You’re Really Going to Want to Read This

I love to tell you quirky things about myself, so here’s another one: I’m totally freaked out by change and yet I crave it constantly. That means I am often looking for new and different experiences and then I make myself bananas trying to keep up and endure the chaos.

It also means that things around YeahWrite can change often, too, and we’ve got another one for you. We think you’re going to like it. Beginning today, we will combine our Nonfiction opener (the one that goes live on Mondays) and the Fiction|Poetry opener (the one that goes live on Tuesdays) into this Kickoff post (the one that goes live on Sundays). In other words, no matter where you want to participate, it’s all right here in the Sunday Kickoff post. The Microprose Challenge, when it’s a Microprose week, will have its own post on Wednesday but we’ll remind you about it right here as well.

But wait, there’s more! Nonfictioneers, your available word count for essays will now be 750, not 1,000. Edit accordingly! Fictioneers, you’re getting an extra day to post your stories as the Fiction|Poetry grid will now open on Mondays at the same time as Nonfiction.

Let us know what you think of these changes in comments, or via email, Facebook, or Twitter! If you have any questions, please let us know. We’re always looking to make YeahWrite simpler for our participants and we hope this did the trick!

(Next week’s post will be shorter – we promise!)

Welcome to Week 338

We’re kicking off the week in style at YeahWrite with both our competitive challenge grids in one post, plus prompts, tips, tricks and more. You asked, we answered! Keep scrolling down cause it’s all right here.

Submissions for this week’s challenges open on Monday at 12 midnight and close on Wednesday at 10pm ET. Voting will then open immediately thereafter and close on Thursday at 10pm ET. The winners, as always, will be celebrated on Friday.

Having trouble getting started? Hop on over to our quick guide. And don’t forget to doublecheck the full submission guidelines before you hit that button.

Microprose Challenge Opens Wednesday

This week has the first Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means: our tiniest challenge will be open for under 24 hours, starting Wednesday at midnight! Every microprose challenge has different rules, so you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled and your fingers fast. Need a quick link to the challenge? This one goes live when the microprose grid opens.

Nonfiction Challenge

Stretch Your Muscles

I started practicing yoga two years ago but my hamstrings still don’t think I should be doing certain poses, including, frankly, most all of them. At the moment, these “long” muscles in the back of my legs severely limit my bendability. My yoga teacher says “Don’t worry, it will come in time. That’s why it’s called a practice.” I have no choice but to believe her but progress seems painfully slow; Pun intended.

This morning while my hamstrings screamed in protest during Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), I thought about how writing progress can feel painfully slow too. And how with both yoga and writing, practice is the key to success, or if not success at least improvement, which I for one would call a victory. Ready to practice your writing? You are in the right place! Everyone has personal anecdotes, but can you write a compelling story about one of them this week? I know you can.

Nonfiction Know-How: Foreshadowing

“No spoilers” is the perennial cry of the TV viewer. But spoilers can be your best friend in writing. Learn how to effectively fore (and five) shadow in this month’s Nonfiction Know-How. Get your Nonfiction Know-How right here.

Nonfiction challenge grid:

Basic YeahWrite guidelines: 750 word limit; your entry can be dated no earlier than this past Sunday; nonfiction personal or persuasive essay, creative opinion piece or mostly true story based on actual events.

Check the submission guidelines for our full set of rules. If you’re not sure how to link up, hop over to our quick tutorial for getting started at YeahWrite! Otherwise, click that blue button when the challenge is open, and good luck! Come back to vote starting Wednesday at 10pm, and check out our winners on Friday!

Fiction|Poetry Challenge

Shedding Light

One time when I was a little girl visiting my Dad’s village in Kerala, South India, I encountered a Velichappad. Conduits between the gods and people, Velichappads bring answers to important questions. You can find some very cool information on them here and here, some extraordinary photos here, and a video here (WARNING: video contains footage of the Velichappad ritually cutting his scalp with a long-handled sickle).

I no longer remember what the issue was that needed illuminating by this fearsome mediator, this shedder of light, but all the adults nodded sagely as the oracle jumped and hopped around in the dirt in front of my grandmother’s porch, cutting open his scalp and babbling obscure answers to direct questions.

Sometimes when I’m writing, I feel like a Velichappad. I’m the mediator, the conduit between the characters and the plot. There’s probably about the same amount of hopping and jumping, but considerably less hitting myself on the head with a curved blade.

Regardless of whether your story is character driven or plot driven, the actions of the characters should fit with what the reader knows about them. Did your character, a five-year-old girl with her hair in pigtails, just kill another character? Does that fit with what the reader knows about her? What are her motivations for killing the other character? What does this character want?

Tune in to your characters, ask what they want, and see if you can clearly convey that to the readers through your plot. Be the Velichappad for your stories.

October Poetry Slam Techtober: Point of View

If you’ve ever wondered what the difference between first, second, and third person is – and why you should care – October’s technique post is for you. Learn about points of view, narrative style, and when to use which from Rowan this month!

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. It’s your job to use that prompt in your poem or story and then run with it. The prompt is just a springboard, though: feel free to use it as your first sentence, move it, change it, or float it down to other territories.

Rowan keeps your hair back while you puke but won’t ever let you live it down afterword in her essay The Aunts Go Marching. The Prompt Up taken from her essay is: “Some people are not interested in being rescued as much as they’re interested in the tragedy of their lives.”

Fiction|poetry challenge grid:

Basic YeahWrite guidelines: 750 word limit; your entry can be dated no earlier than this past Sunday; fiction or poetry only.

Check the submission guidelines for our full set of rules. If you’re not sure how to link up, hop over to our quick tutorial for getting started at YeahWrite! Otherwise, click that blue button when the challenge is open, and good luck! Come back to vote starting Wednesday at 10pm, and check out our winners on Friday!

YeahWrite Super Challenge

Our fifth Super Challenge is officially over! Congrats to our winners! Did you miss out? Sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any announcements for Super Challenge #6. Registration is open now!!!

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 last Friday’s winners’ post. Leave the winners some love in the comments. They will love you right back, we guarantee it.

Last call: This week’s Weekend Writing Showcase is still open for business until the challenge grids start at midnight! 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:

Michelle submitted her first entry to YeahWrite in March 2012 and they haven’t been able to get rid of her since. After nearly 20 years in the insurance/employee benefits industry, she decided to give it all up to pursue writing full time. Her work has been featured on The Huffington Post and xoJane, as well as several local sites near her northern NJ home. She blogs at Michelle Longo.