It takes all kinds
One of the things I love about prompted writing challenges is seeing how differently people approach the prompt. And one of the things I love about microprose is that it really highlights these differences. With so little room to spare, a writer needs to figure out how to tell a story that is unique, but also adheres to fairly rigid rules. You’d think every story would start to sound the same, but that just isn’t the case. We all bring our individual experiences, preferences, and style to everything we write. The result is that no two stories are ever exactly alike.
Double or nothing
This month we’re giving you two prompts for the price of one! That is, we want you to give us a story in exactly 44 words that includes the following two elements: a color word and a number.
Tips and tricks:
- Use an actual color word – don’t just imply it. “Eyes the color of spring grass” is poetic, but there’s no color word. Need a little inspiration? Here’s a list of color words as a jumping-off point.
- Make sure your color word fits the tone of your story. “Cerulean” is a lovely word, but if you’re writing a hard-boiled noir story, it’s going to stick out awkwardly.
- I shouldn’t have to say this, but make sure you know what color your word actually is. My brother and I have a long-standing argument over the root color of “puce.” (He thinks it’s green; it’s actually a dark purply brown.)
- Numbers may be written as digits (1984) or spelled out. Note: for simplicity’s sake, “1984” counts as one word, but “nineteen eighty-four” counts as two. (Remember, here at YeahWrite, properly hyphenated words count as one.)
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!
The microprose challenge ends in:
Day(s)
:
Hour(s)
:
Minute(s)
:
Second(s)
How to submit and fully participate in the Microprose Challenge
Basic YeahWrite guidelines: must be in response to the prompt found above; your entry can be dated no earlier than Wednesday, December 5; nonfiction, fiction, whatever (except poetry), told in exactly 44 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.
