Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

I subbed a fresh story for Q3 Brittany.

Powa Play-yah4. Gold-earring edition. With Rimshot. And auto-piercer. And a whole friggin lot of storage. Which comes in handy.

AFTER I submitted my first guess, I glanced down at the final paragraph of the story and had a moment of suspicion that this was the answer instead. I bet you're right.

Powa Play-yah4. Gold-earring edition. With Rimshot. And auto-piercer. And a whole friggin lot of storage. Which comes in handy.

AFTER I submitted my first guess, I glanced down at the final paragraph of the story and had a moment of suspicion that this was the answer instead. I bet you're right.

Blind pigs and broken clocks.

Powa Play-yah4. Gold-earring edition. With Rimshot. And auto-piercer. And a whole friggin lot of storage. Which comes in handy.

Good tries, everyone, but in the end, like in Highlander, there can only be one.

CHUCK WINS THE PRIZE! WELL DONE.

And let's make this a secret within a secret. You need this.

BEHOLD! Moon's SUPER SECRET #32: Deploy your MAGIC SWORD.

Since this is the WotF Forum, and Volume 35 has been out for awhile, I think it's safe to use "Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" as a teaching example. SPOILER ALERT : if you haven't read the story yet (WHAT? You're trying to win Writers of the Future WITHOUT reading the latest winning stories?), don't read further. Instead, go buy a copy of WotF Vol. 35, thwop yourself on the head with it, and READ. Read ALL of the stories in the latest volume. You need to know what your first reader, coordinating judge, and quarterly judges currently believe is award-winning fiction. You also need to know the level of writing you are up against in your quarters, and what current trends are being purchased for the anthology. This has been a past SUPER SECRET.

Now, on to this one! So, what is a MAGIC SWORD? It is a thing of power that is hard won by the hero to help them attain their objective--conquering the problem that ripped them from their normal world so they can go back home and live in peace once again. I'm making a SUPER SECRET out of it because I thought it was a simple concept and easily discovered. I WUZ WRONG! BUT THAT'S WHY WE DO THESE CRASH TESTS! TO SAVE LIVES!

Dixie's MAGIC SWORD, her Excalibur, was indeed the PowaPlayah 4. I hid it early on in the story, and made you believe it was a nice present of tech she received, like so many girls do, for her birthday. But it held a massive amount of storage, the equivalent of a human brain. It was shiny! It was potent! It had the power of life or death! For Moon Dawdler, that is. And at the end of the story, when everything in her world was darkest (she actually leaves a place of ETERNAL LIGHT to go to a place called DARK SIDE) Dixie uses her MAGIC SWORD to save her best friend in the world, the friend who has saved her life by making it bearable and protecting her. Did it work? We don't know, but we know for certain she wielded her thing of power and hoped for the best. And if it worked, it saved her world.

MAGIC SWORD is a powerful tool in stories. It is hardwired within the monomyth--the grand sum of all tales told from the beginning of time. Understanding it is essential in being able to tell meaningful tales that resonate within the subconscious of your readers. I encourage you all to start looking for it in the books you read and the movies you watch. If it's missing from your stories, or not clearly defined, they will be weaker for the lack of it. It doesn't have to be a physical item, it can be and often is hard-won knowledge. But I find it's better if it's tangible, like the Enigma code breaker Turing created known as the Bombe. A thing of power that can defeat your enemy and grant you the boon you have been seeking all along. In Grisham's THE FIRM, it was the knowledge of mail fraud *combined* with something as simple and tangible as an off-site copy machine. With that copy machine, Mitch McDeere had the ultimate power to defeat the mob--in wielding it, the hero kept the mob from killing him and actually found a way to return to his *normal* world, much the wiser about too good to be true job offers.

In INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, the thing of power, the MAGIC SWORD, wasn't the Grail at all. It was dad's diary. Think about it. Everyone wanted that diary, because if they could wield it properly, they could not only find the location of the boon of eternal life--the holy grail--they could find their way through all of the tests that had killed everyone else that had tried throughout the centuries to get that boon for themselves. And in the end, at the darkest hour when his dad was dying and the Nazi's would get the prize of eternal life, Indiana wields the knowledge from the diary to survive and obtain the boon to save his father...and ultimately, the world from Nazi control.

