Michelle Longo of  The Journey opens the yeah write weekly writing challenges for the month of August

I don’t read as much as I should. It seems that day to day life always gets in the way of leisure time, and I don’t stop to pick up a book as often as I’d like. It’s wasn’t surprising to me, then, that I’ve been reading the same memoir for weeks now and making very little progress. I’m interested in the story and it’s not a bad book, I just keep finding other things to do instead.

On Saturday night, with a few spare minutes available to me, I picked up a newly acquired book instead of the one with which I’d been struggling. Inside of one day, I’d read two-thirds of it. Every moment I had was spent reading. Laundry didn’t get done. Lunch took forever because I read while I ate. I sped through the grocery shopping so I could get home to read more. I know how this book ends, but the story is that compelling.

And there in lies the difference. Both books are memoirs of young women who are faced with seemingly impossible circumstances. The difference is that one pulls me into her life and the other tells me about it. One creates a world for me to be a part of and the other lists a series events that happened to and around her. This is a classic example of one writer showing and the other one telling.

Give your readers something compelling to think about in your short piece

A blog post is a much shorter piece than a memoir, but we at yeah write feel the same principle applies. Each word should be selected because it is better than any other available. Your readers want to be captivated by your story. They want to forget about the laundry and the groceries and be fully engaged in the scene you are creating. They want to reach the end, sit back and sigh while they contemplate what you’ve shared. And you, as the writer, want to leave them with a feeling they need to take a minute to finish laughing, wipe a tear, or just sit with the saga you’ve unfolded before they can move on to the next thing.

Consider that as you write. Are you sculpting something captivating or are you chronicling an occurrence? It really can make all the difference.

Odds, ends, reminders

• Your post can be no longer than 600 words
• Personal essays or traditional blog anecdotes only
• There are no weekly prompts; the topic is yours. Be compelling
• The grid is open from Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. 
• There is voting. Voting will take place Thursday from midnight to 10:00 p.m. US eastern 
• The challenge grid is limited to 50 bloggers
• The winners’ post will be published by noon on Friday
• No self-promotional posts are allowed on the yeah write grid, including those containing links to other blog events and Internet contests

Yeah write #121 is open…