Read this before you post this week. There will be a test. Because we love you and want you to be successful.
Yeah write weekly writing challenge #109 is open this week, don’t worry. We decided to attach this refresher course to an actual challenge instead of posting it separately because we’d like everyone participating this week to read it as opposed to it being read only by our regular nerds who read everything we write, even if it involves a porn picnic.
This Q & A is picking up where the series left off in May 2012. In a year, that’s a lot of people who’ve come and gone from our writing community and, even if we think you know why you badge your posts or why we write separate posts announcing the badges are ready or why we ask you write your posts for yeah write only and not throw us onto the pyre with 50 similar writing challenges, you may not know. That knowledge gap on our part is unacceptable, and we’re taking steps to fix that today.
If this is your very first time to yeah write: welcome! You are very fortunate to be here on a day we are sharing our whys and wherefores. If you get completely confused as you read through today’s post, please stop and email us, and we’ll respond privately with fewer words. Don’t be intimidated. We love our yeah write virgins.
yeah write Q & A, No. 7 in a series
Why do I need to attach your badge to my post? It brings negative energy to the feng shui of my blog.
Most users think it’s so their yeah write posts can be readily identified by yeah write visitors. Or that Erica M is so attached to her Photoshop handiwork, she must see it displayed across the Interwebs as often as possible. The primary reason: the backlink contained in the code, once installed on your blog, builds credibility with search engines. The more legitimate, relevant spaces linking back to yeah write, the stronger our position in search engine results. Those links tell Google or Bing or Yahoo we are not purchasing links or trying to otherwise scam anybody. Because your blog and the yeah write blog serve similar audiences, and yeah write likely has more inbound links than yours, your position rank rises along with ours. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship as we each grow our communities hand-in-hand.
Yeah, but you don’t need the actual graphic badge to include the link back to yeah write. Why can’t I just use a text link?
Search engine-wise, image links don’t carry any extra advantage over text links just as text links don’t carry an advantage over image links. But displaying the badge attracts readers who’ve yet to hear of the yeah write weekly writing challenge and increases the chance they may click through to find out what we’re all about. Our subscriber list grows, your visitor count can grow with it. If we’re not in this together, why are you doing it? That’s probably up to you to answer, though. We’ll give you some private time if you need it.
Why do you guys write an entirely separate post on Sundays to announce the new badges are ready? Seems like a dumb step.
Is that the same thing as dubstep? Cuz we’d love to become a YouTube viral meme sensation. The Sunday post contains 95% of what you need to know to prepare your entries for the upcoming week. It has the word count limit, any themes or prompts as well as marking the earliest date your yeah write submission can be considered eligible for the grid. It’s better to have all the necessary information in a separate kickoff post. This gives you a few days to start writing, and we avoid having to cram 1600 words of explanation into a post the day the grid opens on Tuesday KINDA LIKE WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW.
Why can’t I submit the post I’ve written to yeah write then to Trifecta then to Write on Edge then to Just Be Enough then to Mama Kat’s then to wherever the hell I want? They are all the same and I want all the traffic.
It’s all about respectfully following the submission guidelines of each of these writing challenges and actively deciding the hard work of those editors or curators is worth your treating them as individual events. Why would you want the yeah write grid to become a duplicate of those other challenges or prompts because everyone added the same exact post to each one? Some of them have word limits, others ask you follow a certain format, still others want you to learn the art of writing or blogging by writing free-form. You know the quickest way to be pulled from each week’s yeah write challenge? By writing free-form. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but it’s not the yeah write way.
What? I can get pulled from the grid? There are actual submission standards? That ain’t right.