As you think on your stories, figure out what is the boon--the ultimate prize if your hero comes off victorious against his adversary. And then, find the MAGIC SWORD he must obtain to defeat his adversary. You get bonus points with your readers if it's not as obvious as a magic invincible sword like Excalibur. In fact, here's a secret within a secret. Make it something early on that might seem mundane, but becomes mighty and powerful at the climax when your hero reaches for it and deploys it in a unique and unforeseen way. If it's a huge surprise to your readers, hidden in plain sight but a logical and appropriate solution to conquering the big problem at the climax...well, you've got a winner on your hands.

Since Chuck found the MAGIC SWORD in "Super-Duper Moongirl..." and spawned a SUPER SECRET, he deserves the prize. One SUPER-DUPER MOONGIRL collector's button, and one copy of the priceless and out of print gem that can become your own MAGIC SWORD in your personal hero's journey: WRITING TO THE POINT by Algis Budrys, that best little book on writing ever written by Writers of the Future's first coordinating judge.

Well done, Chuck! Go forth and conquer. It's a MAGIC SWORD!

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

Can the main character be the magic sword in a story???:) Through the obstacles he must overcome and the moral compass he must determine....

[One SUPER-DUPER MOONGIRL collector's button, and one copy of the priceless and out of print gem that can become your own MAGIC SWORD in your personal hero's journey: WRITING TO THE POINT by Algis Budrys, that best little book on writing ever written by Writers of the Future's first judge.

Well done, Chuck! Go forth and conquer. It's a MAGIC SWORD!

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

Wow! I'd love the button. I do have a copy of Algis' book so save that for some other budding author.

Can the main character be the magic sword in a story???:) Through the obstacles he must overcome and the moral compass he must determine....

No, if I understand your question properly, what you are describing here is the character arc, the life lessons your protagonist learns along the way that will make your heroine worthy of wielding the MAGIC SWORD.

Here, let me simplify. The main character is the protagonist--the heroine--that has to go on a quest to save her world. The MAGIC SWORD is the item of power she seeks on her quest that will defeat her enemy. Her enemy is the entity that stands in the way of her solving her problem. At the climax, she wields the magic sword, defeats her enemy, and walks away with her boon--the reward for saving her world.

Like I said, the magic sword can be a tangible item, or it can be knowlege, or it can be the knowledge necessary to wield the tangible item effectively. Yes, in some cases the magic sword can lie within the protagonist, but it is not the protagonist. The protagonist is the protagonist, the hero is the hero. But it can be something within them that they don't understand and cannot master yet. Amnesia stories are great examples of this. If the hero could only figure out who they are or what happened to them before they lost their memory, they could defeat their villain. The plot becomes a race against time to discover their missing memory. Think of the Bourne trilogy by Robert Ludlum that was turned into movies. Think of P.K. Dick's story that was turned into the movie TOTAL RECALL. The power to defeat their enemy lies within them, but they have to retrace their steps to figure out how to unlock it--often with terrible consequences when they do. Bourne discovers he is a ruthless government killing machine. Quaid discovers he is a spy. After their epiphany, they wield their hard-won knowledge--their MAGIC SWORD--to defeat their enemy.

Figure out your thing of power in your story that will defeat the enemy. Make it tangible if you can. Name it.

Just don't name it PowaPlayah 4. That one's been taken.

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

[One SUPER-DUPER MOONGIRL collector's button, and one copy of the priceless and out of print gem that can become your own MAGIC SWORD in your personal hero's journey: WRITING TO THE POINT by Algis Budrys, that best little book on writing ever written by Writers of the Future's first judge.

Well done, Chuck! Go forth and conquer. It's a MAGIC SWORD!

All the beast,

Beastmaster Moon

Wow! I'd love the button. I do have a copy of Algis' book so save that for some other budding author.

As you wish, Chuck. I'll send you the Moongirl collector's button, and save the book for another challenge of wits! And I'll dig up another book to give you as an alternate. Thank you for participating!

ahh....thanks....that makes more sense....like you said, it could be the knowledge the character gets that is the magic sword:)….
Thank you....

You got a mention in one of the recent WotF podcasts. I'm sorry, I've forgotten which one.

You got a mention in one of the recent WotF podcasts. I'm sorry, I've forgotten which one.

No wonder my ears were tingling! I'm working my way through them all. I assume I will find it eventually.

I asked my wife to listen to my podcast of "Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" at future-sf.com. She started bawling again when it finished. I didn't think I had done THAT bad of a job...

Cheers!

