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Week Six: organizing a compelling post structure

Please welcome back today’s contributing editor Kristin W who tweets as @kdwald and blogs at That Unique* Weblog. If you have any questions or need any clarification on today’s topic or prompts, please feel free to begin a discussion in comments.

If you’re here just to hang out, the yeah write #69 hangout grid is open.

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Let’s Ignore My Shortcomings and Talk About Yours

After reading Deb’s post about first lines and connecting the end of a post to the beginning, I went back to look at all the yeah write posts I’d submitted since late February. I’m very self-critical, and I know I haven’t always submitted my best stuff for fear of missing out on a grid spot. And for some reason, I thought I’d used several spoken beginnings. In fact, I’d been avoiding using speech to begin because of that.  Huh. Only one started with a quoted piece of dialogue.  Then I was sure, absolutely sure, that I had a tendency to begin with a complex sentence beginning with a subordinate clause. But no, just one or two. Apparently, I do mix up the first lines thing a bit.  Score!

I have some hard-to-break habits, and while they sometimes help strengthen the voice in a piece, they can also get repetitive and just old.  Example: I love AND. Love it. And I love what I call staccato sentences. Short, strong sentences used for emphasis. Oh, and see there? I tend to use fragments to explain what the previous sentence meant. It’s the sort of thing, had a student done it, that I would have scribbled under and written FRAG next to. Ack! I just used a preposition to end a sentence!  Oh dear.

But let’s ignore my shortcomings and talk about yours. Several yeah writers have mentioned feeling like they’re drifting too far from the prompt. Some complain that they can’t seem to get past the literal in the prompts. And still others have bemoaned  feeling like the same story keeps returning to them, disguised in inspiration.  Bottom line: Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing. Nothing stifles creativity quicker than frustration and fear.  Instead, remember that we’re writing in a small space. Microfiction is telling the essence of a story as clearly and concisely as you can. Have you searched various microfiction sites? Here, here, and here. Onward!

The Drifters: Keep drifting! We trust you to be honest about where you started. Let the prompts have their way with you. It’s what all the cool kids are doing.

The Literalists: You think it’s boring to write about the everyday rituals you have? Well, don’t just tell us about them, show us a particular time conflict developed around one. Or maybe you think everyone is afraid of heights, the dentist, clowns, and that makes it blasé. Perhaps, but that doesn’t make it less frightening. If you’re stuck at a prompt literally, go with it.

The Repeaters: Listen, life is the same darn story told again and again. You won’t get away from it. Think about all the songs and paintings and stories about heartbreak, loss, love, sex, death – and realize that there’s nothing left that’s truly original. Give us your story, and make it the best version you are capable of sharing.

That’s all we want. Your “so what”. Your best stuff. Well, your best stuff in 500 words or less. Can’t wait to read it all.

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yeah write #69 badges

[image width=”200″ height=”200″ align=”left” lightbox=”true” caption=”You can grab this one. Click to embiggen. Then right-click and select save this image.” title=””]https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/yw_wwb_bww.png [/image]

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• Click in the upper right corner of this page on the plus symbol and the hidden widget containing the button badge codes will drop
• Copy the code of your favorite badge, then paste that code into the HTML view of the post you’re planning to submit to the grid
• If you’re having problems accessing those, feel free to grab the one in this post. Your backlink will be yeahwrite.me/69-open-summer or yeahwrite.me/69-open-hangout

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all your story are belong to you

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• Read the summer FAQ page for other details: the grid is being moderated and if you’re missing an element outlined in the summer FAQ, your post will not be published on the grid
• Let the prompt lead you, but do not include the prompt in any way in your post, not at the beginning as an intro, not at the end as a footnote. If you reference the prompt in your post, your post will not be published on the grid
• Remember: no more than 500 words. If your post exceeds 500 words, yup, you guessed it—no publish for you
• If the prompt takes you from thunderstorms to watching TV at your grandma’s house to how much you love Pat Sajak to the oldest person you’ve ever kissed, we want that story the furthest away in your imagination from the original prompt. Let your imagination loose
• Keep your writing style! Do you tell stories with humor? Prose? Verse? Photos? Illustrations? Keep doing that. We’ll read Shakespearean drama on our own time
• Cut away at everything unnecessary to your story
• Don’t forget to badge your post
• The grid will close to new submissions Wednesday at 9 pm US eastern
• Voting for your favorites will open Wednesday at 9 pm US eastern then close Thursday at 9 pm

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[divider_header_h3] This week’s prompts [courtesy of Tom Slatin] [/divider_header_h3]

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• Describe an odd or unusual writing habit or ritual you have
• Name something you’ve given away that can never be replaced
• Do you have any irrational fears?

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