Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

Henckel, in your salutation, you forgot to mention: Piano players with sub-standard computer technology ability. We have to be intellectually objectively correct about these things, lol.
Just kidding.
Best,

Retro

Ha! Ha!
I work govt procurement. IP is the bane of my life.

Moon (and fellow challenge takers), I can't apologize profusely enough for dropping the ball today. Thank you for putting the prompt up for me. Won't happen again.

Leah, you and Moon both work super hard for all of us... I, for one, just assumed it was coming later or something because you were busy. No harm done! I appreciate what Moon is doing here and everything you're doing to help!

Swift Potato, don't lose sleep over this. Please! We're all aware you take the Keeper Of The Records seriously.

Today is January 13th, 2020 – a time to celebrate your enormous success (unprecedented, in fact) in WINNING WOTF on your first try. That's a hard one to top, and you deserve a feather in your cap. It's also a time to start writing your acceptance speech when you stand before the podium (and the world, no pressure) and charm us with your prose.

All the Best,

Retro

Thanks for being so patient with me, all. Been doing lots of extracurricular activities lately, especially pre-launch stuff for WotF, and I need to get back to bullet journaling and checking my schedule daily!

Gee-whizz guys, I'm behind!

Retro, Starreacher, Heckel, I do appreciate the support. You guys make me so happy to be here. Makes my heart all pitter-pattery to be surrounded by good friends.

Heckel, I did pick up your book. Fun title!

Late congratulations all around! What a nice roster Wulf posted with results. I think we are getting there! (And one of us already GOT THERE! *nudge nudge* Leah)

AHHHH! My eyes, my eyes!!! Skip the Star Wars post! Lol!

Cool bit on the wolves though. I like our mascot 😉

BLOOD-SUCKER? Reward? Intriguing. May have to set aside my current idea for this one lol.

And now for what I have done:

Assignment: Brad Torgersen Discussion

1. 17 and many, many rejections

2. “What more could you do that you haven’t tried yet or you haven’t done?“

3. He read the anthologies. (Hmmmmm, who else says that?) Know thy judge.

4. Nope. His wife said to keep trying so he did.

5. He won. That's encouraging

6. Analog picked it up and he won the Reader’s Choice award.

7. The Dragon Award.

8. He learned how to work under a deadline and produce new work every single quarter instead of endlessly polishing the same old piece.

9. Writers learn more from producing new.

10. Re-working old stories. (he goes 3 passes, then done)

11. You, silly!

12. Not sending work out. (Guilty)

13. Persistence.

14. Brevity. Keeping the reader engaged with powerful prose from page one. (which he said will translate to blurbs and such)

15. Writers of the Future—winning in 2009

16. Around one million words.

17. Polishing the same old story. Start writing new.

18. Ones where you rub shoulders with professionals—where you can engage them. Superstars. Yes, Wulf 😉

19. Not talking to professionals (ACTUAL professionals).

20. Study the stories you love. Writing isn’t as hard as storytelling. Figure out what makes them work.

21. GAHHH! There’s really good advice through all of this and it all goes hand in hand with what we’ve been learning with Wulf. I feel I am producing new stories. And I’m starting to send them out. Those feel like big wins and I’m getting closer to my goals. Thank you!
What I haven’t done as well as I’d like is STUDY THE STORIES I LOVE. It’s really easy to become busy and not find the time. I mean, I read, but do I really READ? Story structure, implementing formulas, understanding the logic (intellectual or emotional payoff) that makes a story work is something I’m still grappling to nail/make sense of. I’m getting better, but sitting down and analyzing short stories will help me tremendously. So…I need to READ MY MARKET!

Thanks for being so patient with me, all. Been doing lots of extracurricular activities lately, especially pre-launch stuff for WotF, and I need to get back to bullet journaling and checking my schedule daily!

No worries, Leah! You do great, and we all appreciate what you do as Keeper of Records, especially ME! It actually worked out, I had wanted to tell you to post that BLOOD SUCKER prompt but haven't had a spare minute to write you.

I encourage ALL of you to write a flash piece for that prompt! You'll be glad you did.

Mysteries abound...

Hey, our WotF Vol. 35 hit #1 in the Critters Poll for Best Anthology! Alas, our WotF Forum dropped to 2nd for Best Writers' Forum. But our little SUPER SECRETS Writing Workshop is still #1. The big final push happens tomorrow, last day, so who knows what will happen, but thank you all for supporting the categories that hold things you loved in the industry in 2019, whatever they might be! If you forgot to vote, there's still one last day!

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Wanted to do a quick shoutout while there's still time.