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- 500 words with 100 words grace
- Tell us a story in plain language. Don’t assume fancy words no one uses in everyday conversation is impressing anybody. If the sun doesn’t cascade off your silky strawberry creme façade in a phone conversation with your sister, it shouldn’t be doing all that foolishness in your post
- Be interesting, be funny, show seriousness, don’t be douchy, demonstrate empathy for all the other characters in your narrative, respect your readers
- Be universal. We have many genders, cultures, socio-economic classes reading all the entries each week. Do your best to find common ground within the theme of your posts. A good place to start is within your conflict: man v. man, man v. nature, man v. society, man v. self. (Ed. note: man v. refrigerator is my personal favorite. Why does the bulb always burn out the same week Home Depot stops carrying the make and model I need to replace it? ~ehm)
- Never rely on elicited reader emotions to tell your story for you. Holy smokes, everybody’s children are growing up right before their eyes. Unless you have one heck of a so what, stop sharing that story. Tell us instead how you can’t wait for them to move out so you can enjoy an effing Marble Slab sweet cream with a Heath bar mix-in waffle cone without someone sticking a booger in it
- Wait. Before they move out: if you indeed have a story about one of your rugrats sticking a booger into your waffle cone, please tell it. That sounds interesting and brings its own so what to the narrative. Unless you cheat the ending of the story with something like “I realized then how precious time can be with our babies, and I am honored to be called a mother.” God bless, we are bored again, and you will see your submission back in your inbox
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Gaw. What’s the big deal? It’s just a link-up. Calm down.
Well, not exactly. Yes, we use the Inlinkz app, mainly because we love the customer service that comes with it. Also because it’s a self-serve app and our users can add their submissions while we are away from our laptops. When and if you ever get what we call a love letter, what others call a rejection letter, what still others call the worst thing that’s happened to them all year, it’s designed only to make you a better writer. We admit to taking people by surprise when we return their submissions for edits or rewrites, and their responses to our response usually fall along the lines of:
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- There is nothing wrong with my writing, so this must be a personal issue. You don’t want me around for some reason that has nothing to do with the basic elements of my submission. It’s because I am just too awesome, right, and you can’t handle how much.
- I knew my submission didn’t meet the yeah write guidelines as I was writing it, as I was adding it to the grid, and as I was waiting to hear back from you about it. I just wanted to see what would happen. You didn’t have anything else to do today, did you? This four-hour exchange is the most excitement I’ll have all week.
- *crickets* nada nothing zilcho except for the silent #1 and #2 on this list.
- Thank you! I knew I needed help, but I got lost in the weeds, and your suggestions are very helpful. I’m gonna rewrite and come back, okay? Are you sure you guys don’t need anything from me? Hole up, lemme buy a supporting subscription. Totally worth it, having an editor in my back pocket.
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We are not a traditional link-up, linky, linky party, blog hop or anything like it. In the middle of directing relevant traffic to smaller blogs that may not otherwise get much attention, we are here to teach the art of writing well for an online audience. To help our people understand what makes an actual story. We hope that’s why you’re here.
The rules, the commitment, the angst, it burns
Don’t forget about the yeah write weekend moonshine grid! It’s open weekends only, beginning at 6 p.m. US eastern time every Friday. It closes by the following Monday at 12:01 a.m. Hang out with friends, add whatever you want to the joint as long as it’s not a commercial post or commercially sponsored. Don’t feel like organizing a narrative? Neither do we. Stick it up there, and make the rounds with the other weekend folk. It’s a free-for-all and a nice break from all the structure of the challenge grids. Please join us.
Pop quiz time
If you’ve read this far, leave us a comment and we will release your submission from moderation. Yep, that’s right. You’ll be stuck in queue until you leave us a comment saying you’ve read this whole thing and that you get what we’re trying to do. We are just like Mrs. Pescenye, your 12th grade honors English teacher who called you a lazy student out of love, gave you that well-deserved “C” on your essay written on the bus on the way to school for which any other English teacher would have given an “A”, then with encouragement and guidance, forever changed the trajectory of your life’s work. Leave the words “it took me half a day to read this whole thing” in comments, and you’ll appear on the grid if, of course, you meet all the other submission guidelines.
Yeah write weekly writing challenge #109 is open…
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I can’t remember the name of my 12th grade English teacher, despite being the reason I fall in love with Vonnegut and Faulkner. it took me half a day to read this whole thing.
I read this and have been reading the grids and intro posts. Right now I’m getting over a weird case of e-larengytus (lurkeritis? Possibly neither of those are things). Anyway, i’ve been reading obsessively but not writing much. I look forward to submitting an entry and being a more active yeah writer sometime soon.
We love our lurkers. We love you, Larks.
