Nothing new under the sun
“There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.” —Audre Lorde
I’m sure you’ve heard this quote before, or some iteration of it. I think it’s pretty true, especially in this age of blogging. Anyone can set up a page and tell a story. With new blogs popping up daily, it’s easy to see the same themes repeatedly. I’m not just talking about niche blogs like crafting or food or ice sculpture. I’m talking about the story blogs, too. Parenting, loss, sickness, love…you name it, and I can promise you are not the first to name it.
I’m not trying to get you down. The challenge is to find a way out of the muck. Knowing your story has been told before doesn’t make your need to tell it go away. In fact, it may fuel your fire to know your situation is just a little bit different than someone else’s. I’m here to tell you your story is different because it is yours, seen through your eyes, then told in your voice.
Everyone is unique
So when you know you have a subject that many can relate to, how do you make it different? What is the secret to making it stand apart from all the other stories we’ve all heard before? Well, if I had the answer to that, I’d be the author of multiple best sellers by now. What I can tell you, though, is I know it when I see it. You do, too, if you’re paying attention when you read. A clever turn of phrase, a new angle or perspective, or a distinctive element can take an age old tale and spin it new.
You want your readers to relate to your story while feeling like they just heard something for the very first time. Or, as Audre Lorde would say, they want to feel something for the very first time.
While we’re on the subject
Most of the time at yeah write, we don’t give you a prompt. You are free to write about the topic of your choosing each week. We want you to tell us about what moves you so you have the best chance at telling your particular narrative. Some subjects, though, unless you truly do have a one of a kind adventure, are very difficult to set apart from the pack. Writer’s block, birth stories, and people’s children growing up are a few examples of anecdotes we see often. You are, as I said, free to write about whatever you wish, but when writing about these more common topics, you’ll want to go the ten miles to make it new, since the extra mile probably isn’t going to be far enough.
Do Ms. Lorde proud, would you? Make me feel something new this week.
One last thing
If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to complete our one question survey:
Odds, ends, reminders
- The badge you will need to add to your planned submission is over in the sidebar
- This immediate past Sunday is the earliest your submission can be dated
- 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 #145 is open…
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I really wanted to participate this week because I know no one else is writing about religion and ray guns, but I couldn’t stay within the word limit. But my next post might be about ray guns, religion and cross dressing. I’ll try to keep the word count down.
Thanks for being mindful of the submission guidelines! We look forward to having you back on the grid soon.