Today's KYD Monday prompt is a saying that comes from the battlefield.

I leave it to you to research its origins and meaning. I do believe it's great prompt for a military SF story.

Same mud, same blood.

Go forth and conquer!

Beastmaster Moon

Celebrating a Milestone

I recently hit the one year mark with my book HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY. This is the collection and expansion of the Super Secrets of Writing I created right here after winning WotF to help writers understand the principles that make stories work. Many following these principles have won the WotF contest and many other contests as well, and a good number from the free annual workshop I conducted here went from being unpublished writers to now having professional careers.

My goal with the Super Secrets was to make it easier for struggling writers to climb the mountain, clearing the brush away so the path would be clearer for them to see. From all those that have thanked me over the years for the help given I can truthfully say: Mission accomplished.

The Kickstarter campaign for the book did over $21,000 in funding. With so many Kickstarter pledges for the book, I thought for sure this would diminish support for the public release (I mean, your followers get the book through your Kickstarter, they don't need another copy). Nope. The book had so many pre-orders before release it came out of the gates as a #1 New Release in Fiction Writing books on Amazon and stayed there for the bulk of six weeks. But it also stayed on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Fiction Writing books for the bulk of the entire year. If you look at the image above, you can see the level of writing books in that category my book is being ranked with--this is no obscure category. It's been on Draft2Digitals Top 25 Weekly Bestseller list of all their nonfiction titles nine times, and on Smashwords it's been at the top of multiple categories for the entire year since its release. It truly is a bestseller, and it's kept that ranking far longer than anyone believed possible.

This post is simply to celebrate the good news, and to thank all of you that supported me in continuing to share the knowledge I gained over the course of many decades to make it easier for emerging writers to succeed in this challenging field. The goal to become a published writer is a noble goal, but it's a great challenge for writers to stay the course long enough to gain the mastery necessary to create fiction that sells to respected markets like this one. 

May you continue to learn, may you continue to apply what you learn, and may you keep writing and stay the course. 

There is a wonderful reward ahead if you do so.

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

Congratulations! I used HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY to write a short story. It was easy to follow, and the story sold! Made me very happy!

Here's something I'm howling happy about!

ONE HALF of the Volume 41 Q4 Finalists are from my Wulf Pack Writers group! That's right! FOUR Finalists that I've been training in the Super Secrets that I began right here had stories that rose to the Top 8, and ONE OF THEM WON!

I won't get ahead of the public announcement by naming them, but I was beyond thrilled when I found out as one after the other announced in our group, and yes, they kept it totally secret from me so it was a MEGA SURPRISE. I created these Super Secrets to make it easier for emerging writers to craft professional stories that would have the best chance at selling and winning contests, specifically this one! They work!!!

It makes me so happy that this labor of love has helped so many emerging writers. May they help many more achieve their goals here!

And, since it's Monday, it's time for your KYD Kill Your Darlings writing prompt, something all of these finalists from my group trained in. In fact, I know at least one of these Finalists composed their story from a KYD built from one of these Monday prompts. So dig in! There's gold in them thar prompts!

Hmm, you know, that's an excellent prompt. 

Gold digger.

Shiny!

All the beast, 

Beastmaster Moon

 It's time for your Monday KYD "Kill Your Darlings Exercise" prompt!

We just had four writers in the Wulf Pack Writers group place as Finalists in WotF Volume 41, Q4, and one of them won. All of them regularly practice my KYD exercise, using it to train themselves to write smarter, tighter stories. And I know at least one of these Q4 Finalists came from a story inspired by a Monday KYD prompt and the KYD exercise result the writer created. 

This is not the first time this has happened. My KYD exercise works.

So what's today's prompt? The illustration above! There's been so much in the news about UFOs and government conspiracies, it seemed a great story idea to think about what aliens might be abducting from Earth, and why. 

Could be a story in this idea that would tickle Jody's funny bone. She does enjoy humor!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Image by andrewnawroski from Pixabay

Mars needs burgers

Posted by: @wehlingfl

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Mars needs burgers

Funny, Fred! 😄

It’s time for your Monday KYD “Kill Your Darlings” writing prompt!

