as the ocean is calling!

Hmmm. Perfect harmony where art shall imitate life. I wasn’t sure what to use to stir the tempest within you this week, but now I do!

siren’s call

Don’t forget the twist! Deliver the unexpected for the win!

Cheers!

Beastmaster Moon

It’s time for your Monday KYD writing prompt!

I'm back from some time at the ocean and have picked up my Romper Stomper magic mirror and see all of you smiling back at me having successfully submitted your final story of the contest year. WELL DONE!!! FORTUNE FAVOR THE BRAVE!!!

Here's your first prompt for the new contest year, and for YEAR 7 OF THE SUPER SECRETS WORKSHOP for those of you that signed up. The annual workshop is now accessed through my Patreon page, but never fear, I'm still here to keep cheering you on!

stay of execution

What's the emotional experience of being innocent of a crime and getting pardoned just before your date with the chair? Here's a fun twist. What if you're really guilty of the crime but have conned everyone into believing you're not?

Have fun! Put fire in your story or put your story in the fire!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

This will interest some of you. Kevin J Anderson has curated another Novel Writing Tools Storybundle to help you with your fall writing projects! It includes his newly updated book on how to use dictation to create stories, with co-authors Martin Shoemaker and Greg Vose. And yes, for the first time ever my Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing, Vol. 1, is available in digital format. 

Check it out and benefit from all the great writing advice for a truly great bundle price! You set your price!

https://storybundle.com/writing

Posted by: @wulfmoon

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stay of execution

What's the emotional experience of being innocent of a crime and getting pardoned just before your date with the chair? Here's a fun twist. What if you're really guilty of the crime but have conned everyone into believing you're not?

Sailing ships use wire or rope "stays" to hold the mast erect. If that is the place at which a mutineer meets his final reckoning, then that also would be a ... (wait for it) ... (oh, I don't need to finish this sentence, do I?)

Posted by: @ehonour

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Posted by: @wulfmoon

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stay of execution

Sailing ships use wire or rope "stays" to hold the mast erect. If that is the place at which a mutineer meets his final reckoning, then that also would be a ... (wait for it) ... (oh, I don't need to finish this sentence, do I?)

 

It's also a card/poker term ("to call a poker bet without raising"). That brings some interesting ideas to mind about betting with one's life considering another definition is "a corset stiffened with bones." In the 17^th century, these whalebone linings became distinct, separate understructures, known as “stays.”  

Bring some of those together and we have: Female pirates wearing whalebone stiffened corsets (stays) on a sailing ship with ropes (stays) securing the mast and the ship is continuing onto their destination (staying the course). The pirates are playing high-stakes poker to see who will be executed for stealing the frozen strawberries. (Bogarting the strawberries - haha).

Okay, that's a stretch.

Posted by: @ehonour

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Posted by: @wulfmoon

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stay of execution

What's the emotional experience of being innocent of a crime and getting pardoned just before your date with the chair? Here's a fun twist. What if you're really guilty of the crime but have conned everyone into believing you're not?

Sailing ships use wire or rope "stays" to hold the mast erect. If that is the place at which a mutineer meets his final reckoning, then that also would be a ... (wait for it) ... (oh, I don't need to finish this sentence, do I?)

 

Witty, Doc!  

That would actually create the antonym of a stay of execution, while still being used to commit the act.

Truly you have a dizzying intellect.  

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

Posted by: @toddjones

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Posted by: @ehonour

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Posted by: @wulfmoon

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stay of execution

Sailing ships use wire or rope "stays" to hold the mast erect. If that is the place at which a mutineer meets his final reckoning, then that also would be a ... (wait for it) ... (oh, I don't need to finish this sentence, do I?)

 

It's also a card/poker term ("to call a poker bet without raising"). That brings some interesting ideas to mind about betting with one's life considering another definition is "a corset stiffened with bones." In the 17^th century, these whalebone linings became distinct, separate understructures, known as “stays.”  

