The Epic Battle for Time

@storysinger I reviewed the summary list of the secrets and most seem like common sense or things that I've seen/learned elsewhere. I'm relatively new here. That's not to say they are bad or not valuable at all. I assume the name secrets is tongue in cheek, because many are quite the opposite! It's like a collection of all the good advice on writing that's out there.

I actually bookmarked that thread when I first found this forum, but I haven't had a chance to read through it yet.

@wulfmoon Thank you so much for your very thorough response. I'll be sifting through your advice for awhile, I think. I do agree with you that I will find my own way, but honestly, I love hearing from others about their journeys as well. I do find the plethora of online writing advice to be overwhelming, and honestly, I have tended to ignore most of it in favor of asking real writers what they do.

I can tell you've put an astronomical amount of effort into helping others and devising strategies for burgeoning writers, so I will definitely be looking through your advice. Thank you very much for taking the time to encourage and educate me.

Posted by: @undreamedages

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@wulfmoon that's a bit like trying to determine the recipe for a complicated dish by tasting it.

But I went back, read some, and skimmed most of the comments from 22 to 33.

I see the exercise. 999 words trying not to self edit. Then cutting that down to 500. Then again to 250. And you see that the 500 is a much better story showing that you may cut a lot, i.e. kill your darlings, and end up with something improved. Then you see that the 250 is much weaker showing that you can cut too much.

But, of course, that is only some of what was imparted there. I suppose if what you removed was just a summary of the advice and comments that you and others gave then it is all there.

Thank you

That's a fair, if terse summation of the exercise, I think. The simplicity of it when expressed like this may make it sound like it's not valuable, though, which would definitely be a mistake--I think its power comes from its simplicity.

I've personally found it to be a very good exercise, one that works especially well as an approach to get new story seeds, or sometimes nice little pieces of micro-fiction that don't need any further elaboration. Take a story prompt and a half-idea, then just run at it--give yourself that thousand words to discover the story that the prompt was hinting at, and then once you have it, pare it back to five hundred. You'll end up with something better than you expect, and a whole lot better than if you just kept your first, raw thousand. It forces you through your comfort zone, forces you to cut passages you would be inclined to leave. And the closer you get to that five hundred, the harder it gets, the more creative you need to be. You're forced into making better, more deliberate language selections, dropping weak adverb modifiers for other, stronger words, and so on.

It's worth doing at least once or twice, just so you can look at the two (or three--marvel at how crappy the 250-word versions can become at times), and see the difference. There's a reason that kill your darlings (or, historically, murder your darlings) has been a piece of writing advice for such a long time--the ability to discern that there are pieces of writing in a story that we love, but that do not serve the story and should be cut, is massive, and can be genuinely transformative to the quality of a piece of writing. Anything that doesn't serve the story in some key way is only diluting it, making it weaker.

I hate doing this to stories I've written. It really hurts, sometimes, to be forced to pull details of a world I've crafted and care about, details that the reader will no longer get to see or experience. But it's important to do it, nonetheless. 

Posted by: @undreamedages

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@storysinger I reviewed the summary list of the secrets and most seem like common sense or things that I've seen/learned elsewhere. I'm relatively new here. That's not to say they are bad or not valuable at all. I assume the name secrets is tongue in cheek, because many are quite the opposite! It's like a collection of all the good advice on writing that's out there.

I actually bookmarked that thread when I first found this forum, but I haven't had a chance to read through it yet.

Yup! I'd say that's fair. It has a lot of good advice, and if you've been writing for a while, or part of other writing communities, you'll likely have encountered a good chunk of it before. But it also has some good exercises to apply that advice, which can be helpful, and because it's all gathered all in one place, it's a great way to just drop in and skim through--maybe there's some detail or some idea that perhaps you haven't heard before, or maybe there's one expressed a little differently that may make you change your thinking. Or maybe all it will do is reinforce what you know already (also, often, no bad thing). 

As with all advice, of course, your mileage may vary. But it definitely provides a pretty great set of ground rules for solid fiction-writing, particularly with a view to writing for this contest.

Posted by: @Anonymous

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@wulfmoon ...

I can tell you've put an astronomical amount of effort into helping others and devising strategies for burgeoning writers, so I will definitely be looking through your advice. Thank you very much for taking the time to encourage and educate me.

Thank you, Sade. I appreciate it. After I won this contest, I recognized I had knowledge that could spare writers here many years of trial and error. I shared what I had gleaned over the years as clearly as I knew how, I edited everyone's manuscripts in the workshop at least once to show them what they needed to work on, and I gave them exercises and goals to focus on specific items to help them advance. KYD was the most important one, and there's more to it than a simple cutting exercise.