Thank you, Mrs. P! On the off chance of I discover some kind of miraculous e-throat lozenge in the next eight hours I’d like to point out it took me half a day to read this.
Has anyone seen an Easter Egg? I am on the bus, running late, and need to turn this darn thing in.
why won’t you let me skip this shiz like I usually do
I was trying to reconfigure my website and accidentally overwrote all my files. I was only able to restore it from a backup from April, so the most recently posts I had are gone, including the one I submitted here. Sorry! I wish I could find it again.
Oh please, why won’t you let me skip this shiz like I usually do.
So, I have read this entire post at least three and a half times. I won’t guarantee that I read it all in one setting as I had those Wonder Twins crawling all over me. English was one of my best subjects, but I was only reeeeeally bad at PE. And I’ve never written anything on a bus (I’m not down with wanton graffiti). Or written a blog post/paper/resume while on a bus, either.
I’m reading about and rewriting a product catalogue on oilfield drill bit technology if that makes you feel any better.
I read that as “wonton graffitti.” I couldn’t understand your opposition. Sounds tasty.
Yes, wonton graffiti would be tasty. No opposition to that!
I did not write this on the bus. At least, not the school bus. I’m not saying anything about the city bus.
Sometimes the sun DOES cascade off my silky strawberry creme facade.
Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye
I did not write this, or anything else for that matter, on the bus. 🙂
Not sure if I’ll be writing this week, but here’s my comment, for good measure. Thanks for the clarifications!
I swear that I did not write this on the bus. In fact, it was a labor of love that your high standards have inspired me to reach. That’s what I love about this writing challenge – it’s a CHALLENGE. 😉
Unlike high school English, which was my best subject – aside from theatre.
BTW, this was the funniest Q & A I’ve read in a while. Nicely done.
Thanks, Natalie. Didn’t you write about dark comedies a few weeks ago?
Oh yes. I have more to say on the subject, too. 😉
Ok done. And I did not write this on the bus. I did however, have to go back are reread it, since I zoned out after the moonshine grid paragraph. sorry. and i realized I have written a bunch of sappy ass essays on my kids growing up. sorry bout that too. i can’t help myself. and just so you know, i tend to grapple more with a woman vs freezer conflict.
1. It’s a long-ass post, but there is nothing wrong with reading it in smaller parts.
2. If your essay is interesting, we will read about your bedroom paint drying. I used the kids growing up as an example.
3. Yes, we want people to stop and think: this has been covered a million times. How can I make it different? Or, what’s my thought process on the way to an original topic?
Very sneaky, but a great way to get us newbies off on the right foot! Oh, and I did not write this on the bus. 🙂
Wow, since I just started with YeahWrite in the new year (and wasn’t around for the May 2012 Q+A), this was über-helpful and funny (not easily done in a Q+A – bravo).
Oh, and lest I forget: I did not write this on the bus.
This comment made me happy.
I love school!…I mean yeah write! Believe it or not, my 12th grade English teacher was Mrs. Story. You just may have scared away half of the grid. I was just in more of a speakeasy kinda mood so I’m hanging over there this week. Be back soon! Reading in the meantime!
I prefer the term tough love. My mother says it’s the only language I understand when learning life lessons, and I’m sure it applies to other knuckleheads.
And I did not write this on the bus!
Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye. This is what happens when you read everything but the last paragraph. This is the first week doing the writing challenge, so this blog was very helpful. Let’s see how this goes…
I’m not sure if I’ll have something to link up, but I still want to say that I read the whole thing (because I’m a nerd), I LOVE what you are trying to do here and English was most definitely my best subject 🙂
I hereby state that I, Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom have read, understood and agreed with the above and wonder why people would give you so much guff about your own submission guidelines. You guys are sneaky. Cool Easter egg trick. 😉
Doh! Thank you and my apologies Mrs. Pescenye. English was my best subject. And lunch.
Why yes, Mrs. Pescenye, I did speed read through the instructions and skip the last paragraph.
No, I won’t do it again.
English was obviously my best subject when I couldn’t make it through the paragraph even after commenting.
LOL Holding us at ransom like that. LOL
I really appreciate the Yeah Write community. My writing has improved since I’ve been contributing here – I’ve been paying more attention to my ‘So what’ factor. Thanks guy!
lol again…English indeed was my best subject. If I dare say so myself. I hated my 7th and 8th grade English teacher though – she was the ‘Detention Queen’ :s Didn’t like that at all.
