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All right, folks, here we go!
It’s time to kick off Round Two of the YeahWrite Super Challenge, with another two-prompt pairing for your writing pleasure.
In this round, our writers will be working with an opening phrase and a scene. A few tips and pointers about this round:
The first prompt will be the opening sentence or two of your story. Nothing comes before it except maybe quotation marks if you’re going to make it part of a dialogue. This sentence DOES count toward the story’s overall word count, and the writing style should flow seamlessly into the rest of the story. That is, if the sentence is “Love will not be constrain’d by mastery. When mast’ry comes, the god of love anon beateth his wings.” the next phrase shouldn’t be “Geoff cussed at the priest. That jerkface couldn’t find his own cassock with two hands and a chasuble.”
The second prompt will be a scene. We’re going back to our roots here with an image prompt. You don’t need to describe the image exhaustively, but remember that the judges will need to be able to recognize it in your story and confirm you’ve incorporated it. Your main characters may or may not be depicted in the image- it’s fine if they’re plausibly offscreen for the action!
There are no genre or setting restrictions.
ONE QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT: We had a brief banking issue that kept us from announcing the prize amounts. We’re super sorry, and we hope it doesn’t add any pressure to your weekend when you know…
First place: $200
Second place: $125
Third place: $75
Now that that’s cleared up, let’s get to the assignments:
Group 1
Opening Phrase: Everything I had known was wrong.
Do not alter the opening phrase, except that you may put it in quotes to make it part of a dialogue.
Scene:
Group 2
Phrase: Where he fled, I was bound to follow.
Do not alter the opening phrase, except that you may put it in quotes to make it part of a dialogue.
Scene:
Wait, wait, there’s more!
Don’t post your story anywhere on the Internet until after our judges are done and you get your feedback! But if you want to talk up the competition or live-tweet your writing process, use the hashtag #YWsuper. Just remember not to include identifying details about which story is yours!
Your essays are due Sunday at 10pm US Eastern Time. Remember to check the rules for formatting, including all those fiddly details like title page, font, and filename. Don’t get disqualified on a technicality! We know it seems really useless at times, but all those rules have a purpose, from helping get your file where it needs to be to making sure you’re read anonymously and fairly.
Email your questions to superchallenge@yeahwrite.me—we will not be reviewing other email addresses or social media for your questions over the weekend and we want to make sure you get the answers you need!
You’ll receive your feedback on May 9, and we’ll announce who’s moving on to the next round that day at noon US Eastern Time.
We hope you have as much fun with the prompts as we had picking them out. Good luck, and good writing!
About the author:
Rowan submitted exactly one piece of microfiction to YeahWrite before being consumed by the editorial darkside. She spent some time working hard as our Submissions Editor before becoming YeahWrite’s Managing Editor in 2016. She was a BlogHer Voice of the Year in 2017 for her work on intersectional feminism, but she suggests you find and follow WOC instead. In real life she’s been at various times an attorney, aerialist, professional knitter, artist, graphic designer (yes, they’re different things), editor, secretary, tailor, and martial artist. It bothers her vaguely that the preceding list isn’t alphabetized, but the Oxford comma makes up for it. She lives in Portlandia with a menagerie which includes at least one other human. She tells lies at textwall and uncomfortable truths at CrossKnit.