This is a red letter day! No, not the Scarlet Letter, no one needs that tied around their neck, there's enough shaming done in society as it is. It's a Read Letter day! 25,000 views on this topic just happened! A topic I set up to place a challenge before Forum members to write FOUR FRESH ORIGINAL STORIES for each quarter of this Volume 36 WOTF contest year. Some had already submitted, so we set up a secondary challenge members could sign up for, submitting three fresh stories for Qs 2-4. Along the way, I've worked hard to provide insights on secret--and not so secret--writing tips I've discovered over the years that can help writers get an edge on winning this contest. Obviously, these tips have been read by far more than the twenty or so challenge members. Many have written me and said they are writing again because of this challenge. That makes me very happy. And I really hope I can help some of you shave some years off your learning curve. You are up against the best in the world. It's not easy. But perhaps by sharing what I've learned, I can help make it easier, make the path a little clearer, so you can find your way to your ultimate destination. That's been my goal.

But honestly, these Super Secrets are meant to help anyone in the novice to intermediate category to improve their writing skills so that they can write professional level stories. There's nothing wrong with hobby writers. I know lots of them, and read with them at a monthly event here in my town.

But if you're entering this contest, I believe you're here for a different reason. I believe you're trying to become a professional writer. I believe you want your work to be read by a wider audience. I believe you're trying to figure out how you can make that happen. And I designed these Super Secrets to help.

This post is to thank all of you that have supported Moon's SUPER SECRET Bonus Challenge. I am honored so many of you have read, not just my thoughts on creating professional works, but the thoughts and input from all the challenge beast members. It's been great fun talking about what makes the clockwork of great stories tick. We even did some challenging exercises to reveal the working parts of stories.

And it's not over. Q4 is upon us! First reader Kary English said Q4 of Volume 35 saw not only the most entries in the history of the contest, but the highest quality entries as well. She said, "It's like everyone saved up their best stories to submit at the end of the year." She stated that stories that would have normally gotten an honorable mention in other quarters had to be rejected because the volume of quality stories in Q4 were so high. Why did this happen? I'll give you my theory. Everyone knows it's their last chance. If they don't win Q4, it's a whole 'nuther year of entering. So they try harder. Q4 is do or die.

So I call out to my challenge beasties: Do you want to win this contest? That's why you're here, as bona fide members of the Writers of the Future Forum, isn't it? You know what winning this contest would mean for your writing future. Trust me, it is worth EVERY EFFORT. Therefore, the Beastmaster challenges you once again! Here is the challenge: 3F for Q4! Write three fresh stories for Q4--one for July, one for August, one for September. That's only one story a month--it's a reachable goal for many, you just don't know it yet. And then, of those three, submit your pick of the litter by September 30th, 2019 before midnight when the quarter--and contest year--closes. This is your last chance for the year. Set your sites. Push your limits. Submit your very best.

Of course, with 25,000 views, I know more than our challenge beasties are reading this. So, I say to all: PUSH!

I want you to win.

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Well, I already wrote one in July, so sure, why not. I am a glutton for punishment, I guess. It'll get me that much closer to my million words, and give me something to do between writing novel chapters.

Sounds like a wonderful idea, I'll give it my best shot.

wotf042 Well, I already wrote one in July, so sure, why not. I am a glutton for punishment, I guess. It'll get me that much closer to my million words, and give me something to do between writing novel chapters.

Congratulations, Becky! As the first challenge member to commit to my bonus 3F for Q4 challenge, verified by time stamp, certified by the certifiable, you've won a prize! We're going out with a bang for Q4, and here's your reward for being courageous and jumping right in! For courage above and beyond the call of duty, you get your choice of:

1. A rare, out of print copy of WRITING TO THE POINT by WotF's first contest coordinating judge, Algis Budrys, AND a "Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" WotF collector's button, OR,

2. A critique by the Beastmaster, including followup critique after revisions, of your pick of the litter in your 3F for Q4 challenge, up to 7,000 words. Must be submitted three weeks before September 30th, 2019, so we have time to work on it.

The knight Templar rises from his ancient resting place in the cave as you enter. As you peer under his helm, you note he bears a striking resemblance to the Sicilian in The Princess Bride. I know what you're thinking. Inconceivable! Yet, it is happening. He holds two chalices before you.

"Choose wisely."

Beastmaster Moon

Sounds like a wonderful idea, I'll give it my best shot.

Hail and well met, Storysinger! Welcome to the Cliff's of InSaNiTY!

