Hot off the presses – badges with three digits are here!

Badges are ready which means today is the earliest your yeah write #100 weekly writing challenge grid posts can be dated.

Yeah write party-time. Excellent!

Still tingly from Flood’s and Erica’s birthdays, we can’t stop at just throwing some confetti your way in honor of the two-year anniversary of yeah write (formerly love links). Your party-time editors are in the mood for an extended celebration that includes quality time with prizes, joy, and skipping down memory lane. Invite your friends – yes, the virgins too – and let’s show the Interwebs how to have a party!

Challenge v. speakeasy, each limited to 500 words

Let’s start with a party game: Think of a number between 499 and 501. Did you guess 500? Well done! That’s the word limit for the yeah write anniversary celebration! I’m hearing a collective groan on one side of the aisle and raucous cheering on the other. The yeah write editors have been reminiscing about posts we felt were the best, the strongest, the most memorable – and we all kept coming back to summer grid entries. What did they all have in common? Yep: a limit of 500 words. So during our anniversary celebrations, we are asking everyone to limit yeah write entries #100 through #105 to just 500 words. We know you can tell a fantastic story in less than 500 words. You’ve done it before. Here. And here. And also here! 

To reward your hard work and editing down to 500 words, we have lots of presents for you during the anniversary celebration. Yes! A la Pippi Longstocking, we believe in giving away presents on our own special days. Look for prizes of all different types – gift cards, free editing, web design, subscriptions, books and more!

The grids open Tuesday, and the challenge grid is hungry for your personal essays and traditional blog anecdotes. We want your everyday moments and stories told well and fully and honestly – in 500 words or less. Submit your fiction and poetry over at the speakeasy—it’s a cozy spot for taking risks and flexing your creative muscles. There’s a party going on over there too. Fiction too intimidating or strange and unusual for you? Not a problem, but stop in at the party and to peruse other people’s stories.  The more the merrier! And for the more casual but just as fun party-goers, our weekend moonshine grid is still open—everyone is welcome – no shirt or shoes required.

Open submissions

It’s true! Open submissions have permanently returned to yeah write. No more queueing up to get on the grid, but all submission guidelines and FAQ still apply. Aside from the 500 word limit for the next set of weeks, we ask just one more thing. Please don’t share your “written just for yeah write” posts with other blog events. Thanks so much! Your post’s subject matter is up to you as long as it has a tightly written introduction, a clearly defined story line, and doesn’t try to sell us something or bore us to death. Find the funny or unusual or poignant in the everyday. Writing well about the humdrum is the trial and beauty of the challenge grid.

Before you start your winning submission

Reading well-written sentences is the best way to improve your own creative process—and its results. Spare time and effort by not reading blogs that aren’t written by those who are well-read, and try the best you can to worship at the Less is More altar (especially if less = less than 500 words!). And it bears repeating:  We love great stories, we love emotion, we love to laugh, we love to be surprised. It hurts our feelings when a rush to publish leaves a trail of misspellings, comma splices, and too many ifs, ands, or buts. Before you submit an entry to yeah write, read your post once in your head and at least once aloud. Bring us your best stuff; don’t settle for meh. 

Spread the good word of yeah write

March is buzzing with activity and norovirus attacks and watching the first signs of spring emerge. Still keep carving out time to write! We’re gonna keep chugging toward the goal of hitting the maximum of 50 bloggers on the challenge grid, and we need your help – keep spreading the good word of yeah write! The week we hit 50, if you’ve recruited a yeah write virgin to the challenge grid, you’ll be eligible to receive the 12-month, $10 a month supporting subscription donated by one of our yeah write editors. The $120-level donation contains, each item upon your request:

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• a wet and sloppy kiss on the mouth from your yeah write editor of choice
• a text link in selected weekly sponsor highlight posts
• a custom editorial on one selected yeah write challenge grid entry (worth $40 USD)
• a quick and dirty evaluation of 12 planned submissions to the challenge grid, an average of one planned submission each month, before the weekly challenge grids open
• an evaluation of your blog itself on content and design with clear direction on what’s working and what can be improved (worth countless USD)

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Don’t keep yeah write such a secret. We know you know some storytellers who would love the camaraderie, the community, the comments. 

Read well, write well, rewrite often. Yeah write #100 weekly writing challenge grid opens Tuesday. No more than 500 words. Did we say that already?