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Shhhhh.

Can you hear that? That’s the sound of the five minutes a day my dogs spend sleeping instead of barking. Normally they’re pretty great, but this year the dachshund has decided to start a feud with a particular board in my neighbor’s fence, and the Weim doesn’t know why we’re barking but sure, why not…

This week, though, we’re more interested in silence than noise. Find the spaces between your words, the missed warnings, the should-have knowns. Talk to the darkness again. Bring us your visions softly creeping.

The other thing that’s silent for the next few weeks is, well, me. Although you wouldn’t know it by this post, would you? That’s right, our summer grids are unmoderated. For the rest of the summer, the first 42 entries on the grid will be eligible for voting. Just follow the rules: answer the question in exactly 42 words. Longing for a love letter? Lost in the wild meadows between “not on the grid” and “crowd fave?” You can always sign up to be a member for a little extra feedback and advice, or just stop by the coffeehouse to run an idea or turn of phrase by your fellow yeah writers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Answer the ultimate question in exactly 42 words: why didn’t the dog bark?

This week’s question requires only two things for a good answer: an actual or metaphorical dog that should have made noise or warned you, and the reason it didn’t make noise or warn you. Not sure what I mean? Check out Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “Silver Blaze” (in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes). Sometimes the dog has something important to tell you even if he doesn’t bark!

A few other reminders:

PROOFREAD. Even when the grid isn’t moderated. Nothing is easier, and nothing will scare voters away faster than typos, spelling or punctuation mistakes, or grammatical errors. You’ve only got 42 words; mistakes stick out.

Keep in mind that your post has to make sense if your reader doesn’t know the question.

Don’t use the question as your title or anywhere else in your piece.

And remember, any words surrounding your microstory — explanations, references, footnotes, shout-outs, etc. — will be counted against your 42-word limit.

Need a second set of eyes? Find yourself a writing partner over in the yeah write coffeehouse.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

The top 42 entries will be open for voting on Thursday

You may enter only one microstory. This summer, all our grids are unmoderated, which means up to 42 submissions meeting the basic guidelines will be open to Thursday’s popular vote. Everybody: read, comment, vote!

Email us or head over to our pages on Facebook and Twitter with any questions.

Winners will be announced on Friday

Look for Friday’s combined winners’ post to see the crowd favorites and editors’ picks from across all of our challenge grids.

What else is happening around here?

We’ve got the nonfiction grid opening on Mondays, the fiction and poetry grid on Tuesdays, the microstory challenge on Wednesdays, and the come-one, come-all moonshine grid for the weekends. We’ve also got a great hangout space over at the coffeehouse. Make sure you subscribe to our weekly e-mail blast so you don’t miss out.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

yeah write #217 micro weekly writing challenge is open for submissions

Basic microstory guidelines: 42 word count limit; must be an answer to the week’s ultimate question found in the introductory post; cannot repeat the ultimate question; your entry can be dated no earlier than this past Sunday; nonfiction, fiction, haiku, whatever, told in exactly 42 words.

How to submit and fully participate in the challenge:

  1. In the sidebar of this week’s post, please grab the code beneath the micro 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…[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

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