Thanks for the tutorial, it was helpful. English was my best subject, and I was forced to go to Catholic School, so my Mrs. Pescenye was Father Dobson.
I’m fairly new around here and made my first submission today. I loved reading what you’re doing and why. One more thing. English was my best subject. It really was. And it’s Johnny’s too.
Patti, where’s your blog? I’m getting a BlueHost message saying it’s been moved. Let us know!
I was trying to reconfigure it and all the recent posts I did are gone. I only was able to restore it as of April. My website it currently http://pattibagadion.thewritegeek.org but the post I linked is not there. Wish I made a back-up. Sorry about that.
I’m sorry that happened. We’ll hold your spot until voting starts if you don’t feel too defeated to write something else.
We have a fairly helpful community when it comes to blog and tech stuff. Next time, shoot an email to getsocial@yeahwrite.me and I’ll see if I can scrounge up some time to help before you crash your blog.
Working on something now so we’ll see how it goes. It was actually my fault for not making a backup file before I started messing with it.
Okay, just submitted a replacement post. Could be better than the one I lost. May submit that one in the future if I remember how it goes.
I thought I left a comment yesterday but I don’t see it. Anyway, I did read all the way through the pop quiz section because that’s what obsessive-compulsive people do. Still working on this week’s submission; it’s resisting my editing efforts.
Tell that post that resistance is futile!
You’re missing the Easter egg hidden in the post. Let me know in comments when you find it and we’ll release your submission from moderation.
You nailed the “so what” in this! Well done. Now you just have some work to do in getting it down to 500 words. Give it another go and if you’re still stuggling with where to cut, I’ll suggest some edits. 😉
This was the longest blog post I have ever written. I’mma try to sell it to Esquire as one of its celebrity profiles if I can sneak in Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s name a few places.
Why am I still thinking that I’m supposed to write “English was my best subject” in comments instead of “Thank You, Mrs. Pescenye”?
And will this be the week I get my head out of a fog long enough to link up to ANY of the grids? Oh the anticipation!
English was my best subject and Miss P was my best teacher. And I refer people to YW all the time and I’m glad it’s not a brainless linky whatever uppy. I think this is my 52nd week IN A ROW of submitting to YW. What a whirlwind. Ima buy me a new purse. Wait. NO Sam Merel….WHAT THE WHAT? I Can’t do it without her.
Congrats on your one full year! What would we do without your baby picture smiling at us from the grid each week? Tweet me a pic of your new bag; I totally wanna see it.
Ugh, I love you. English was totally my best subject, and I’m now considering a post about man v. man v. refrigerator, telling the story about how my husband picked the appliances for our new kitchen and sneakily bought a non-magnetic refrigerator without consulting me because he hates stuff on the fridge and if it were up to me I would plaster the doors with everything from pictures to grocery lists and beyond. Ok, so maybe I just told the whole story and no longer have to write it, but anyway, thanks for this refresher. I’m sorry I’ll be missing the grid this week. Starting tonight until late Thursday night is a Jewish holiday, so I won’t have time to read all the posts on the grid before voting closes. Catch ya next week.
Happy Shavuot! See you next week.
English was my best subject. One reason may have been because it was the first class of the day, they took attendance, and then I could ditch the rest of the day and go to the beach. Maybe I’ll write about it one day. For now, I’m writing about my not-so-stellar-attempts at attracting the opposite sex.
Finally getting the hang of it. I think. Oh and, English WAS my best subject… How did you know?
Yeah write virgin here, English was not my best subject since I just read all the time and never did the work… Love what you guys have going on here, look forward to stalking the next weekend moonshine 🙂
You should see the WTF on the faces of my bookworm, no-homework-doing son’s teachers when they find out his mother is a writer. “So, uh, are you the coke-addict kind of writer because WE SEE NO GOOD INFLUENCE.”
Welcome to yeah write! See you Friday.
I’m a yeah write virgin too! Is there a special handshake or toast or something?
Mainly lots of day drinking. Welcome!
