Obed Medina introduces himself as our new yeah write submissions editor

I’m always the awkward wallflower when it comes to introducing myself. I met a few of you last week by way of the infamous yeah write love letter. Not always the best way to start things off, but it comes from a good place. For those I haven’t met, I look forward to reading your posts and commenting on your blogs.

How did I become a part of the yeah write community? I came across yeah write while searching for literary magazines. I wasn’t quite ready to submit my writing, but I was researching what was out there. I was, however, ready to sharpen my writing skills—and that meant putting it out there for others to critique. I had tried other communities online, but they all left me disconnected from my own philosophy on writing. For most of them, it was an outlet to vent, for others, to showcase their writing. Most did not welcome an honest critique. And that is fine. Not everyone writes for the same reasons. But, yeah write offered a challenge! It offered a way for the blogger to hone writing skills in a safe environment. I read the why yeah write works and I instantly felt at home. They wanted from me what I expected of myself, and I didn’t have to do it alone.

Preparing for this week’s writing challenge

Kill your darlings. Murder your darlings if you have to. Destroy the evidence or hide them away where only you can retrieve them. I’m talking about the craft of writing, of course. These darlings refer to those bits of writings with which we, as writers, fall in love: those breathlessly beautiful descriptive, ornate and fancy sentences that obscure your meaning and add nothing to your message. I am guilty of that.

My computer is filled with countless files that I have buried over the years and like the zombie apocalypse, they rise up on their own and escape into some posts on my blog. I find myself revisiting my previous posts on a regular basis. That’s when I take the ax and start swinging away. As writers, that is what we do; it’s part of the writing process. Some people call it hacking, or trimming, or killing your darlings, if you will. In the end, it’s what the writing world calls editing.

I can’t stress this enough. I know, I know. We get excited about what we’re writing and we want to send it out to the world as soon as possible. This week I want to suggest something: take the time to step away from your first draft before hitting the “publish” button. Go for a walk. Have a cup of coffee. Clean your house. But before you do that, check out our guide to writing a winning post.

Come back to your post and start the editing process. There is a reason why the challenge is limited to 600 words. It’s really not enough to say all we need to say. Or is it? If your initial draft is more than 600 words, that is OK. When you come back to it, the editing process will do the work. Pare it down, eliminating unnecessary verbiage. Think of the “so what” factor. It will help to focus your structure so that you have a strong theme. This may require you to cut out some sentences.

It’s gonna be hard work, but in the end it will only benefit you. You’ll learn to make do without those darlings that hold you back… And I’ll be there to cheer you on!

Back to a moderated grid

This week and, for at least the immediate future, we are going with a moderated grid. You will add your link as you always do, but it will not appear on the grid automatically. Instead, it will be reviewed and will appear if it meets all submission guidelines. If you get impatient, you can email us wondering if you’re still in the queue, but please sit tight. The review process sometimes takes a little time.

If your post is returned, please do not feel discouraged. Think of it as a gentle nudge to review the submission guidelines again and to dig just a bit deeper to bring us your absolute best work. You may submit that piece (revised or not, your choice) to the moonshine grid on Friday. Or, you can rework it and submit it next week.

This is all to make you a better writer and to improve the overall quality of the challenge grid entries.

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 #147 is open…

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