Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

If you get bogged down, PLEASE finish your stories first before looking at my story. I sent you a PM asking for your email (and sending you mine) but I am not in a rush at all to get a critique back on Story #1 since I'm wrangling Story #2. And send me your story whenever you like. . . I will work it in while I finish my Story #2.

Also, I'm glad I am not the only one who gets tons of story ideas and then has to figure out which one to develop further. At least, eventually, they should all get their time in the sun, right?

[quote="oishisushi911"
I’ve slowed on my crits from this last weekend because I realized how behind I had gotten on finishing new short stories while working on sending some new flash out, sending out some old and new short stories, and toying with flash and KYD, but I’m about done with a crit of an interesting story from Henckel, then I’ll hopefully look at a few others. I think the hardest part for me is finishing work long before the quarter deadline in order to get the piece to readers with enough time to spare. There’s always something that slows me down, usually paying freelance work, so I just have to continue balancing out life responsibilities. I really do agree with this latest secret, as I saw my work shine when I had a more consistent reader. That said, I keep in mind the comments from before and try to read for those blindspots former reader(s) have found. And starting up as a first reader did provide me with some new insight, despite losing the dedicated reader and writing partner.

I’ve found I’m working on developing 3-4 stories at once this month, and I need to be careful to focus in each one at a time and get them done. One from last quarter (the 3rd new story written for Q1) which I think has the most emotional impact so far and is aiming at one of the comments Dave Farland made, then some various KYD inspired pieces. Looking forward to more time on them after work tonight.

Best of luck with the writing everyone.

Reporting in:

I just finished my flash for February, based on the Vital Flaw prompt. Written, KYD'd, and built back up again. It turned out to be an odd little story... Actually, I'd love for someone to read/crit it for me if anyone has time. It's about 1200 words.

Reporting in:

I just finished my flash for February, based on the Vital Flaw prompt. Written, KYD'd, and built back up again. It turned out to be an odd little story... Actually, I'd love for someone to read/crit it for me if anyone has time. It's about 1200 words.

Thanks for the conga rats on the Fyrecon Master Class, all! Looks like five from here so far are coming from various conversations I've had, and it was just announced. So 20 seats left! It will be so fun to see another wave of you from the Forum and Super Secrets!

Crystal, go ahead and send me that one. I can handle one more for this quarter, I think. I'll put you in the queue, but that's it for this quarter. The door is shut.

Best of success to all! Remember--write two fresh stories, pick your best to send in to WotF, send the other out to a respectable market. It's not hard. You just have to do it!

Fortune favor the diligent!

Beastmaster Moon

If you get bogged down, PLEASE finish your stories first before looking at my story. I sent you a PM asking for your email (and sending you mine) but I am not in a rush at all to get a critique back on Story #1 since I'm wrangling Story #2. And send me your story whenever you like. . . I will work it in while I finish my Story #2.

Also, I'm glad I am not the only one who gets tons of story ideas and then has to figure out which one to develop further. At least, eventually, they should all get their time in the sun, right?

Sent you a PM. And yes, I was about to ask a direct question to the wolf pack if anyone has that issue of developing multiple stories at once, ahem, I mean, that excellent skill of multitasking like a pro. So glad to hear I’m not the only one.

I would love to join Fyrecon and your class, Packmaster, but I’m not quite sure how to afford traveling at the moment. I wish there was a way for me to do so. Maybe next year I can join one of these conferences. Sigh. Also a bit scared to travel with the Coronavirus scare. Prime Minister Abe just requested all the schools be closed from next week, so today was the last day of school for my daughters. Even the Tokyo Disney resorts are closing down. It’s crazy over here.

Anyway, that is so awesome to hear you’ll be using our sacrifices as test subjects to bring further good to the world at large. Best of luck prepping for the class and book.

Got your flash down, CCrawford! Reminder to other flash challenge folks: we're down to the wire for the month. If you haven't done your flash for the month yet and you're part of the extra credit challenge, git 'er done!

oishisushi, please stay safe over there. Perhaps just hole up in your room and write...

On Super Secret Tip #2, Don't Drive to the Story: Would one be allowed slightly more mileage for the trip with a longer story? Do judges/editors expect the same brevity and immediacy in your opener to a 20,000-word novelette as they would from a 3000-word short story or a 500-word flash fiction?

Crystal, go ahead and send me that one. I can handle one more for this quarter, I think. I'll put you in the queue, but that's it for this quarter. The door is shut.

Thank you!!!! I will send it ASAP.

On Super Secret Tip #2, Don't Drive to the Story: Would one be allowed slightly more mileage for the trip with a longer story? Do judges/editors expect the same brevity and immediacy in your opener to a 20,000-word novelette as they would from a 3000-word short story or a 500-word flash fiction?

I am guessing that the short answer is "no." The reality is that judges do not apportion a portion of story to evaluate before moving on. By that, I mean that they are not thinking: "Well, Sally has put all this effort into a 15,000 story. Of course she needs five or six pages to get things moving properly."

For me personally, any story has to grab me within the first page or two. That is true whether the story is flash or a behemoth novel. Maybe especially so in the longer pieces. Because if I am going to devote that much of my precious time, I want an immediate immersion into that world.

