Happy birthday to us!

It’s yeah write’s 4th birthday and we are so excited that you’re here to celebrate with us. We love what we do here and without you, our readers, writers and participants, we wouldn’t be able to do it. Thanks for making our community the warm and welcoming place that it is.

Big news!

We like to give out gifts for our birthday. This year, we are raising the word count limit for submissions. You will now have up to 1,000 words for your nonfiction entry. This is a hard stop – so don’t try to sneak in 1,001. And remember, just because you have the ability, you don’t always have the need. Make every word count. Read your post for clarity of your message, proofread for accuracy and read aloud for flow.

Show us why you wanted to write about your subject. Make us care as much as you do.

First time here?

Check out yesterday’s kickoff post to learn everything you need to know about all of yeah write. Make sure you’re signed up for our email blasts so you never miss one again!

If you’ve never taken the time to read them, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our submission guidelines. The rules are a little different for each of our challenges and we’d hate to have to send back great writing on a technicality.

Did you happen to end up here because you suddenly saw yeah write in your stats? Sometimes members of our community spot excellent writing and they send those posts on over to us. We hope you don’t mind. Take a look around and get to know our community. We’re sure you’ll be happy here.

Have questions you can’t find the answer to by poking around the site? Email us or find us on Facebook or Twitter and we’ll happily help you out.

Just the basics

Even when you need us to just cut to the chase, we’re still going to tell you to read the kickoff post. Please read the kickoff post.

Today the grid opens for our nonfiction writing challenge. There is a limit of 1,000 words, no exceptions. The nonfiction challenge closes Wednesday at 9:59 p.m. US Eastern. Voting opens one hour later for both our readers and our editorial staff. On Friday, we will publish editorial picks and announce the popular vote winners.

The ultimate question: who’s in charge around here?

Our microstories challenge requires participants to answer the ultimate question in exactly 42 words. This challenge, as well as the fiction|poetry challenge, allows you to use this question as an optional prompt. Let it kickstart your ideas, or submit that essay you’ve been working on for weeks. It’s up to you!

The yeah write #208 weekly writing challenge is open for nonfiction: personal essays, creative opinion, mostly true stories based on actual events. You can check out the submission guidelines and join us with your essay using the link below.