I know we all appreciate the work Wulf has put into SUPER SECRETS, and sometimes it seems there isn't much we can do to say thanks. Right now, though, the Critters poll is a really good way to say THANK YOU. Anyone can vote. Wulf currently sits in #2 for the author category. If you haven't voted for Wulf and you appreciate what he's done here (and elsewhere), please take a minute and vote on the link below. Polls close tomorrow at midnight.

http://critters.org/predpoll/author.shtml

He won't ask for this one, so I'm asking. Bluntly.

Wishing you the best, Wulf!

*note, I voted last year and can promise, there is no spam that comes from voting. You get an email making sure you are a human confirming the vote. That's it. No more mail. Now go vote lol

Wanted to do a quick shoutout while there's still time.

I know we all appreciate the work Wulf has put into SUPER SECRETS, and sometimes it seems there isn't much we can do to say thanks. Right now, though, the Critters poll is a really good way to say THANK YOU. Anyone can vote. Wulf currently sits in #2 for the author category. If you haven't voted for Wulf and you appreciate what he's done here (and elsewhere), please take a minute and vote on the link below. Polls close tomorrow at midnight.

http://critters.org/predpoll/author.shtml

Done! Wulf, I hope you win!!

Already voted a while ago. Hope Wulf takes the gold.

The Girl In The Glasses, always nice to hear from you. Hope you're doing well and are in good spirits. I'm a broken record, lol, but I still see you on that stage.

Best,

Retro

https://theshortstory.co.uk/competition ... mpetition/

All of you doing the flash prompts regularly - this is a good opportunity for you!

Thanks for being so patient with me, all. Been doing lots of extracurricular activities lately, especially pre-launch stuff for WotF, and I need to get back to bullet journaling and checking my schedule daily!

No worries, Leah! You do great, and we all appreciate what you do as Keeper of Records, especially ME! It actually worked out, I had wanted to tell you to post that BLOOD SUCKER prompt but haven't had a spare minute to write you.

I encourage ALL of you to write a flash piece for that prompt! You'll be glad you did.

Mysteries abound...

Ok, I wrote the 999 words for this prompt as well. I'll get to the cuts in the next couple days!

Hey, our WotF Vol. 35 hit #1 in the Critters Poll for Best Anthology! Alas, our WotF Forum dropped to 2nd for Best Writers' Forum.

That may be down to me! I'm a member of both forums. It could all change...

My votes for best author, book, workshop etc. though - they're all very related to this forum!

https://theshortstory.co.uk/competitions/short-story-competition/

All of you doing the flash prompts regularly - this is a good opportunity for you!

It's well regarded in the UK, but entry is £9 (US$12). The winning stories I've read from that contest don't match up with anything I've read by a forum member either - but you don't know if you don't try!

Hey, our WotF Vol. 35 hit #1 in the Critters Poll for Best Anthology! Alas, our WotF Forum dropped to 2nd for Best Writers' Forum.

That may be down to me! I'm a member of both forums. It could all change...

My votes for best author, book, workshop etc. though - they're all very related to this forum!

https://theshortstory.co.uk/competitions/short-story-competition/

All of you doing the flash prompts regularly - this is a good opportunity for you!

It's well regarded in the UK, but entry is £9 (US$12). The winning stories I've read from that contest don't match up with anything I've read by a forum member either - but you don't know if you don't try!

Alex, I am glad you are in both! Always vote for what you believe in, whatever it might be. That's the only way any readers' choice poll or contest matters, from Critters to Analog to the Hugos.

As for contests that require fees, that fee is a small one. If you think your writing has a shot, you are not losing much if it doesn't make it. Some contests give you subscriptions along with your fee, in effect, paying you back if you like the publication. But when they charge hefty sums, one has to step back and say is it worth it? Are enough winners getting paid from it? Or are they purely using it as a moneymaking scheme? Doing a little research can help one make good decisions.

Best to all of you in your writing!

Beastmaster Moon

If the grand prize weren’t so significant I’d have skipped it - but $12 for a potential $1300 prize is worth it, to me.

Alex, I am glad you are in both! Always vote for what you believe in, whatever it might be. That's the only way any readers' choice poll or contest matters, from Critters to Analog to the Hugos.

I've bigged up WotF on the other forum so my conscience is clear. 😉

£9 is a big fee to me. This is possibly the most prestigious flash competition in the UK: https://bathflashfictionaward.com/ - also £9 and a £1,000 prize, with a deadline of February 6th.

Good afternoon Leah. I've done the Blood Sucker prompt including the reduction to 500 and 249.
My plan is to do all the Monday prompts and the two fresh stories every quarter for the year.
That's a total of 60 stories for the year.
This is definitely an attainable goal.
I'm also editing my first novel between the other exercises.
Write on!

Thanks, storysinger, got you down! That's a pretty crazy goal, but you seem to be doing pretty good so far. Keep on writing!

