I have completely changed my mind. Forget finding your own voice. Let’s borrow someone else’s.
Think of the most popular blogger in your blogging circle. Go ahead. Grab a name from the ether.
Got one? It will help if you choose one whose comments you threw up in from nervousness that one time. Nervousness from being in the presence of such greatness. Of such great writing and page views. Don’t forget the page views. Never forget the page views.
Alrighty then. Let’s write in that style today and forevermore. Bonus points if you’ve been way ahead of me on that one for the past few years, amirite?
Let’s go:
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- First, we need drama and lots of it. For me, I could choose either my depression or my special needs kid. For you, I don’t know, um, since we’re borrowing, pretend your special needs second cousin is really really special to you and you can use him. If you want. Your blog, your choice.
- Next, you know what? Fuck having a sense of humor. We do not need it and having one is a page view killing machine. A sense of humor means no accidental misunderstandings or no blowing things way out of proportion.
- Now this is the really important part: take your drama and your no sense of humor then fling adjectives and hyphenated adverbs at them all the while thinking you’re being witty and interesting and important while being none of the above.
- End your post with a quote by Rumi you found misattributed to Abraham Lincoln on Pinterest.
- Reply only to the comments labeling your post as “stunning”, “amazing” or “poignant”. Ignore the ones admitting they didn’t quite understand your point. Delete the ones in complete, yet respectful disagreement.
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[huge]OR [/huge]
My favorite part of the Sunday morning news when I was a kid was a reporter who would close his eyes, choose a name from a city’s telephone book and—with the idea that everyone has a story—would visit his random subjects and interview them. Then he’d put together the most interesting stories on these people who’d likely felt previously they had nothing to say.
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- a sister putting three brothers through college on a cashier’s salary while thinking it was no big deal
- the oldest three brothers raising their seven brothers and sisters because it’s what people do when their parents die
- a grandfather finishing a nearly abandoned degree program 50 years after starting it
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Normal, everyday people doing normal, everyday things who never would have thought they were doing anything special until a news reporter rang their doorbells.
That’s me, you guys. The reporter. That’s yeah write.
You may not think your life is worth sharing unless you dress it in drag like the page view mongers do, but it is. It really is. It’s all in the way you tell the story: honestly, authentically, transparently, truthfully. Well, mostly truthful because sometimes the whole truth is none of your readers’ business. Sometimes the whole truth is none of your readers’ business. Yeah write is here, standing on your doorstep, just asking a few questions.
The yeah write #65 jury prize will be Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life chosen by guest editor Bill Dameron. The winner will be announced in Friday’s post.
The yeah write #65 summer series grid continues until noon US EDT today…
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all your story are belong to you
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- Read the summer FAQ page for other details: the grid is being moderated and if you’re missing an element outlined in the summer FAQ, your post will not be published on the grid
- Let the prompt lead you, but do not include the prompt in any way in your post, not at the beginning as an intro, not at the end as a footnote. If you reference the prompt in your post, your post will not be published on the grid
- Remember: no more than 500 words. If your post exceeds 500 words, yup, you guessed it—no publish for you
- If the prompt takes you from thunderstorms to watching TV at your grandma’s house to how much you love Pat Sajak to the oldest person you’ve ever kissed, we want that story the furthest away in your imagination from the original prompt. Let your imagination loose
- Keep your writing style! Do you tell stories with humor? Prose? Verse? Photos? Illustrations? Keep doing that. We’ll read Shakespearean drama on our own time
- Cut away at everything unnecessary to your story
- Not ready to add your entry today? Still perfecting and reading other posts? No problem: you’ve got until Thursday at noon EDT [-4GMT]
- Don’t forget to badge your post
- Have fun!
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[divider_header_h3] This week’s prompts [courtesy of Tom Slatin] [/divider_header_h3]
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- What is the one thing you cannot live without?
- What is your favorite chess piece?
- What is one thing nobody knows about you because nobody’s ever cared to ask?
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Yeah write #65 summer grid continues…
I’m like six hours late. But, that’s OK. I’m writing after a hiatus caused by self-loathing and heat. And besides, my post has a quote at the end…a quote I contemplated taking out, and still could, but I won’t. I’m hanging at the hang out grid and glad to be. And this writing series rules.
Thanks! I’m sorry about the self-loathe, I hate when that happens. I am in no way slamming quotes at the end of posts unless they are being used in place of an actual conclusion AND they are attributed to the same wrong person every time. Albert Einstein totally agrees with me. As does Mark Twain.
I just saw this reply. It’s brilliant and funny rolled into one. 🙂 TY.
Hey, I am sad! I posted a comment last night, thanking you for this post. For being the reporter. For challenging us to do more, do better and be better. It also had something along the lines of my life in drag resembling the Afro-circus-polka-dot zebra from Madagascar…but it was late and my Internet connection went wonky. So instead, you get this recap of my comment a day later. But the sincerity is still there. Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to repost it. Thanks for the sincerity. You’re awesome and I’m glad I discovered you sitting at the ice cream counter at the dime store that fateful day.
Exactly! Fiction lets us express ideas we are fearful of in real life.
What she said!
“Great stuff,” as Abraham Lincoln would say.
Ellen
I think that was Aristotle.
Oh yes, yes, what Michelle said! 🙂
I’m going to keep rereading this a bunch of times. These posts on the summer series are invaluable. Seriously, you should be charging for your services 🙂
Thanks, Michelle! We’ll keep that in mind!
I know I asked this on twitter because I wrote a fiction piece. I sometimes think we forget that we also have an authentic fiction voice. Even though the people aren’t real, their emotions, thoughts and actions can be very authentic. Authenticity makes you think, feel and react.
Agreed! That’s part of what I wrote about in yesterday’s post. Sometimes fictional voices are more authentic because we allow them to fully blossom.
I think what both of you have said made me understand better what I was trying to say. My fictional characters, the few I’ve tried to write, don’t sound authentic. They sound made up. I think the technical term for this is bad writing. But, inspired by what both of you wrote (both the fiction piece and good advice about fiction, I may give it a go. Can’t work on a craft if I don’t actually practice it, right?
I agree completely! I keep rereading, them, too. I am a long time out from really writing, and I need a lot of refreshing, as well as practice. This summer series is a godsend to me!
Thanks for joining us. Kianwi. It sounds like you’ll be sticking around. Yay!