LibrarianBarbarian: StarReacher said it all. First, if you're writing 20,000 word stories for WotF, you're out. The limit is 17K. Second, the biggest new writer mistake in the book is driving to the story. AS SOON AS YOU DO IT, the editor will be thinking, OH MY STARS, NOT ANOTHER STORY WHERE THEY WAKE UP IN THE MORNING. Or all the stuff that goes with that. It is a noob red flag. Just say No to looking like a noob when you want your work to be taken as pro. This is for the gold. Go look at all the winners in Vol. 35 and see how they started their stories. Figure out how the winners did it, and you will be able to figure out how to do it for yours. : )

For those enrolled in this challenge (yes, there is a roster, enrollment was at the beginning of the contest year), the month is ending if you took the bonus flash challenge. Fortunately for you, this is Leap Year, you get a bonus day for the bonus challenge! Use it wisely. And for all enrolled in the regular challenge, that's two fresh stories in a contest quarter, 3000 words or more. One submitted to WotF, the other to a respectable market. You have one month left to fulfill your oaths to yourself, your Wulf Pack, and the Beastmaster. Or...

THERE WILL BE BLOOD! : )

Remember: It's a dog eat dog world out there, and you have fur in your teeth!

Keep writing. Keep sending!

Beastmaster Moon

Thanks. Mine is only 14K and we get into the story relatively quickly. Makes me wonder how a lot of fantasy epics ever made it past the slush pile. You see a lot of chapter-long intros out there about the landscape, or Gods creating the universe, or some random deer running through the forest.

ASSIGNMENT:

I want each of you *enrolled in this challenge* to make a post here with five scintillating prompts. These writing prompts should be generic enough that you could use them for either SF or F stories, yet be obvious enough to spark spec fic ideas. Not clear enough? Look back over our prior prompts. Normally a couple of words that intrigue is all you need.

If I see some good ones, I'll select them for our weekly prompts' list. If they're really good, they might even make it into the book. I am making a 100 prompts sheet at the back of the book for weekly story generation. Number them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Here's a quick example:

1. Message From Beyond (See how that can be used for either SF or F? Could be a message from space. Could be a spirit.)

2. Flash Point

3. In Darkness Came the Light

4. Two Coins for the Paddle Man (harder for SF, but not impossible)

5. Chaos Killer

Please set them up just like this, with spacing like this so they stand out. Bonus if you can make a few words evoke raw emotion.

I look forward to seeing your submissions!

Beastmaster Moon

Thanks. Mine is only 14K and we get into the story relatively quickly. Makes me wonder how a lot of fantasy epics ever made it past the slush pile. You see a lot of chapter-long intros out there about the landscape, or Gods creating the universe, or some random deer running through the forest.

And I'll bet these authors you read had already made it, and to get that career had originally written something much tighter. Once established, they can get away with many bloated things because their fanbase is established and will eat up their grocery list if they open with that. Or they wrote it in an earlier era, where readers tolerated much more exposition.

It's all about the time period you write in, and what readers want. Editors know what their readers want, and buy accordingly. It's why you should be reading every recent volume of WotF if you want to win.

Best,

Moon

Oh, I like that assignment. I'll try to do it right now before I sleep...

First, update on my meeting of the challenge. My rebuild of the KYD for the Courage Under Fire prompt is done. So count my one flash for February.

My two flash stories for January (Blood Sucker and The Dragon Next Door) have recently come back from another round out in the market, and I'm going to share them with a writer for one more critique before sending them back out. More importantly, in terms of the oath, I'm using other prompts from December and January (that Moon one and the Bradbury one were awesome) to get my Q2 stories closer to done, so the kraken feeding continues.

Five Scintillating Prompts Assignment

1. Fly Down The Well

2. Baby Dies Alone

3. Goodbye Sun

4. The Bottled City

5. Weapon Against Family

Swift Potato, I'm checking in – I submitted my 2nd Quarter story to Writers Of The Future contest today. (with the successful assistance of Hive Mind and its wonderful staff).

I did my February 2020 FLASH PROMPT CHALLENGE for the prompt VITAL FLAW.

I have until March 31, 2020 to submit my other fresh story to respectable market.

My five "scintillating flash prompts" – I don't know how scintillating they'll be, but I can hope, lol. I hope they spark creative thoughts.

1. What's In The Mirror?

2. That Fool Down The Block

3. Vanilla Disposition

4. Rapunzel's Other Hair

5. Army Of The Last Eclipse

Best,

Retro

Oooh, oooh, I'm not enrolled, but this looks like such fun!

1. My Two Husbands

2. Pyramid

3. Fishing

4. Out of Bounds

5. But I Loved That Shirt!

Got you down, Retro, thanks!

My five prompts:

1. Cozy Starscape

2. Winged Sailor

3. Metal Jasmine

4. Paper Breeze

5. Concrete Hands

Thanks for that great resource. I am bookmarking it now to look at more in depth after I finish Story #2.

Hello, Pensacola (RA Krueger). I hope you find a good writing partner--sounds like you are dedicated.

Just a note to all. Locus Magazine reviewed the spec fic magazine markets of 2019. It's a must read, both on what markets are buying, but also on circulation/readership. Eye opening on where you will get the most eyes on your stories. Keeps you up to date, and I'm betting there's some markets in here you never knew about.

Have at it! Knowledge is power!

https://locusmag.com/2020/02/year-in-re ... e-summary/

I finished the Do Not Obey prompt.

My top five:

The First Band @ the Space Station (how do you do weightless dancing to rock & roll?)

Solar Extortion (What if you had to buy sunshine)

Virtual Slavery: The Avatar Wars

Alien Assassin, Inc.

Klassic Karma