[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
You Are What You Read
What I’m about to say may sound like the opposite, so let me make this royal proclamation right upfront: I do not dislike bloggers. I started writing for public consumption as a blogger, and I get paid to be a blogger. There’s nothing wrong with blogs or bloggers or blogging.
I also love pizza. Pizza is easy and convenient, relatively cheap, and can show up on my doorstep with very little effort on my part. If I can eat just one slice, it’s got portion control built right in (Note: I cannot eat just one slice.). You can put delicious toppings on it and make it extra special. It resembles a complete meal, what with its grain, vegetable, and protein combo, even in its plainest form.
I live in northern NJ, home of very delicious pizza. Still, anyone can make a pizza. There’s no pizza license requirement. You get ingredients and an oven, and you can make something you will call a pizza. You can put up a flashy sign offering $6 pizza night, and I’ll wander in to see if it’s worth it. I’ve had to weed out the good pizza from the bad, which wasn’t possible until I had really good pizza.
Anyone can write on a blog. You get a platform and some words and, boom, you’re a writer for all the world to see. If all you consume are blogs, particularly those with no gatekeeper to keep out the riff-raff, you can end up consuming some subpar words. Some blogs are designed to catch you with a flashy headline, and then they lack substance. But if you aren’t reading good words, you won’t know the difference.
If you don’t know the difference between good and bad* (and, yes, I realize to an extent this is very subjective), then you can’t produce good writing/pizza either. I’m not knocking blogging – I’m just saying you have to read everything, all genres, styles, mediums, to know how to write. It’s not a step you can skip when you’re busy**.
*This goes for long form work, too. And, burritos.
**I’m talking to myself here, but if the shoe fits…
TL;DR: At yeah write, we value words with substance, not just a cheap pizza. Or something like that.
Yeah write super challenge
The yeah write super challenge #3 is now open for early (discounted!) registration! Make sure you fill our your registration form and send in payment before the deadline to be fully admitted to the contest. Don’t forget to sign up for our email blast as well so you don’t miss out on any announcements.[/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: connections
This month’s nonfiction know-how is learning the difference between navelgazing and reaching outward. That is, as storytellers we’re at our finest when it’s not about us, it’s about the reader. So when you write an introspective post, think about saying instead of “am I the only one who feels like this,” you should be saying “I feel like this too, you are not alone.” Learn more from Rowan here.
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 announce a sentence prompt from last week’s winning nonfiction Post. It’s your job to use that prompt in your story or poem in some way. Feel free to use it as your first sentence, move it somewhere else, change it, or float down it to other territories.
Lisa showed us how addiction controlled her day at camp with her son in her post The Corner Where Shame Meets Pain. This week’s prompt taken from her essay is: “An old fan in the corner, blades caked in dust, is blowing on me.”
January poetry slam: the couplet
A good couplet acts almost like a microstory. Are you able to set up a scene and an interaction all in the space of two lines? For this month’s slam, you’ll be trying to do just that. Learn more from Rowan here.[/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 yeah write weekend writing showcase 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]