Beastmaster Moon

wotf042 Well, I already wrote one in July, so sure, why not. I am a glutton for punishment, I guess. It'll get me that much closer to my million words, and give me something to do between writing novel chapters.

Congratulations, Becky! As the first challenge member to commit to my bonus 3F for Q4 challenge, verified by time stamp, certified by the certifiable, you've won a prize! We're going out with a bang for Q4, and here's your reward for being courageous and jumping right in! For courage above and beyond the call of duty, you get your choice of:

1. A rare, out of print copy of WRITING TO THE POINT by WotF's first contest coordinating judge, Algis Budrys, AND a "Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler" WotF collector's button, OR,

2. A critique by the Beastmaster, including followup critique after revisions, of your pick of the litter in your 3F for Q4 challenge, up to 7,000 words. Must be submitted three weeks before September 30th, 2019, so we have time to work on it.

The knight Templar rises from his ancient resting place in the cave as you enter. As you peer under his helm, you note he bears a striking resemblance to the Sicilian in The Princess Bride. I know what you're thinking. Inconceivable! Yet, it is happening. He holds two chalices before you.

"Choose wisely."

Beastmaster Moon

FYI: writing to the point costs between $200 - $600. Something to think about.

FYI: writing to the point costs between $200 - $600. Something to think about.

I got mine off Amazon couple months ago for $40 but I see now the cheapest option is $133. Strange.

FYI: writing to the point costs between $200 - $600. Something to think about.

I got mine off Amazon couple months ago for $40 but I see now the cheapest option is $133. Strange.

Prices on out of print books can fluctuate greatly. You got lucky, sir.

Prices on out of print books can fluctuate greatly. You got lucky, sir.

Hopefully, I have a little luck left this month.

The knight Templar rises from his ancient resting place in the cave as you enter. As you peer under his helm, you note he bears a striking resemblance to the Sicilian in The Princess Bride. I know what you're thinking. Inconceivable! Yet, it is happening. He holds two chalices before you.

"Choose wisely."

Looks between the goblets. "Well, that one is awful shiny. I've heard it holds great power and insight for those who drink from its glimmering rim. It's ancient, and valuable. But that other one might get me out of this labyrinthine cave by the end of the year."
Waves hand at Budrys Chalise. "Give that to someone who really earns it. I'll take the other one."

Peers at the knight. "Anybody want a peanut?"

I read the Budrys book online and took copious notes. I am sorely tempted, but I think I will take the opportunity for a critique instead. As much as I would love a SuperDuper Button, I would be delighted and honored to receive a critique on one of the stories. Thank you!

[Our story continues. The archeologist slash treasure hunter slash tomb raider slash underpaid educator known simply as Texas Becky drops to her knees in exhaustion as she enters the cavern of her final test. A Knight Templar presents her with two chalices. The narration now shifts to second person, present tense, because there is surely only one thing worse than first person, present tense: the narrative that is spoken by all DMs.]

Your eyes dart right, left, right, left. This is not an easy decision. Finally, you choose. You point to the chalice on the left.

The ancient Templar grants you the barest of nods. "The choice tests you. It is always meant to test."

He hands you the Cup of Editing, made of humble clay, chipped and cracked. "You chose wisely." His eyebrow arches at the edge of his helm. "Because you chose what is right for you."

His gaze lifts to the labyrinthian shadows beyond. "Do not take the cup beyond the seal at the entrance." His sharp-edged tone pierces you. "He may look like a flipper-slapping Sea World performer, but I assure you, he is more lethal than Cerberus." He hoists his mailed fist. "And do not attempt to drink from the cup after the full moon before the autumnal equinox, that something worse may not befall you."

As you nod gravely and clutch your prize, the Templar's eyes sparkle. He takes a sip from the glittering rim of the chalice you left behind. The deep crow's feet at his eyes and the entrenched furrows in his brow vanish like a calm settling over ancient seas. He looks years younger.

"What? You actually think I had the power of Writing to the Point inside this chalice?" He clucks his tongue. "Those are rarer than the Holy Grail."

He lifts a finger toward the shadows. "Off with you. You have work to do."

As you slip the cup in your pack and stand at the cavern's threshold, you hear a word behind you. "No more rhymes now, I mean it!"

Well, it's a little late, but I'm up for this quarter! 😀 Thanks!