Hahaha gets better and better 😉 its no fun if you’re a good influence
Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye — What a bitch…
I’m loving Yeah Write and a big thanks to Rarasaur for tuning me into it … Thanks for all the helpful tips this week. I’ll take all I can get 🙂
Donchu say nothing bad about Mrs. Pescenye. Without her, there would be no yeah write. But I will admit I get my “wrong, wrong, that’s so wrong” from her. No diplomacy.
Whoops! Sorry Mrs. Pescenye … I must have been flashing back to my own English teacher … not the best experience, unfortunately!
Let the writing begin!
That was rather helpful! Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye! I’m glad I read it (for more than one reason)!
Danielle, ignore my email from a few minutes ago. This working full-time is messing with my yeah write time. I’ll pull you from the queue once I read through your submission.
I’m still trying to decide if I have anything that fits the yeah write grid; but, until then…you’ve given me something new to think about. I really want to go see if I can make the “sun…cascade off [my] silky strawberry creme façade…”! If so, I’ll definitely be back to write on that one! haha. Have a terrific week! -jody
Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye.
For some strange reason I feel like I’m Daniel-son in Karate Kid right now.
I apologize for not putting the badge in during my last several submissions; been lazy like that I guess.
Thank you again, Mrs. Pescenye. Wax on Wax off.
I realize this is a bit bitchy but ….being dyslexic I have missed this key phrase thing more than once…this time I havent given up in frustration however it is a pain if the submission is dependent upon such things. Sorry, and of course “Thankyou, Mrs. Pescenye.” and thank you other comments as I reread it twice more and still missed it… thank GOd its more apparent here. Not helping my insecurities…
one more time…went back. there it is…Maybe this is why Sr. Eleanor was such a Kvetch in the eigth grade….my word blindness.
There is a lot of text this week, but taking it paragraph by paragraph, with a breather in between, might help. There’s no rush, so don’t feel pressured to get through it within a short amount of time. We’re open for 48 hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
I’ve lived with a brain injured person in my home for 18 years, so I get the frustration when others seem to pick up concepts much faster. But I also know it’s better to take it slow and read through until you get it, not allowing your own impatience to defeat you. Thanks for sticking with it.
I will admit that sometimes I link, then read, which clearly defeats the purpose. Won’t do it again, promise. I didn’t know that bit about links building credibility. Interesting.
Thank you, Mrs. Pesceyne. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need some coffee so I can finish my post for this week.
Mine was Mr. Nocera, so thank you, Mr. Nocera. And thank you, Mrs. Pescenye.
yup I did…the plight of the dyslexic writer strikes again! I will try to be patient but its not my strongest point.
ok so whats up? I read, I commented, I f-ed up again? I dont see my submission. please help.
I have gotten stuck since joining up with your little group. THis is not to say I wont screw up again but at least this decreases the chance. I have to say I didnt submit for months because I didnt understand WTF or the so what factor….which I still find confusing . BUt this does help .
Yay! Explanations. Thanks, ladies– this helped. Also, specifically– thank you, Mrs. Pescenye.
Hopefully I did it right, if not, tell me where I went wrong. I’m a big girl, I can take it without reverting to responses 1-3, haha! 😀
Does this mean no invitational grid? Not that having one/not having one is going to be a deciding factor, just curious.
Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye. I have no homework, er, submission for the grid, but I have a compulsion to complete all assignments.
Girl, I ran out of room before even thinking about the invitational. If we hit 30, it’ll open. Of course, Mrs. Pescenye is still ruling with a loving, iron fist 28 years later, so she may have scared away half the grid.
I love you guys so much.
When I read “Is that the same thing as dubstep?” and “man vs refrigerator” I choked from laughing. This was my favorite post since the time you told the story about the old cheese shop.
Since I’m one of those nerds who read everything you write, I just wanted to stop and say thank you, Mrs. Pescenye. Even though I doubt I will be writing this week, I’ll be reading.
Why would I ever miss a chance to laugh and giggle because these posts always tickle my funny bone? “Thank you, Mrs. Pescenye”. I’m commenting since I read it (and always do, top to bottom) but I’m at a strange point IRL and can’t enter for a while. I DO read though!!! Keep up the awesome work everyone!!!