Many benefited from the Super Secrets, both by making their first professional sales, by winning this contest, and even by launching their professional careers. Almost all were unpublished when they began. I did it all in the open here so anyone could follow along and benefit, even if they weren't in the workshop. But it did take so much of my time my own writing career began to suffer. I'm turning that around now, but it's been rewarding to see how many have been helped. That was always my purpose behind the project, and I'm glad to see it helped so many.

And in the end, I've compiled those Super Secrets and more into a really nice writing book, 100,000 words, thirty-six chapters. So even more will soon benefit from these clear writing principles as my publisher Mark Leslie Lefebvre does the public release next month. He believes it's going to help a lot of writers. It's all common sense, but that's not always common in our world. 

Anyway, thank you again for your kind words. Keep writing, keep reading, keep learning, keep the fire burning in your heart, and send your stories out. Not just to this contest, wonderful though it is, but also to other respectable markets. Find the system that works for you, and stay the course. 

This is the way.

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

Posted by: @Anonymous

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@storysinger Flash fiction is such a foreign animal to me; I need to try riding that lightning. The beauty of paring down a story or a concept to it's very essentials is enticing. Editing is where it's at! I'll check out that blog, too, thank you!

I adore flash fiction. Give me an idea and 1k to write it and challenge accepted! It's truly great exercise. Any KYD I do is to hit 1k. I can't imagine 250...

Posted by: @Anonymous

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@tj_knight Wait, did you say you submitted to the competition 32 times in 12 years? WOW. The commitment. I'm super impressed. My copy of #39 just came in the mail yesterday and I'm thrilled to start reading it. Did you spring any of your larger form writing from these short stories, or were they all just exercises?

Initially I was going to say no, then I realized my entire trilogy came from the story I co-write with @bethpowers . That and a combination of a story I'd started post high school. The ideas merged and off I went.

I can't wait to get them all polished up and sent her way. Hopefully she likes where I took the initial story, which came from a single sentence in one of her other stories that I critiqued.

Writing is so cool. A single sentence --> a 10k story --> Trilogy.

p.s. hope you enjoy 39!

I have four kids (2,3,6,11) and a fixer-upper in constant need of saving from dereliction and an on-call job that often requires 70-100 hours of me a week. And a load of needy chickens.

To enter every quarter in a row, I dictated as I drove to work, I edited while servers were backing up or computers were self-optimizing or diagnosing, and I researched during every walk (usually while carrying a heavy tool bag, giant torque wrench, and laptop bag).

I freaking relished (very selfishly) whenever work sent me away as the hour in the airport and few hours on the plane were virtually my only uninterrupted writing time for the year.

Someone once told me: no one can make time. There's a defined, very finite amount. You have to take it, seize it savagely, and use it wisely.

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Most writers I know have a demanding life outside of their writing practice. They have families, jobs, bills to scrub and teeth to pay. Finding an hour to pursue our craft amidst the obligations of daily life (I'm looking at you, dishes) is nigh on impossible.

How do you squeeze in your time? Are you one of those admirably organized people who have a set schedule, or are you opportunistic, picking off a page or two as time allows? Tell me your secrets...They could be as simple as keeping your favorite pens and paper everywhere, using dictation, or sacrificing small animals to Odin.

I'd especially like to hear from @wulfmoon @tj_knight @reigheena @gideonpsmith @morgan-broadhead @doctorjest @undreamedages @toddjones @crlisle! @pegeen

The above image is "Victorious" by one of my faves, Frank Frazetta--aka how I feel when I actually bang out a few thousand words in a day.

Secrets ... ah yes. Here's my secret. Lean in close, and I'll whisper it so no one else can hear ...

*I give up my lunch hour at work so I have time to write.*

Now you know. Don't go telling everyone else, especially my coworkers, because they think I just eat out A LOT. Ha ha, suckers! Joke's on them. Truth is I'm actually tucked into a corner of our local library, which is where I really go every day. Also — and this has to stay just between us — I may or may not actually write sometimes during the day when I'm supposed to be working.

Shhh...

Posted by: @Anonymous

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-- attachment is not available --

Most writers I know have a demanding life outside of their writing practice. They have families, jobs, bills to scrub and teeth to pay. Finding an hour to pursue our craft amidst the obligations of daily life (I'm looking at you, dishes) is nigh on impossible.