Bring some of those together and we have: Female pirates wearing whalebone stiffened corsets (stays) on a sailing ship with ropes (stays) securing the mast and the ship is continuing onto their destination (staying the course). The pirates are playing high-stakes poker to see who will be executed for stealing the frozen strawberries. (Bogarting the strawberries - haha).

Okay, that's a stretch.

 

Oh my goodness, Todd. Your intellect is more dizzying than Doc's.  

Who's on first?

Cheers!

Moon

It’s time for your Monday KYD writing prompt!

dystopian utopia

Everyone would like to create the perfect world. The problem is, everyone's definition of perfect will always be a little-or A LOT--different from everyone else's. But what if some futuristic corporation actually terraformed their version of a perfect world and you bought in to the advertising to be an exclusive citizen? And once there, perfection was not what it seemed? Orwellian? Could be, but there's nothing new under the sun. What is new is your twist on it.

Get twisty! 

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Time for your Monday KYD writing prompt!

out from the shadows

Sure, it's that time of year when we enjoy things that go bump in the night. But shadows can represent many things, and not just the absence of light ...

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Your Monday KYD writing prompt!

cold case

There is a fascination with true crime, especially unsolved murders. DNA science has been used to solve many murders, and to free innocents on death row. What future tech could you come up with to solve a future cold case on our planet ... or another?

Q1 awaits your answer!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

The Super Secrets Workshop I conducted here for many years continues on, now in Year 7! Enrollment is closed since the new WotF contest year has begun and we start in conjunction with it. I had seventeen join through my Patreon, and I'm happy to say they've met all the challenges for the first month. I'm thrilled to see aspiring writers willing to do the necessary work to hone their craft and succeed. Not all writers are ready to do the work, and even less are willing to take constructive criticism to help them improve. So, they spin their wheels for years, wondering why nothing they write sells, or wins contests like this one. 

We must be willing to recognize that to move from apprentice to journeyman to master requires growth, and growth comes from recognizing mistakes and changing them, and from taking in accurate knowledge and learning how to apply it to our work. Humility is required. So is a thirst to learn and grow. And to grow, we must write fresh stories. A lot of them!

Another thing I'm happy about. Six Wulf Pack Writers group members were just told they've been accepted into an anthology we targeted as a group challenge. This is the annual benefit anthology for the LTUE convention, an SF convention that's been around for forty-plus years and has a huge base of skilled writers to tap into. I'm proud so many from our group were accepted, and two others just told me they had pro sales last month as well. We aren't a huge group, and yet eight of our members just got accepted into lovely publications last month. Why? They're taking in knowledge. They accept constructive criticism. They're doing the work. They're sending their writing out to markets.

All the things you need to do to develop the routines necessary to become a successful writer. 

I keep posting writing prompts here in the thread where this all began because I love helping writers succeed. I developed the Super Secrets to help writers do so. I know you need to write to advance. A lot.

May these prompts help you in that endeavor. Here's your Monday prompt:

One in the chamber

That prompt has automatic drama built into it. But I always like the twist, especially if you can end the story with the same word or saying meaning a different thing due to knowledge gained through the story.

May this prompt send your writing off with a bang!

Cheers!

Beastmaster Moon

@wulfmoon I really, really like this one. The openness makes it flexible, but, as you said, it also has its own built-in drama. Excited to work with it. Thanks!

I can see more than one path for this prompt. The chamber doesn't have to be a weapon. Execution chamber came to mind after the bullet

Posted by: @lauraholley

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@wulfmoon I really, really like this one. The openness makes it flexible, but, as you said, it also has its own built-in drama. Excited to work with it. Thanks!

I'm happy it gives you room to have fun with it, Laura. We bring our own uniqueness to prompts, especially when they aren't so defined that we have no room to spread out.

Go forth and conquer!

Posted by: @storysinger

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I can see more than one path for this prompt. The chamber doesn't have to be a weapon. Execution chamber came to mind after the bullet

Exactly, Storysinger. That's where our creativity comes in, giving a standardized concept a new twist! It tickles the brain to see unexpected outcomes on familiar terms. And if it tickles the judges mind and the story is well executed, a smart twist can propel you to the top, even onto the stage at the WotF gala.

Make it so!

Cheers!