The oath

An oath can be powerful. And if the gods are listening, they can demand payment should you fail to keep it ….

Have fun!

Beastmaster Moon

A New Super Secrets of Writing Article Published in DreamForge Magazine!

I know. For years you enjoyed my Super Secrets for free right here as I wrote them to help Forumites master skills so that they could get published in respected publications, like Writers of the Future anthologies! Guess what? You can still get them for free, you just have to do a quick hop, skip, and a jump on over to DreamForge Magazine to read them. My latest leans into one of my favorite SF shows, Firefly. The title? "You Can't Stop the Signal."

Here's the editor's comments:

In today’s publishing world, writing the book is only half the battle. Readers crave connection, and even traditional publishers expect authors to handle their own marketing, from social media to building a following. Inspired by moments like Mr. Universe’s iconic line in the movie Serenity, this article explains why you can’t ignore your signal—or fail to broadcast it. Learn how to craft your brand, connect with readers, and build a platform that ensures your voice is heard.

Hone the edge of your skills and sharpen your careers by keeping up with the Super Secrets! 

Shiny!

Click HERE to enjoy my latest Super Secrets article!

It's Monday, and that means it's time for your KYD Super Secrets Monday writing prompt! And here it is!

digital breadcrumbs
That's all you get. What? You want me to write the whole story for you?  

Get writing! Q1, Volume 42 is about to end! Stop sucking on that eggnog!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

@wulfmoon Oh! I like this one.

@wulfmoon I so want to make a story using this one. I wonder if I can fit a Cyberpunk Thriller into a short story? 🧐

Posted by: @glenda-thompson

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@wulfmoon Oh! I like this one.

I'm glad it inspires, Glenda! Welcome to the WotF Forum! I know how you found us.  
I also know you have my book HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY, the workbook THE ILLUSTRATED SUPER SECRETS OF WRITING, and WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOL. 35 with my winner "Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" in it.  

Right here in the WotF Forum is where the Super Secrets began! Go back to the very first post in this thread and you'll find a hyperlinked table of contents. Click on the topics and you'll see the original Super Secrets in their early drafts before the books. There's surrounding material as well should you wish to get more detailed explanations on any. Don't miss the year I did the kraken metaphors--I believe that was Year 3. Those were really fun to write!

Cheers!

Posted by: @dukeholley

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@wulfmoon I so want to make a story using this one. I wonder if I can fit a Cyberpunk Thriller into a short story? 🧐

Of course you can! You've been trained in KYD mastery, Duke! Piece of cybercake!

I was the first guest on UPRN Talk Radio's program "The Author's Quill" when it launched. They recently had me back with my publisher and WotF judge Mark Leslie Lefebvre to discuss my career and how my bestselling book HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY has been doing one year since its release. It's a fun interview I hope you'll enjoy! 2,216,489 live listens!

Some highlights:

1. We discuss the value of niche publishers, especially a boutique publisher focused on your success like Mark Lefebvre's Stark Publishing Solutions has done for me.

2. We share how a publisher's signal can increase your signal substantially when you're still building your network of fans--they already have signal, programming, and branding built in that you can tap into!

3. John Goodwin from Author Services asked me to tell the story behind the creation of my Writers of the Future Vol. 35 winner "Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler." If you haven't heard the story behind the story yet, it is certain to inspire you to meet deadlines no matter how crunched for time you may be.

4. And finally, the program host Joe Montaldo makes some statements about how many writers I've helped achieve their Writers of the Future wins through the lessons taught in the Super Secrets Workshop that I started right here in this forum. Joe has interviewed every contest winner for the last five years, so he knows what he's talking about. Really kind things Joe said about my Super Secrets of Writing workshop and what I've done to help writers make it to that Hollywood stage and workshop week. That starts around the 1 hour 19 minute mark. 

Don't miss this interview! In the Q&A at the end, you will find out what I believe is the #1 issue that holds writers back from getting published and winning prestigious contests like Writers of the Future. Getting past this common aspiring writer issue can change your destiny!

Cheers!

To listen to or to view the program, click HERE!