How do you squeeze in your time? Are you one of those admirably organized people who have a set schedule, or are you opportunistic, picking off a page or two as time allows? Tell me your secrets...They could be as simple as keeping your favorite pens and paper everywhere, using dictation, or sacrificing small animals to Odin.

I'd especially like to hear from @wulfmoon @tj_knight @reigheena @gideonpsmith @morgan-broadhead @doctorjest @undreamedages @toddjones @crlisle! @pegeen

The above image is "Victorious" by one of my faves, Frank Frazetta--aka how I feel when I actually bang out a few thousand words in a day.

Hi Sade,

When Wulf Moon @wulfmoon gives the Wulf Pack a writing challenge I stay up late, after my husband goes to bed, get out my yellow legal pad and a pen, sit down on the couch by the lamp, and write as fast as the words come. Then I type it all down in Word. Usually takes a couple of hours each night.

Posted by: @tj_knight

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I adore flash fiction. Give me an idea and 1k to write it and challenge accepted! It's truly great exercise. Any KYD I do is to hit 1k. I can't imagine 250...

You should do it some time, it really sucks.

Posted by: @ease

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Someone once told me: no one can make time. There's a defined, very finite amount. You have to take it, seize it savagely, and use it wisely.

I can never remember who it was by name, but David Farland talked about a writer who worked in a very demanding job (I believe for IBM, but could be wrong) and, balancing that with a family life and other responsibilities, he could only write for a couple of hours one day per week. But he did that so well that he turned it into a series of novels.

There's rarely as much time as we wish we might have, so making good use of what we do have is key.

@crlisle That's awesome! I'm so happy to see a fellow pen and ink drafter! I have to write everything on paper first, otherwise I get to the computer screen and pull a huge *DUHHHhhh, how do I write, again?*

@doctorjest this is an exciting and terrifying proposition, but I will try approach my writing time with this level of ferocity. Whenever I hear these sorts of anecdotes, the complaining brat in my head says, *yeah but they're already successful, they know the formula*. Hahaha.

@morgan-broadhead okay, I love this and I burst out laughing as I read your description. Thank you!

Posted by: @ease

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I have four kids (2,3,6,11) and a fixer-upper in constant need of saving from dereliction and an on-call job that often requires 70-100 hours of me a week. And a load of needy chickens.

The load of needy chickens sent me, because I don't think I've ever met a chicken that wasn't needy. How the heck did they ever survive in the wild?

Someone once told me: no one can make time. There's a defined, very finite amount. You have to take it, seize it savagely, and use it wisely.

I love this quote and I'm going to have to print it and post it somewhere that my small, illiterate coworkers (children) can see it.

Thank you also for this evocative snapshot into your writing process.

Posted by: @wulfmoon

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Posted by: @Anonymous

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@wulfmoon ...

I can tell you've put an astronomical amount of effort into helping others and devising strategies for burgeoning writers, so I will definitely be looking through your advice. Thank you very much for taking the time to encourage and educate me.

Thank you, Sade. I appreciate it. After I won this contest, I recognized I had knowledge that could spare writers here many years of trial and error. I shared what I had gleaned over the years as clearly as I knew how, I edited everyone's manuscripts in the workshop at least once to show them what they needed to work on, and I gave them exercises and goals to focus on specific items to help them advance. KYD was the most important one, and there's more to it than a simple cutting exercise.

Many benefited from the Super Secrets, both by making their first professional sales, by winning this contest, and even by launching their professional careers. Almost all were unpublished when they began. I did it all in the open here so anyone could follow along and benefit, even if they weren't in the workshop. But it did take so much of my time my own writing career began to suffer. I'm turning that around now, but it's been rewarding to see how many have been helped. That was always my purpose behind the project, and I'm glad to see it helped so many.

And in the end, I've compiled those Super Secrets and more into a really nice writing book, 100,000 words, thirty-six chapters. So even more will soon benefit from these clear writing principles as my publisher Mark Leslie Lefebvre does the public release next month. He believes it's going to help a lot of writers. It's all common sense, but that's not always common in our world. 

Anyway, thank you again for your kind words. Keep writing, keep reading, keep learning, keep the fire burning in your heart, and send your stories out. Not just to this contest, wonderful though it is, but also to other respectable markets. Find the system that works for you, and stay the course. 

This is the way.

All the beast!

Wulf Moon

 

 

 

 

It's a really innovative way to grow a book, a process. You basically tossed it into the wild and worked with a dedicated group to cultivate it. I could see how it would take eons of time away from your own process, but I'm really glad you have something from it that you can leverage into something profitable and exciting. I'm inspired!