Meeting some writing deadlines, which is why I've been mostly silent here. But here's a bit of sage advice from one of the most famous judges in Writers of the Future.

"I will always vote for a plain tale, plainly told."--Orson Scott Card, Writers of the Future Podcast

Or, as Sergeant Joe Friday said in Dragnet, "Just the facts, ma'am."

As we've discussed, kill your darlings.

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Today is the 50th annivesary of the Apollo 11 mission launch. I was seven years old when this happened. I watched it with fascination on a grainy black and white screen in a trailer in a court in Chicago. It had a tremendous effect on my young boy's mind. After watching this and the subsequent images of men walking on the Moon, I believed anything was possible. If we could send men to the Moon, what else could we accomplish? I have no doubt being imprinted with this event at such a young age in my development is why I write science fiction today.

What made you start writing science fiction?

My mother was an avid reader. Every morning she would read the paper while holding me in her lap.
First she taught me letters and that led to words. By the time I started school I was already able to read.
When I discovered the library I checked out every biography of all of the presidents and heroes throughout the history of the USA.
One day I read a story about a boy with physic abilities, I think it was named The Beyond.
Since that time I've enjoyed reading syfy.

My parents were avid readers of science fiction and fantasy. I grew up being given Heinlein and Asimov and Clarke, as well as Robinson, Aspirin, Lackey, McCaffrey, on and on. I didn't really fall in love with the genre of speculative fiction until I read the Belgariad, though. That hooked me. Citizen of the Galaxy by Heinlein is one of my favorite books from my early reading days as well. I still have a soft spot for old (70s and 80s) science fiction.

My first novel writing attempt was an epistolary murder mystery (I was 14 and thought I was dark) and then I drifted away from writing prose into horrible angsty poetry for a long time, and then I turned to writing essays and papers for school for a few years. When I finally finished college, I started dreaming about a character in a setting with a problem and I wanted to write it down. The rest is history!

My first experiences with science fiction that I can remember are watching Star Trek: TNG with my father as a child. Every week, I'd get scared (or feign being scared) and end up sitting on Dad's lap.

I was also a devourer of books, when I was young. I got given the complete Chronicles of Narnia for Christmas when I was eight years old.

Then I read Ender's Game for the first time when I was fourteen. I'd read a lot of other sci-fi and fantasy by then, but that was the book that really drove home my love for sci-fi and fantasy so thoroughly that, when I started writing, I leaned in that direction.

My first experiences with science fiction that I can remember are watching Star Trek: TNG with my father as a child. Every week, I'd get scared (or feign being scared) and end up sitting on Dad's lap.

I was also a devourer of books, when I was young. I got given the complete Chronicles of Narnia for Christmas when I was eight years old.

Then I read Ender's Game for the first time when I was fourteen. I'd read a lot of other sci-fi and fantasy by then, but that was the book that really drove home my love for sci-fi and fantasy so thoroughly that, when I started writing, I leaned in that direction.

I'm a blasphemer, I never got into the books of Narnia, but I adored the BBC miniseries that showed on PBS.

I can't believe I neglected the influence of film and television. My earliest memory is watching Star Trek TOS with my family on a huge old box television. Watching Star Trek was a bi-weekly event in my house until I moved out - and then I showed it to my now-husband. Our dog who passed away in May was named Spock. It's amazing how influential these things are in my writing, but I can see the threads of all of my favorites when I step back and look at my stories.

Sounds like having parents love the genre was at least one path!

I've always been interested in science fiction my entire life. When I was a young boy of 8, I went down to my father's bookcase in our playroom. My dad was a science-fiction fan and had magazines from the late forties and early, mid, and late fifties, several novels also. Some of those magazines were mentioned by the expert at the most recent Awards Ceremony. I wish we still had them today.

I read most of them. The stories were so deep and the concepts so fascinating, I loved pulling out a new one every now and then.

Got hooked on Forbidden Planet. And then, when I was 14 in 1966, a television show premiered which was delightfully refreshing considering all the westerns, lawyer-shows, and ridiculous sitcoms – it was called Star Trek. I loved it; the Nielsen's didn't. When the show went to Saturday night on NBC, I knew it was doomed.

My favorite episodes were City On The Edge of Forever and All Our Yesterdays. I love the way Harlan Ellison writes – the two episodes of Outer Limits still resonate in my mind. Demon With A Glass Hand. Soldier. Premonition.

A while ago, I picked up Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. I needed to read it again for the umpteenth time.