Everybody needs a little time away
You may or may not have noticed, but I took a little vacation this summer, handing the microprose challenge over to my friend and colleague, Asha. The break let me focus on my own writing and editing projects for a bit and was just long enough for me to really start to miss the action around here. Now summer’s over – or so they tell me; the record-breaking heat suggests otherwise – and I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get back to work.
Even lovers need a holiday
I first fell in love with flash fiction and microstories through a popular writing prompt site that has since closed its doors: the Trifecta Writing Challenge. Trifecta’s challenges were built on threes. Every week they’d provide the third definition of a word, and the writer needed to incorporate that word – using that exact definition – into a flash piece of 33-333 words. Some of my favorite stories and poems came out of that challenge, as well as the foundation for my current novel. It’s been a long while, and I find myself really missing the strictures of that particular challenge. And so this month, I want to pay homage to the place I got my start with a Trifecta-style prompt.
Your task this week is to write a story in 33 words incorporating the word leviathan, specifically the third definition as defined by Merriam-Webster:
Definition of leviathan
- a often capitalized: a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptural accounts
b a large sea animal (this leviathan of animals is the great Blue Whale — Weston LaBarre) - capitalized: the political state; especially: a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy
- something large or formidable (that leviathan of international corporations)
Your submission must be exactly 33 words, including the prompt word (and any footnotes or shout-outs). You may not change the word in any way (e.g., make it plural), though you may capitalize it if appropriate.
Micro tip: Hoping for an editors’ pick? We’re looking for stories that incorporate the word seamlessly. That is, we want you to match your voice to the vocabulary.
Need a hand?
Microprose sounds easy. After all, how hard can it really be to write a story with fewer than 100 words incorporating a prompt or two? But it turns out it’s our hardest challenge to really get right. Whether you’re a seasoned micropro or a brand new microwriter, it’s worth taking a minute to glance through the tips and tricks our editors have put together, like this quick refresher on what makes a micro great, or this one on how to incorporate mandatory prompts into adjudicated challenges. Make sure you make it to the vote this week: check your wordcount (we count those footnotes!) and prompts!
This is the badge you need:
Below is the YeahWrite badge you need for this month’s microprose challenge. Under the badge is a few lines of code. See that? Copy it and then paste it into the “text” or HTML view of your post editor. If you don’t copy it exactly, the image will not appear correctly in your post, and you will receive an error message when you submit the post to Inlinkz. If you have any questions regarding adding this code to your post or website, please contact us at editors@yeahwrite.me.
How to submit and fully participate in the Microprose Challenge
Basic YeahWrite guidelines: must be in response to the prompt found in the introductory post; your entry can be dated no earlier than this past Sunday; nonfiction, fiction, whatever, told in exactly 33 words. You may enter only one microstory per weekly challenge.
How to submit and fully participate in the challenge:
- Please grab the code beneath the microprose badge in the body of this week’s post 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; and
- Consider turning off moderated comments and CAPTCHA on your own blog.
Submissions for this week’s challenges will close on Wednesday at 10pm ET. Voting will then open immediately thereafter and close on Thursday at 10pm ET. The winners, as always, will be celebrated on Friday.
Thank you for sharing with us your hard work! Good luck in the challenge…
Loading InLinkz ...About the author:
Christine Hanolsy is a (primarily) science fiction and fantasy writer who simply cannot resist a love story. She joined the YeahWrite team in 2014 as the microstory editor and stepped into the role of Editor-In-Chief in 2020. Christine was a 2015 BlogHer Voices of the Year award recipient and Community Keynote speaker for her YeahWrite essay, “Rights and Privileges.” Her short fiction has been published in a number of anthologies and periodicals and her creative nonfiction at Dead Housekeeping and in the Timberline Review. Outside of YeahWrite, Christine’s past roles have included Russian language scholar, composer, interpreter, and general cat herder. Find her online at christinehanolsy.com.
This makes me smile. Some of my fondest writing moments were from the Trifecta days.
Mine too! Will we see you on the grid? 🙂