@circle_shadow_star If you look through my posts here from years gone by you'll see I was very much a 'write every day' kind of writer. And that was hugely important in developing my craft and I was privileged to have the time to do so. I used to write during baby naps - sometimes that meant less time than others! And over the years I've carved out regular time for my craft from lots of different hours.

But the truth of the matter is, some days writing means staring at the wall, or coloring, or going for a walk, or even not writing. This is an art as much as it is a business and I think something that I missed in the earlier days is the importance of giving myself grace when the words weren't flowing - which was usually my brain trying to tell me something - and recognizing that some days, sure, it's gonna be thousands of words, but some days 30 words is a total win and should be celebrated.

I still try to write 5 days a week, but I've also made it a priority to read, and relax, in addition to BICHOK (butt in chair, hands on keyboard).

Practical tips? I find sprinting with someone helps me focus, because I'm accountable to more than just myself. Trying to dedicate a space and time to writing helps, too, because it activates the brain. (This can be your kitchen table and headphones, for sure!) Drinking water and exercising help me focus, too.

Another thing that helped me make better use of my time was collecting lots and lots of tools for my writing toolbox, so instead of having to try to hammer with a banana or level with a screwdriver, I am able to use the right tool for the right task more often than not. That does take time to develop, but the more practice we can get, the more we internalize lots of different approaches to craft, the easier it is to sit down and write. Read a lot, write a lot, and collect varied writing advice like a dragon building a hoard

Good luck!

Posted by: @rschibler

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collect varied writing advice like a dragon building a hoard

Good luck!

Words to live by! Advice, whether you choose to take it or not, is still good advice as long as it made you think.

Posted by: @rschibler

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@circle_shadow_star If you look through my posts here from years gone by you'll see I was very much a 'write every day' kind of writer. And that was hugely important in developing my craft and I was privileged to have the time to do so. I used to write during baby naps - sometimes that meant less time than others! And over the years I've carved out regular time for my craft from lots of different hours.

But the truth of the matter is, some days writing means staring at the wall, or coloring, or going for a walk, or even not writing. This is an art as much as it is a business and I think something that I missed in the earlier days is the importance of giving myself grace when the words weren't flowing - which was usually my brain trying to tell me something - and recognizing that some days, sure, it's gonna be thousands of words, but some days 30 words is a total win and should be celebrated.

I still try to write 5 days a week, but I've also made it a priority to read, and relax, in addition to BICHOK (butt in chair, hands on keyboard).

Practical tips? I find sprinting with someone helps me focus, because I'm accountable to more than just myself. Trying to dedicate a space and time to writing helps, too, because it activates the brain. (This can be your kitchen table and headphones, for sure!) Drinking water and exercising help me focus, too.

Another thing that helped me make better use of my time was collecting lots and lots of tools for my writing toolbox, so instead of having to try to hammer with a banana or level with a screwdriver, I am able to use the right tool for the right task more often than not. That does take time to develop, but the more practice we can get, the more we internalize lots of different approaches to craft, the easier it is to sit down and write. Read a lot, write a lot, and collect varied writing advice like a dragon building a hoard

Good luck!

Thank you for the practical and philosophical advice, I'll certainly be thinking about these very valid points!

Posted by: @storysinger

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@undreamedages Everything Wulf says is true. You don't have to buy his book; all the lessons are free right here on this forum. Ask David Hankins, he studied the Super Secrets on this forum, applied what he learned, and won. Like the great Rob Scheider said, "You can do it".

@circle_shadow_star it’s all about finding what works for you and doing the best you can with it. I was writing alone and unafraid and my novels went nowhere. Then I found this forum and @wulfmoon’s Super Secrets thread and started studying writing like a law student studying for the LSATs. Yeah, it took time. Stolen moments as I sat in waiting rooms, while I ate my lunch at work, or as I found evenings at home, but I studied, I wrote, I did Moon’s exercises, and I leaned the elements of riveting storytelling. And it worked. I got a call the call last year that my story Death and the Taxman had won for V39. How? Through stolen moments and saved time because that was what I had. But that time wasn’t spent idly, wishing things were better. I found someone who knew what right looked like (a previous winner who’d come back to help others) and I studied what he’d done. I sparred with other writers, exchanging critiques, while also studying the latest volume of winners. But most of all, I wrote intentionally, not just writing a story every time, but writing one with focus.  This story will have more sensory details. The next has depth of emotion. Now, how can I tie them together? Not all of those stories went anywhere (i.e. they haven’t sold yet), but the practice was invaluable. Without that practice, I never would have won Writers of the Future.