Two week warning! Wotf Q1, Volume 42, is about to end. Get those stories written and submitted. You can't win if you aren't in!

Beastmaster Moon

I forgot to post your Monday KYD writing prompt! Mia culpa! I've been doing multiple edits and client consultations on Zoom on top of an intensive two weeks of working on my Moongirl novel, but that's no excuse! Let's get this prompt fired up, with my apologies for the delay! You've got a prestigious international writing contest to win, and less that two weeks to write that fresh story for it!

cemetery trees

There you go! Write a chilling tale that will send shivers down the judges' spines!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for your Monday KYD writing prompt!  

I actually have a good excuse for being late. Honest! We bought a GE dishwasher from Costco and after I installed it, we discovered it had a damaged door gasket and continually leaked at the base of the unit. I ordered a replacement that was delivered yesterday (Monday), opened the box, and it was full of water and broken parts! They had shipped me a used, refurbished unit that leaked water all across our floor before I even hooked it up. So I called a friend, got the unit onto my truck (heavy!), took it in to Costco to get my money back, and then went over to Home Depot and bought a Bosch. And paid their installers to deal with installing it this time. "Dammit, Jim, I'm a science fiction writer, not a kitchen appliance installer!" We live and learn. In my defense, I actually would have succeeded and saved some good coin had they sent me a working unit.

And now here we are, on the raggedy edge. Let's tie up those afraid knots with a visual prompt today. The illustration above is your prompt, but if you need a written one, here it is:

Mother ship

I got this one listening to the news about all those unidentified drones flying in the New Jersey skies. A CBS newscaster interviewed some congressman that said he had talked to reliable sources in the Defense Department that said these were drones coming from a mothership parked somewhere off our Atlantic coast! I laughed because as soon as you say "mother ship" to science fiction writers and readers, our minds instantly jump to an alien invasion. It's not a thing you say lightly, but here was a public official using the term around an already freaking out public!

Good times, good times.

Have at it. Maybe his sources are correct and there IS an alien mother ship parked off our coast. Why are they here? And why do they need drones to spy on us at night? And why New Jersey of all the places on God's good earth the aliens could have chosen?

Excellent fodder for a story! Don't miss your Q1 deadline! You only have days to go now!

Beam me up, Scotty!

Beastmaster Moon

Photo credit: Image by Jim Cooper on Pixabay.

It’s time for your MONDAY KYD writing prompt!

And I’m not late! Like a friend of mine used to say every morning, “It’s good to know where we’re at in the stream of time.”😀

In fact, time travel stories are fun, and I’ve read more than a few WotF winners on the subject. Let’s do the time warp again! 🤪

Time stream

There’s even a song called “Time Warp.” I suspect most of you know it. You can’t quote lyrics under copyright, but I’ve farmed some great story ideas jumping off song lyrics and diving into the deep end. Just sayin’.

Best of success! You have one day left to write your Q1 winner. Plenty of time! I’m living proof! Never surrender!

Get those fresh stories written and submitted! Cheers!

Posted by: @wulfmoon

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It’s time for your MONDAY KYD writing prompt!

And I’m not late! Like a friend of mine used to say every morning, “It’s good to know where we’re at in the stream of time.”😀

In fact, time travel stories are fun, and I’ve read more than a few WotF winners on the subject. Let’s do the time warp again! 🤪

Time stream

There’s even a song called “Time Warp.” I suspect most of you know it. You can’t quote lyrics under copyright, but I’ve farmed some great story ideas jumping off song lyrics and diving into the deep end. Just sayin’.

Best of success! You have one day left to write your Q1 winner. Plenty of time! I’m living proof! Never surrender!

Get those fresh stories written and submitted! Cheers!

 

Thanks, Moon!

It’s time for your MONDAY KYD writing prompt! I made it here before midnight! It's STILL MONDAY! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Did anyone use the Mother Ship prompt? I'd love to see someone write a story on that. So fun! And SF does have an edge in this contest. It's called WRITERS OF THE FUTURE after all.
 

Here's your KYD prompt for today:

side hustle

Happy writing!