£9 is a big fee to me. This is possibly the most prestigious flash competition in the UK: https://bathflashfictionaward.com/ - also £9 and a £1,000 prize, with a deadline of February 6th.

300 and 400 word max? I just don't see it. Having read for EDF for a year I can say personally that stories that short were just concepts, and rarely got my thumbs up. Yeah, it's EDF, but there were a few famous names in the slush now and again.

Anyone have a link to something that short that they loved?

I've completed a flash story on the BLOOD SUCKER prompt. I accidentally wrote 1346 words, dangit, but will cut it down to 500 anyway.

As for the British flash competitions, I do suspect they're going to be more in favor of literary type flash, more like FFO than DSF, but a great story is a great story. https://bathflashfictionaward.com/category/winners/ There are the winners for last year.

SUPER Congratulations to Wulf Moon for winning "Best Author" in the Critters Reader's Poll! We know how hard he works, he really deserves this recognition. More, Super Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler won Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Story, and OUR little Writing Workshop won Best Writers' Workshop! Wonderful stuff! We've always been grateful for your hard work and generosity on our behalf, and I personally love your writing Congrats!

To add on to this, since he's been too modest to mention it thus far: Moon's article from HOW I GOT PUBLISHED... also won best non-fiction article.

All these wins are hard-earned and well-deserved, Moon. Thank you for all the work you put into us and the heart you put into your stories. You've shown much kindness to the world of writing, and it's nice to see it giving back to you.

Woot!

Congrats to pack leader Moon!

UPER Congratulations to Wulf Moon for winning "Best Author" in the Critters Reader's Poll! We know how hard he works, he really deserves this recognition. More, Super Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler won Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Story, and OUR little Writing Workshop won Best Writers' Workshop! Wonderful stuff! We've always been grateful for your hard work and generosity on our behalf, and I personally love your writing Congrat

To add on to this, since he's been too modest to mention it thus far: Moon's article from HOW I GOT PUBLISHED... also won best non-fiction article.

Wow! Congratulations to Wulf for receiving justifiable recognition.

This is great news! GRATS Wulf!!

BEASTMODE!

SUPER Congratulations to Wulf Moon for winning "Best Author" in the Critters Reader's Poll! We know how hard he works, he really deserves this recognition. More, Super Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler won Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Story, and OUR little Writing Workshop won Best Writers' Workshop! Wonderful stuff! We've always been grateful for your hard work and generosity on our behalf, and I personally love your writing Congrats!

Awww, thank you, challenge beasties! You are too kind. I am glad our little writing workshop is on the map--you guys deserve the recognition. Great things are happening here, and there's a reason for that. I set the bar high for this challenge, and I knew only the truly dedicated would dare accept it. My challenge will only work for people that believe in the system and work the system. Other writers and teachers have other methods, and I wish them well. This one is mine, but I do believe the proof is in the pudding, and that my philosophy echoes the likes of Heinlein, Pournelle, Brad Torgersen, and my mentor and contest judge, Dean Wesley Smith (his system is even more radical than mine!)

You guys believe. You guys are doing the work. You challenge beasties will reap the rewards.

And honestly, you've given me many rewards. You have run like a wolf pack, working as a team. You haven't bit me, haven't turned on one another, you recognize that together, this small band is your pack, and you will support it and defend it fiercely. Superstars is like this on a grander scale. They call it Tribe, and it works. Well, we're smaller. We're a pack. And when we work together as a coordinated unit, we can be lethal against powerful prey.

I taught this to my guild in Guild Wars, http://www.theforestguard.com . We were a Wolf Pack there, too. I built the entire guild structure around wolves and specialists and teamwork, just like Retro's wonderful post about how a wolf pack actually succeeds. They are amazing hunters. Lone wolves often die. Organized packs thrive.

I am very proud of all of you. You will do more great things this contest year. Why?

Because you aren't bucking against the knowledge, you are supporting one another...

...and you're doing the work.

Thank you all again. You stood by me and I stand by you.

All the beast!

Beastmaster Moon

Seems I'm late to the party. Been out most of the day.

Congratulations, Wulf, on the gold. Honestly, I never doubted it – I predicted you'd get the gold trophy at Critters, and you did. Your story is truly amazing, enjoyable read, and your Forum is innovative, informative, and we see it in the WOTF results each quarter.

I asked this question when I first joined Forum, I still mean it: Who else does this freely, generously, PRO BONO, in order to shave off the decades Wulf went through?

Not many.

Best,

Retro

Thank you for your kind words, Retro. Means a lot.

Cheers!

Now swab those decks, you swabs! You have a flash piece to write on the Blood Sucker prompt, and you're about to get a private message!