Year Is Ending, Blah, Blah, Blah
Just like every other website, newsletter, written thingamabob, I’m going to point out that 2017 is on its way out. I know many of us aren’t exactly sad to see it go. If you’re anything like me, you start planning out your new year in November. So since I have 2018 on the brain, I’m going to put this out there now. Are you looking ahead yet? Any big plans for your writing? Have you narrowed your goals? Tell us in comments below or post them in the Coffeehouse. When you’re done, go write something for one of our grids!
Welcome to Week 347
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. And don’t forget – since this is the first Wednesday of the month, grids with more than 5 entries will be moderated by our submissions editor!
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
Finding My Muse
I’ve never actually felt like I had a muse, but at one point I was writing and now I am not. So, maybe? My writing goal is simple: write. Something, anything. I may have written a couple of Stitch Fix Reviews this year but that hardly qualifies. I’ve felt stuck for a long time, and all of the terrible things happening in the world right now are not helping. Also, as if conspiring against me, my dashboard has some wonky formatting issue that I (so far) can’t figure out how to fix. It’s like my pen doesn’t even work properly, as if I need another hurdle. But I don’t want to give up forever. I want 2018 to be the year I slough off my writer’s block and post to the grid(s) more often than not. Those of you who are also stuck or lurking: won’t you join me?
Nonfiction Know-How: How I Spent 2017
It’s been a long year, and you’re almost ready to write about it. Get started with Rowan’s roundup of some of our favorite technical knowhow posts from past months. She’s even organized them into pre-writing, writing, and post-production tips to make your journey through your essay smoother than 2017 has been.
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!
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry Challenge
Om for the Holidays
Did you hear that noise? It sounded like someone trying to turn over a flooded tractor engine. Yeah, that’s me trying to figure out how I’m going to hit my writing goals between treks into the city for the perfect gifts, avoiding that one drunk friend/coworker at the holiday parties, and slamming 18 boxes of holiday decorations up on my walls. Do you guys have any ideas? Because some writing time sounds like the perfect peaceful escape from all the green and red crazy.
December Poetry Slam: It’s a free-for-all!
Got a favorite form of poetry? So do we. Rowan rounds up some of our best-loved poetry tutorials for the end of the year, including short forms for those stolen holiday moments, and a few refrains for the carolers out there. Catch her in the coffeehouse if you need a prompt or line!
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.
Robin brought us back to her childhood in Don’t Count Out the Pixie. The prompt, taken from her essay, is: “Her eyes were red as I’ve ever seen them.”
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!
Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Our sixth Super Challenge is officially over! Congrats to Laura Duerr who took the top spot and to Christina Grant and Gail Webber for rounding out the top three! Ready for the next one? Registration for Super Challenge #7 (Nonfiction) is open now, and make sure you sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any announcements for the Super Challenge.
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.
Is there any reason I am unable to see my post in the non-fiction category?
Hi! I know you’ve seen your email by now, but this can be a reminder to everyone else – if you can’t find your entry on the voting grid, and you *know* you submitted correctly because you saw it show up when you added it, check your inbox. There’s probably a note from our editors!