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Hooray!
We made it through another week. That’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?
Before you pop that champagne cork or gorge yourself on cake and ice cream, let’s talk business. This week I am giving you two assignments:
Don’t try too hard
Sometimes our desire to be different–to stand out–gets in the way of telling a good story. I get that. It happens to me all the time. Take a step back and really consider what you are trying to say. Is your meaning clear? Did you get from point A to B to C in a natural, believable way? Micro writers, did you really answer the question? Remember that you don’t always need to be clever. Sometimes an icicle is just an icicle.
Don’t be lazy
On the other hand, we are looking for your best work here. Double-check your grammar. Triple-check your punctuation and spelling. Don’t rely on online tools to check things for you – your best tool is another person’s eyes. Read your piece out loud. Did you stumble? Did something feel strange in your mouth? Chances are, there’s a reason for that.
Life is good
This is just a general reminder that we love having you here. Thanks for playing along with us week after week. Now, finish that glass of punch and get to work![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The basics
Yeah write gives you three competitive challenge grids — nonfiction, fiction|poetry and microstories — all of which are moderated. Check them out below. Submissions that meet our guidelines will be moved to the voting grid; those that do not will get a personal love letter from our submissions editor explaining why. Got a question? E-mail us, tweet us, ping us on Facebook, or visit our online community, the yeah write coffeehouse. You can learn more about yeah write in our FAQ.
The rules
Please make sure you are familiar with our submission guidelines before you enter. We don’t have a lot of rules, but we do enforce them across the board. We’d hate to see anyone get disqualified by a technicality.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Bring us your personal essays and creative nonfiction!
The nonfiction challenge grid opens on Monday at midnight EST. This is the best place on the ‘net to showcase your best writing. Make us laugh, make us cry, make us think, and above all: make us care.
Nonfiction theme of the month: narrative hook
The narrative hook is exactly what it sounds like – the thing that grabs the reader’s attention and keeps them wanting more. This month–with Rowan’s help–we’re going to help you play around with the concept. It’s a great complement to the oh-so-important “so what.”
Is fiction more your thing?
The fiction|poetry grid opens on Tuesday. Grab a mic and join our monthly poetry slam or check out our weekly prompt up!
Prompt up!
Prompt up is our optional weekly writing prompt for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here’s how it works: we choose a sentence prompt from last week’s winning nonfiction post and announce it in the kickoff. It’s your job to use that prompt as the first sentence in your poem or story and then run with it. The prompt is just a springboard, though: feel free to keep it as your first sentence, move it somewhere else, change it, or yank it out completely.
Cris’s exploration of what exactly makes a person a hero was last week’s nonfiction winner. Congrats, Cris! This week’s Prompt Up: Everyone kept a safe distance from the flames.
January poetry slam: aubade
It’s the dawn of a new year, and so this month’s poetry slam is particularly fitting. An aubade is a love poem or song – in any form – welcoming or lamenting the arrival of the dawn. It’s the poem that you write for your lover after you slip out the window at sunrise, or the song, full of joy or sorrow, that you sing for the arrival of the dawn. Need more to get started? Rowan has all the details for you.
This week’s ultimate question: where’s the party?
Answer this question in exactly 42 words for the microstory challenge, or use it to inspire your submission to the other competitive grids. The microstory challenge opens on Wednesday.
Tips for your microstories
This week’s answer requires two things: a party that is currently occurring, and the location of that party. Yes, I know that the word “party” has other definitions, but for our purposes here, we are talking about a social gathering of invited guests, typically involving eating, drinking, and entertainment.
Please pay attention to tense: we don’t want to know about last month’s Christmas party or next week’s birthday party. We want to know about the party that’s happening right now.
Remember: do not include the question in your title or your answer. Do not include extra words – no footnotes (except for photo credits), no explanations, no shout-outs. Do not rely on your word processor or blog to give you an accurate word count. COUNT YOUR WORDS WITH YOUR EYES. Posts that do not meet these standards will not be moved to the voting grid.
Questions? Want to talk it through? Grab a latte at the coffeehouse and chat with your fellow yeah writers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Winners’ round-up
In case you missed them, you can find last week’s yeah write staff picks and crowd favorites all laid out for you on Friday’s winners’ post. Leave the winners some love in the comments. They will love you right back, we guarantee it.
Weekend writing showcase
The weekend’s not over: the moonshine grid is still open. Have something to add? Old posts and new are welcome. No moderation, no voting. It’s a laid-back relaxed kind of place. Just leave your commercial or sponsored posts at home. Drop by, share your work, and while you’re there, visit your fellow yeah writers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
