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Greetings Earthlings!
It’s a holiday week, so we’re letting you off the hook. The micro grid is unmoderated! Come one, come all, just make sure you give us an answer in exactly 42 words.
What we’re asking you to do this week is to tell us a story of negative space. We’re asking about the absence of something. There’s a hole, something missing. Give us the story behind the story. That’s a tall order when you’ve got so little space, so use your words carefully! Allusions, metaphors, synecdoche – try out a couple of these tropes to make your story feel fuller.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Answer the ultimate question in exactly 42 words: where have all the cowboys gone?
A good answer to this week’s question will talk about absent cowboys and their current location. “I don’t know” is a valid answer, but a lazy one; “they’re still here” does not answer the question. There were cowboys here at one point; now there are not. Where are they? Nota bene, American yeah writers: if you choose to use a sportsball reference, be aware that half of our participants are not from the US, and your answer might not make any sense to them.
Don’t get disqualified on a technicality
READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. Take us seriously so we can take you seriously.
COUNT YOUR WORDS. Use your eyes, not your word processor. Your post may not be eligible for voting if you go over or under 42 words. And remember, any words surrounding your microstory — explanations, references, footnotes, shout-outs, etc. — will be counted against your 42-word limit. (The only exception is photo credits.)
PROOFREAD. Nothing is easier, and nothing will get you bumped from the voting grid faster than typos, spelling or punctuation mistakes, or grammatical errors. You’ve only got 42 words; mistakes stick out.
ANSWER THE QUESTION. We try to give you some basic guidelines with every question; pay attention to what we’re looking for. 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 don’t just restate the question as your answer.
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][vc_column_text]
The top 42 entries will be open for voting on Thursday
You may enter only one gargleblaster microstory. This week, 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 speakeasy for fiction and poetry on Tuesdays, the gargleblaster micro 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][vc_column_text]
yeah write 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; 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:
- 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
- Follow the Inlinkz instructions after clicking “add your link” to upload your entry to this week’s challenge grid
- Your entry should appear immediately on the grid if you don’t receive an error message
- Please make the rounds to read all the entries in this week’s challenge
- 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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