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The beauty we love
Sometimes, if I’m too tired to dive into whatever book I’m reading but not tired enough to fall asleep, I’ll pick up my well-worn copy of The Essential Rumi and take in two or three poems. I don’t read poetry as often as I do fiction, but that’s not to say I don’t love it–I just read poetry differently. For one thing, it’s a slower process. Words are savored. Images crystallize in my mind. Ideas take shape, then morph into new versions of themselves. This method of reading first empties my brain of its cares, then fills it with beauty.
Poetry also forces my brain to work in a different way: I read more critically, which takes more energy. Boom! Instant sleep.
Best of all, my brain is ruminating on something meaningful but not necessarily stressful right before dreaming. The next day the ideas stay with me and often inspire me more specifically than any novel could do. Many of my short stories, essays or poems are inspired by some nugget I gleaned from Rumi or Adrienne Rich.
If you’re looking for inspiration (or good zzz’s), then take in something out of the ordinary for you. If not, why not try the optional prompt:
What did Christine tell you?
The optional prompt can serve as inspiration for your fiction or poetry. Use the question, word for word, in your story or poem, or just answer it. We’re all dying to know. Already have a different story thought up? No problem! Use the prompt only if you need it.
We’ve gone unmoderated for the summer months. That doesn’t make it a free-for-all; posts still need to meet the minimum guidelines listed below, but it does give you some more room to get creative.
The place of the wise
Looking for a challenge? We’ve got many options to choose from. Here’s a list of all of the poetry slams and focus on fiction features so far. Feel free to revisit a fiction genre or poetry form you enjoyed, or catch up on something you missed the first time around. Still drawing a blank? You can also find writing exercises in the coffeehouse to get things started.
Is this your first time here?
Check out Sunday’s post which kicked off the week here at yeah write. If you don’t think you can remember to check back every Sunday, sign up for our email blasts. We send them directly to your inbox. No fuss!
Yeah write #224 fiction|poetry writing challenge is open for submissions!
Basic yeah write guidelines: 750 word limit; your entry can be dated no earlier than this past Sunday; fiction or poetry only.
How to submit and fully participate in the challenge:
1. In the sidebar of this week’s post, please grab the code beneath the fiction|poetry badge and paste it into the HTML view of your entry
2. Follow the Inlinkz instructions after clicking “add your link” to upload your entry to this week’s challenge grid
3. Your entry should appear immediately on the grid if you don’t receive an error message
4. Please make the rounds to read all the entries in this week’s challenge
5. Consider turning off moderated comments and CAPTCHA on your own blog
This summer, all our grids are unmoderated which means submissions meeting the basic guidelines will be published Thursday on yeah write. Those entries will be open to a popular vote with the winner celebrated on Friday.
Thank you for sharing with us your hard work! Good luck in the challenge…
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