Happy New Year!
Well, here we are – the last day of 2017. I love the new year because it gives me a chance for a fresh start. I have big plans and high hopes for 2018. How about you? Do you love to make resolutions and goals or does December flow into January without much fanfare? Whatever you do and whatever a new year means to you, everyone here at YeahWrite wishes you all the best for a happy, peaceful, and successful year. We’re so glad you’re here with us. We couldn’t do this without you, and we look forward to seeing you in the coming year.
Welcome to Week 351
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
Resolutions?
Remember when we talked about resolutions? No? Well, we did. Mine was write more. I already did that. But that doesn’t mean I’m done. Let’s not delay – make your 2018 resolutions now. Write, just write. Or do something else you’re passionate about. Just do the thing.
Technique Toolbox
New year, new look: we’ve revamped the old Nonfiction Know-how to include our fictioneers. We’re kicking the year off with a bang, too! We know you’ve sworn to write more this year, and that you’re combing the ‘net for inspiration. But how do you acknowledge those linkups, prompts, and accountability buddies without losing your reader’s interest? Rowan has some ideas for you right here. Or she will, when that link goes live on January 1.
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
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
So, the YeahWrite Editors have been trying to think of ways to connect our weekly fiction|poetry challenges to the fiction Super Challenge. We wanted the weeklies to help participants hone their skills for the Super Challenge and other writing competitions. I’m really excited to announce our new fiction|poetry weekly challenge that will start this week:
For Fiction
- there will be two prompts each week: a prompt generated by the YeahWrite editors and a prompt generated by a previous winner of the fiction|poetry challenge. That’s right! Winners decide one of the prompts! If you’re a crowd fave winner on the fiction|poetry grid, keep an eye out for an email from us. If we don’t hear back from you by the deadline we’ll pick our own prompt, and what fun is that? Generally, winners will decide the prompt for the challenge two after the one they won (so 349 picks 351, and so forth).
- the two prompts are MANDATORY for flash fiction submissions.
- the two prompt styles will vary month to month; they may include emotions, specific words, a specific sentence, genres, photographs, etc. There is no limit to how we can change it up.
- the prompts will be posted in the kick-off on Sunday. Submissions will be accepted through Wednesday at 10 pm EST (same as before). Everyone will have a little less than 4 days to write and edit a story.
- YeahWrite editors reserve the right to alter the winner’s prompt. We’ll give you some suggestions for what makes a prompt inspiring and functional, but we’ve noticed that some work better than others and if we think folks will struggle with yours we might need to tweak it.
For Poetry
- You’ll need to incorporate at least one of the three possible prompts. Each fiction prompt counts as a single prompt, and the poetry slam counts as a prompt.
- This means you can write poetry about one of the two fiction prompts, in any form you like, or about anything you like, using the form given in that month’s poetry slam.
- Yes, you can use more than one of our prompts in your poem!
We’re very excited about our new challenge, and we hope you are, too!
Prompt Up(s)!
The first prompt is: your story must include a character whose occupation is a baker.
The second prompt, from YeahWrite #349 fiction|poetry winner Nate, is: your story must contain the following sentence: “We closed our eyes.”
Poets: write a poem that includes a baker, a poem that includes the prompt sentence, or an erasure poem (see the poetry slam write-up below; you can look it up online or wait for the link to go live January 1).
January Poetry Slam: Erasure
Out with the old, in with the new. Or rather, let’s make something old into something new this month, as Rowan teaches us to experiment with erasure poems. These no-meter no-rhyme poems are made by deleting words from an existing text. Rowan’s even got some fun ideas for how to show the difference between the original text and your poem. Won’t you join us?
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
Registration for Super Challenge #7 (Nonfiction) is open now! 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.
