Learning from each other

My friend Karen once took a semester-long writing workshop with a teacher who used this method: every week each student brought in a short piece of fiction to read aloud.  The moment the teacher lost interest or felt offended by a run-on sentence, a cliché or lack of plot, he said, “Stop.”  Then the next student began reading, the halted story dead in the shaking hands of its maker.  Some students were never allowed past their first sentence; tears and stomping-out occurred. Halfway through the course, one guy finally made it to the end of his story; he looked up into shocked silence, then a standing ovation.  My friend, who went on to publish her novels, only once reached her story’s second page but said she learned a lot and walked away with a skin so thick that no rejection could touch her.

Here at yeah write we read all the way to your ending, although we will send your submission back and ask for a second try if you blow off our word limit or our hallowed so what. If you stay under 500 words and your post has a  so what, we give you a standing ovation.  If you stay under 600 and have a so what, we’re still happy.  We have a lot to learn from each other, so let’s start reading.

Challenge v. the speakeasy v. the invitational

The challenge grid is where we want to see your personal essays and traditional blog anecdotes. Choose moments and stories that will show off your writer’s voice, and come back to vote for your favorites on Thursday.  If the challenge grid hits thirty submissions, the editors will add the best posts to an invitational grid and award a jury prize to the best of the best.  Submit your short fiction and poetry over at the speakeasy.  In the mood for anything goes? On Friday, the moonshine grid has just what you need. 

Virgins, come on in

Welcome, virgins!  Please read our beautiful new  “how yeah write works” page and you’ll soon be cranking out yeah write posts like a veteran.  The word count for a challenge grid post is 500 words and we’ll forgive an extra 100 if you must.  Hint: your editors love shorter posts.  Therefore the invitational grid loves shorter posts.  Get it?

Grab your badges

Badges for both the challenge grid and the speakeasy are now available in the sidebar, right underneath the “be the first to know” yeah write email blast subscription box. They contain the codes needed to satisfy the backlink requirement of the Inlinkz app. Be sure to paste the code into the html-view of your post before publishing. Your post cannot be dated earlier than May 5th.

Odds, ends, reminders

• Your post can be no longer than 600 words
• Your post can be dated no earlier than May 5th, the day the yeah write #108 badges were officially posted
• The grid is open from Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
• It is limited to 50 bloggers
• Voting will take place all day Thursday from midnight to Friday at midnight
• The winners’ post will be published at noon on Friday
• Our new weekend moonshine grid will open Friday at 6 p.m. and close Monday by 12:01 a.m. 
• No self-promotional posts are allowed on the yeah write grid, including those containing links to other blog events and Internet contests
• Combining your yeah write post with other blog events meant to maximize your exposure and minimize your effort is a no-no

Bring us your best stuff.  Bring your friends to read, write and vote. Yeah write #108 is open. . .