Getting out of the way

I’m still thinking about Michelle Longo’s double-winning post from last week.  If you missed it, go ahead and take a minute; I’ll wait.

Did you notice how she leaves the reader alone to figure things out?  How she lets the reader hear the babysitter’s unintentionally hilarious and poetic dialogue without intervening?  And how she allows the several ironies of the piece to stand on their own without turning a spotlight on them?  Sometimes the writer just needs to get out of the way of a good story, and Michelle did.  Would she have found that restraint without yeah write’s 600-word limit?  I think so, but I also think the word limit can arm-wrestle a beginning writer to the next level.  So, love it!

While you’re celebrating our word limit (and that’s 500 words plus 100 words grace, no exceptions), check out our other quirky-but-effective guidelines; following them will land you one step closer to your best stuff.

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 and list of quick links. 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 26th.

Odds, ends, reminders

• Your post can be no longer than 600 words
• Your post can be dated no earlier than May 26th, the day the yeah write #111 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  Thursday from midnight to 10:00 p.m. US eastern
• The winners’ post will be published at noon on Friday
• The weekend moonshine grid will open Friday around 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 #111 is open. . .

[hr]

 Loading InLinkz …