How time flies
Can you believe we’re seven this week? I sure can’t. I started at YeahWrite four years ago, when the micro challenge – formerly known as the Gargleblaster – was brand-spanking new. Microprose may be YeahWrite’s youngest challenge, but it’s built on the lessons we’ve learned over the years.
- Write your words down, even if they’re crap. No, really. If you don’t write, you won’t get better.
- Don’t self-edit as you go. I’m not saying don’t edit (PLEASE EDIT), but save that for when you’ve completed #1.
- Get to the point. Figure out which words matter. Cut the rest of them.
- Let yourself have fun. If you aren’t having fun, it shows. Even if “fun” for you means tearing out your hair while wrestling an idea into a complicated structure or small space.
Are you up for the challenge?
Did we mention it’s our birthday?
Seven years is a long time, but it also feels like an instant. So for this month’s microprose challenge, we want you to give us a story in exactly 49 (7×7!) words that begins with the word “seven,” and ends on the word “years.”
A few rules:
- Total wordcount is exactly 49, including the two prompt words. You provide the other 47.
- Words must be used exactly as-is. (“Seven,” not “seventh” or “seventeen; “years,” not “year.”)
- Words may be part of dialogue.
- Words may not be part of a hyphenated word. (No “seven-year-old,” for example.)
Happy writing!
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.
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!
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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, i.e., must begin with the word “seven” and end on the word “years”; your entry can be dated no earlier than Wednesday, April 4; nonfiction, fiction, whatever, told in exactly 49 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.
I’m sorry; I didn’t realise only one submission was allowed- PLEASE IGNORE “A Quiet Thing”; consider “Fate’s Final Word” my submission.
Except, dammit, now I don’t know which one is better.
Will do! Please consider posting your second story to our Weekend Writing Showcase, which will open on Friday. You can post as many as you like to that grid!
I also happen to know that “Nabbing the Prince” and “Diminished” are from the same author, who also didn’t know only one submission was allowed. Of the two, she would much prefer “Diminished” to be her submission. She can’t log in now to confirm this but I promise this is the case.
Thanks very much! I emailed her as well, but will take your word for it. 🙂 I’m afraid I deleted the link to “A Quiet Thing,” but if you would prefer that one, go ahead and post it again (by the deadline, which is in about an hour!) and I’ll remove “Fate’s Final Word.”
I’ll keep “Fate’s Final Word”, since there are plenty of submissions similar to “A Quiet Thing” in tone/subject already. Though I will say, I do think the language in the latter flows far better. Oh well; I’m happy with both pieces.
That’s the most important thing, right? Thanks so much for playing along this week!