It’s Not New, But It’s Good
I was recently reading an article about how to get started writing. It wasn’t necessarily genre-specific, but the advice was pretty solid, if nothing new. (A better person would have remembered where she saw this article and would have linked to it here, but I’m not that person.) One of the things that especially stuck out for me though was the recommendation to journal or to write morning pages. There are all sorts of tips and tricks for setting forth on either practice, but essentially it’s about writing out a certain amount per day or just doing a brain dump of thoughts and feelings. This free writing opens you up mentally to do the more serious writing you’re planning to do. Or, it could serve as a springboard for a personal essay or the premise for a memoir or novel.
The truth is that many writers get stuck trying to write that perfect thing right out of the gate and for 99.9% of writers, that’s just not going to work. You’ll need to edit, revise, start over, whatever, before your piece is ready to go. By writing out some thoughts where you won’t be concerned with editing, grammar, spelling, and other hang ups, you can get your mind moving in the right (and write) direction.
What do you think? Do you have a similar writing exercise?
Monthly Microprose
It’s that time again! This Wednesday you’ll have 22 hours to give us your best short-short story. We’ll announce the prompt and word count at midnight (US Eastern time) in a special Wednesday post, so stay tuned! Need a little refresher on what makes a good micro? We’ve got you covered.
YeahWrite Super Challenge
The first round of Super Challenge #4 is officially underway! Good luck to all of our contestants as they await their results. If you missed out on registration for this particular challenge, be sure to sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any announcements for upcoming challenges.
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: Saving your darlings
Reading someone else’s journal (unless the entry is about you) is about as exciting as looking at photos of a vacation to a place you’ve never been and didn’t want to go. But our journals are an important record of our lives, and as nonfiction writers we need that record to tell our stories. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with your old journal entries, or wanted to turn them into the kind of stories a reader wants to know more about, Rowan’s got some tips for you right here.
Is fiction more your thing?
The Fiction|Poetry Challenge 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 it down to other territories.
Rowan talked about the things she doesn’t talk about in her post, Memoir. This week’s Prompt Up taken from her essay is: “We’re popular enough at parties.”
May ‘Poetry’ Slam: Constructive Criticism
Writing poetry is great, but reading it is better… right up until you’re asked to give feedback. This month instead of trying out a new form, Rowan gives us her hints and tips about what makes poetry poetry, how to read it, and how to offer feedback that’s more useful than “I thought it was pretty.”
Winners’ Round-Up
In case you missed them, you can find last week’s YeahWrite 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.
About the author:
