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Some weeks are big
It was quite a week for me. I turned 40, I became editor-in-chief here at yeah write, I held a plank for a minute and two seconds, and I made some progress on my memoir and a long form fiction project. Is it luck or happenstance? Just some weird coincidence that when it rained it also poured?
Keep slogging
I could leave you with the above paragraph and let you think everything goes like this for me all the time. I love social media and online communities, but sometimes they can leave me feeling like everyone has all the luck and the fabulous times and I’m just here slogging away with nothing to show of it. I’m here to tell you that most of us are just slogging away most of the time. That moment of joy when something great happens can be surrounded by a million moments of nonsense that feel like failure.
Rarely is anyone an instant success. There are so many stumbling blocks along the way. You just have to keep stumbling until, at some point, you realize you’re starting to get somewhere. You can’t give up. No matter what the goal is – writing a book, hitting a fitness goal, just surviving until 40 – you just have to keep slogging.
I see you there. Great job! Keep going.
(Also, write an essay or some fiction or poetry and get on a grid!)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The basics
Yeah write gives you two competitive challenge grids — nonfiction and fiction|poetry — both of which are unmoderated. Everyone gets to the voting round on Thursday. (Remember, your post must be dated appropriately, not be offensive to our audience, and cannot be over word count.) 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. 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 know-how: writing without crutches
Writing about the most difficult – and exhilarating – times can be cathartic. Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in the emotion of it all and we “tell, don’t show” or rely on crutches to convey our feelings. It’s those times when we don’t do that when our work stands out. This month, Rowan offers up some advice on avoiding those crutches and really showing the reader how you feel. Fictioneers, there’s some good stuff in here for you, too, so don’t miss this one!
Because June 1 is a Wednesday, we’re giving you the option to finish up May or get started on June’s writing help: editing! Rowan has some wise words for us on the subject.
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, change it, or float down it to other territories.
Last week, Meg gave some memorable advice in her post, For the Class of 2016. This week’s prompt inspired by her words is: She closed her eyes to smell the phlox.
May poetry slam: the rondeau
We don’t usually do two similar forms back-to-back, but this month we’re building on the bop with another “song” poem, the rondeau. There’s a few more rules to the rondeau, some rhyming and some scanning you’ll have to do, but it’s a lovely and lyrical form that uses skills you already have and then shakes them up in fifteen lines and a refrain. Give it a try! If you’ve been feeling intimidated by the poetry slams, this is a perfect time to get your feet wet and get some feedback with the unmoderated grid.
Just like with the writing help, we’re giving you your choice of poetry forms. For June, we’ll be looking at the asefru. I’ll let Rowan explain it to you.[/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]