Beastmaster Moon

@wulfmoon Fun! Thanks for always providing these for us, Moon!

Posted by: @wulfmoon

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Did anyone use the Mother Ship prompt? I'd love to see someone write a story on that.

I got a bit of a world-building idea from that but haven't thought of a story to go with it yet.

Posted by: @atkirk

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Posted by: @wulfmoon

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Did anyone use the Mother Ship prompt? I'd love to see someone write a story on that.

I got a bit of a world-building idea from that but haven't thought of a story to go with it yet.

I'm glad it sparked! Now it's up to you to fan the flames of inspiration into a story. Best of success!

Posted by: @tmckee44outlook-com

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@wulfmoon Fun! Thanks for always providing these for us, Moon!

Happy to help inspire everyone reading these, Tara! Prompts can cause you to create a story you might never have thought of! Some have even turned these KYD prompts into their WotF finalists and winners! We just had one in Q4!

May the same happen for you!

All the beast,

Wulf Moon

It's Monday, and that means it's time for your KYD: Kill Your Darlings writing prompt!

Awful but lawful

I can think of a lot of things done in the name of the law of a government that might be legal, but the application made of that law is evil. In fact, my very first professional science fiction sale and publication when I was just fifteen years old was based on such a premise. "The Last Ray of Light" published in Science World by Scholastic. Back then the magazine was a print publication with a circulation of 1 million copies per issue! I have never beaten that publishing record I made as a kid, even when winning Writers of the Future. Something to aspire to ...

You aspire to winning this contest! It's the best sale and prize package an aspiring writer can make! It will change your future!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

It's Monday, and that means it's time for your KYD Kill Your Darlings Monday prompt!

Judas kiss. We all know the account of Christ being betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane with a tender kiss, identifying Jesus to the mob ready to take him before the High Priest for judgment. The act became such an iconic image of betrayal and treachery, the saying has entered the English language as an idiom.

The Free Dictionary defines it as:

Judas kiss

Also found in: Idioms, Wikipedia.

It's Monday, and that means it's time for your KYD Kill Your Darlings Monday prompt!

Okay, it's Tuesday. Forgive me. I'm getting arrangements finalized for three conventions--two I'm teaching at and one where I'm also the Keynote Speaker. Lot's of travel planning, ordering books, and coordinating with con committees!

Here's your prompt:

Who's there? 

What? That's it?

It is. Think of a scary situation where you might ask that question, and you'll find a story. I guarantee it!

Cheers!

Beastmaster Moon

 Congratulations to Super Secrets Workshop/Wulf Pack Writers Member Crystal Crawford!

Crystal Crawford has been a member of this workshop for many years, and was even a member of our elite Top Gun Year here when, to help reduce my work load, I required members in that year to have achieved a Silver HM or higher as a registration requirement. She always did her best work in the group's assignments, was ever positive and supportive of our workshop members, and went on to create a successful Vella novel series. After Vella shut down, she wrote a 100,000 word novel she's about to release!

Here's a WotF interview with Crystal! 194. Crystal Crawford introduces Amazon Vella episodic publishing platform by Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast

Our scholarship committee has a rigorous ranking system for all applicants, separate from my input and influence. They forward two finalists for my final decision on who is best qualified and who will receive the most benefit from the seminar we've selected. Since this is a full scholarship worth $1,250.00, our committee takes this task seriously. I am very happy we are able to give back to emerging writers as a group, following the example set by Writers and Illustrators of the Future. Last year we provided two full scholarships to members, one to Superstars, and one to the LTUE Seminar!

I will be both a faculty member and the keynote speaker at the SWA Seminar in June at St. Simons, Georgia. Southeastern Writers Association is a nonprofit group supporting writers for over fifty years! Perhaps we'll see you there!  Events — Southeastern Writers Association

Congratulations, Crystal Crawford!

Beastmaster Moon

It's Monday, and that means it's time for your Monday KYD Writing Prompt!

That's it! I'm off to Superstars Seminar and then I teach masterclasses at the LTUE Seminar in Provo, Utah. I know I'll see some of you at each of these, and John and Emily Goodwin from Author Services, too! So cool!

Cheers!