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Something about life and lemons

I’m sure it’s actually based on a series of choices I’ve made, but I like to blame the universe for my current predicament: No one pays me to write only what I want to write. That means that my passion projects, the fun stuff or the stuff I need to write, have to happen outside of standard business hours, fighting for attention among the laundry and the dishes and the kid and the dog and the [insert infinite list of things I have to do].

To combat this, I try to wake up at 4:30 to write. This isn’t always easy, but when it works, it really works. Unfortunately, it still leaves me only limited time each day to focus. I could be totally in the zone, but when 6:30 hits, real life starts and the projects get pushed to the side.

I’m currently staring down a monstrous task: reworking my memoir. It’s a huge undertaking, not unlike writing the first draft in the first place. It’s not the kind of thing I can break into little interrupted chunks and get done successfully or any time soon. So I booked myself a little writing retreat. Hotwire found me a room in a nice hotel for less than $100 for the night. I will be locking myself in there for about 20 hours for a marathon writing session.

My point is this: If you want to write, make a way to do it. There’s always a way.

Yeah write super challenge!!!

The final round of our first nonfiction super challenge kicked off on Friday! Good luck to all our remaining contestants!

Did you miss out on registration? The next super challenge coming this fall will be for all you fictioneers out there so don’t miss out on any announcements. Sign up for our mailer today! We promise not to spam you.[/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 ET. 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.

Is fiction more your thing?

The fiction|poetry grid opens on Tuesday. Grab a mic and 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.

This week’s prompt comes to us from Amy Bee at Lion by the Tail: I was haunting my life.

Wait! Where’s the nonfiction know-how and poetry slam?

For the next two months, we’re taking some time off from our nonfiction know-how and poetry slams to focus on the super challenge. However, you can always check out our archives if you’re needing a little more inspiration this week. Happy writing![/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]