I can tell that you have a lot of drive. Every writer is different. Nobody has the same background or experience. Find the process that works for you. Whether that’s an hour a day four hours a day, or merely stolen moments typing on your phone between meetings. You find the time and the process that works for you. And do it intentionally, with focus, as you learn the art and craft of writing.

Best of success in your endeavors!

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Most writers I know have a demanding life outside of their writing practice. They have families, jobs, bills to scrub and teeth to pay. Finding an hour to pursue our craft amidst the obligations of daily life (I'm looking at you, dishes) is nigh on impossible.

How do you squeeze in your time? Are you one of those admirably organized people who have a set schedule, or are you opportunistic, picking off a page or two as time allows? Tell me your secrets...They could be as simple as keeping your favorite pens and paper everywhere, using dictation, or sacrificing small animals to Odin.

I'd especially like to hear from @wulfmoon @tj_knight @reigheena @gideonpsmith @morgan-broadhead @doctorjest @undreamedages @toddjones @crlisle! @pegeen

You asked this the day after my son went into the hospital. I haven't written a word of fiction since then. When he comes home next week, he will need a lot of care that will be largely falling on me, as I am a homemaker. I will be writing again, eventually, but it's going to take time for me to establish a new normal. 

So, I guess what I have to add is that squeezing in time will look different over the course of your life. When I just had one baby, I wrote everyday during her nap time. When I had multiple toddlers who didn't nap, I traded babysitting with a friend so I got one child-free morning a week to write. When COVID hit, and everybody was home with me, and I needed to serve as tech support for my kids doing remote learning, I woke up early to write for an hour. When everyone was back to school, I reserved 9-12 as writing time. 

So, schedule is key for me. Which schedule worked has varied over time. 

Posted by: @Anonymous

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How do you squeeze in your time? Are you one of those admirably organized people who have a set schedule, or are you opportunistic, picking off a page or two as time allows? Tell me your secrets...They could be as simple as keeping your favorite pens and paper everywhere, using dictation, or sacrificing small animals to Odin.

I swear by Cal Newport's philosophy/methods when it comes to making the most of my hours and harnessing the chaos. Block scheduling, emphasis on deep work (i.e., quality of time over quantity of time), and digital minimalism. 

I'm a father of 3 elementary aged children and a lawyer with a high-volume practice in Seattle, WA who apparently can't say "no" to anything my colleagues/organizations ask of me, but with the tools mentioned above I can still get in a couple of hours of writing 4 days a week, give or take. Sacrificing small animals to Odin is only a last resort. 

But seriously, I feel your pain. I've had to learn to sneak in writing when no one is looking. It looks impractical and unnecessary, I guess, so if anyone suspects I'm writing, they'll try and take that time from me. Part of me hopes to gain some writing traction if for no other reason than to look those people in the eye and say, "Not so impractical now, huh?" lol 

@krqueen_writes Man, digital minimalism really is key. Every time I even download my social media apps, an hour or two evaporates.

@reigheena I'm so sorry, I hope your son is stable and on the mend. So often, the burden of "everything but the money making" falls on the homemaker, which is a HUGE responsibility under the best of circumstances, and an impossible, Sisyphean struggle at the worst.

(@reigheena) You are standing strong in the face of adversity. Well done.

And you still find time to write.  

Posted by: @Anonymous

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-- attachment is not available --

Most writers I know have a demanding life outside of their writing practice. They have families, jobs, bills to scrub and teeth to pay. Finding an hour to pursue our craft amidst the obligations of daily life (I'm looking at you, dishes) is nigh on impossible.

How do you squeeze in your time? Are you one of those admirably organized people who have a set schedule, or are you opportunistic, picking off a page or two as time allows? Tell me your secrets...They could be as simple as keeping your favorite pens and paper everywhere, using dictation, or sacrificing small animals to Odin.

I'd especially like to hear from @wulfmoon @tj_knight @reigheena @gideonpsmith @morgan-broadhead @doctorjest @undreamedages @toddjones @crlisle! @pegeen

The above image is "Victorious" by one of my faves, Frank Frazetta--aka how I feel when I actually bang out a few thousand words in a day.

many writers employ a mix of discipline and adaptability. Some carve out dedicated blocks of time, treating writing as a non-negotiable appointment. Others seize fleeting moments, scribbling thoughts on napkins or voice-recording ideas during commutes. The tools and tactics vary, but the underlying drive to create, despite life's demands, remains a constant. Achieving that "Victorious" feeling, even amidst chaos, is what fuels many writers' passion.