Variety is the spice
Lisa at Pryvate Parts blog submitted two winning nonfiction pieces to yeah write recently. In both she experimented with unconventional structures—in shifting chronology (Unmentionables) and in creating tension by interrupting the narrative with dialogue (Writing While Mothering). When you shake up your creative nonfiction essay with an untraditional structure, you might find a hidden voice that tastes like hot cayenne pepper or smooth rosemary. Either way, spicy.
Nonfiction essays, whether personal or observational, don’t need to be linear, 100% true, or strictly narrative. Breaking out of traditional essay writing is empowering, in fact: sort of like giving your internal editor the middle finger. Check out Creative Nonfiction‘s article “Picturing the Personal Essay: A Visual Guide” to get your rebel writer motivated. And don’t forget to read up on Rowan’s tips on nonfiction know-how.
Who’s on fourth
This month we invite you to learn more about Emily Bingham! The interview will publish Wednesday at 12pm ET, but in the meantime, head over to Plenty Plenty and read up on her awesome microstories.
Nonfiction know-how:
inspiration and the 5-minute essay
Time flies whether you’re having fun or not, and there’s an essay hiding in even the smallest increments. You don’t need to encompass your whole life in 1000 words; what if you just focused on five minutes? Rowan gives us some tips on finding your story in among the ordinary moments of your day.
This week’s ultimate question:
What’s broken?
This optional prompt, which also serves as the ultimate question for the microstory challenge opening Wednesday, is here to serve as your inspiration for your nonfiction submission. Already have your own story thought up? No problem! The prompt is only there if you need it.
Want more info?
Is this your first time here? Check out Sunday’s post which kicked off the week here at yeah write. Our email subscribers can also join us in the yeah write coffeehouse at its home on Facebook.
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 and Twitter and we’ll happily help you out.
Submit to the yeah write #263 nonfiction challenge
The yeah write #263 weekly writing challenge is now 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.
