Shout Out to the Best Team Ever
Around 3am I woke up thinking, “Oh darn*, I forgot to write the intro!” (*It wasn’t really “darn.”)
I am chronically overscheduled, I work too much and only remember to do things that I write down and that’s only when I remember to look at my list and my planner. YeahWrite is one of 4 regular jobs I have, so it’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes. And because all that isn’t enough, a few days ago I listed my house for sale so my family can move from New Jersey to Los Angeles.
If I didn’t have this amazing team to stay on top of everything and keep me on track, we’d fall apart. Everything you see here, even if I did it, happens because of the help of others. I’ve never worked on a team so willing to help each other and keep things moving, reminding the Editor in Chief week after week that she has a thing to do and not getting mad when she’s late… again. I love these people and thought you all should know.
Go write something. I have to get ready for an open house and attend a gala today because those two things on the same day are totally perfect.
Welcome to Week 373
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.
Micro weeks are moderated weeks!
That’s right – with the microprose grid comes moderation on all three grids. That means that on any grid with more than five entries, we’ll be looking for more than just the bare minimum required to meet the submission guidelines. We want to see your best writing, with a strong so-what on the nonfiction grid and smooth prompt integration on the fiction|poetry grid. We’ll also be checking adherence to the poetry slam form, and keeping an eye out for persistent grammar issues in your work. That doesn’t mean you need to write the way your eighth grade English teacher told you, though! That would be pretty boring. Voice is the way in which a writer breaks the rules of grammar deliberately to advance a point. So break the rules – but do it on purpose and know which rule you’re breaking.
It’s not as scary as it sounds! If your writing is struggling in a moderated week, one of our editors will send you a “love letter” explaining where you lost us and making a few editing suggestions. We won’t move you forward to the vote, but you’ll get specific, personal feedback on your writing. And don’t worry. All of our editors have gotten at least one “love letter” on a post too!
So what are we looking for?
- Posts for the nonfiction grid should be anecdotes that contain one clear idea, the reason for telling the story. More than a journal entry, submissions are required to have what we refer to as a “so what.” Posts can also be personal or persuasive essays that give your perspective on the world and communicate a clear idea to the reader. All nonfiction challenge posts must adhere to the basic rules of grammar and punctuation.
- Posts for the fiction|poetry challenge must be self-contained stories or poetry. Chapters or ongoing work can be submitted so long as the submission tells a complete story and does not require knowledge or understanding of the remainder of the work in order to read the individual submission that week.
- Poetry must be structurally sound within the rules of the form chosen; that is, a sonnet must follow the form of a sonnet and not have errors in rhyme and scansion.
- Posts for the microprose grid must adhere to the microprose rules laid out in that month’s challenge.
- And of course, all the ordinary submission guidelines like word count still apply!
Nonfiction Challenge
Windy City
Hello! Welcome to the nonfiction challenge. Are you new here? This grid is for mostly-true stories. Stories are not just random thoughts or diary entries. Stories must contain a “so what,” something that makes the reader care. You can read more about that here. Additionally our nonfiction grid has no prompt requirements. However, if you’d like a prompt, you can ask for one in the comments of this post or in the YeahWrite Coffehouse on Facebook. Or if I tell you I’ll be in Chicago when this post goes live and if that reminds you that you have a great story about Chicago, about wind, about a city, you can do that too. Otherwise, just write the story you wish to tell.
Technique Toolbox: Writing About Writing (Part II)
Ready to start reading critically, and learning how to describe what you see when you do read? Check out Part II of our vocabulary and skill-building critique series in this month’s Technique Toolbox! We’re focusing on structural and grammatical issues this month, and teaching you gentle ways to break the news to your friend that their writing needs a little polish, and where.
Nonfiction Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry Challenge
Chameleon
I know. Writing to match other voices isn’t easy. But as a professional writer, it has served me well. I just transitioned from writing and editing a loose and fun book intended for 17 year olds to a more academic book for 10 year olds, and I’m working hard to match the style and phrase sentences in simpler ways.
Okay, but why should you try it?
Writing in other people’s styles helps clarify your own voice. You can work with a prompt and know it’s not a sentence or idea that would ever occur to you. And — even better — know how you would rephrase it and make it your own. It’s also a good way to distinguish characters’ speech patterns. Have you ever read a book in which every character was indistinguishable because they seemed to have the same voice? Assuming a voice that isn’t the one in your head will prevent that from happening in your own work.
Have I convinced you to give it a shot?
June Poetry Slam: Ae Freislighe
Who needs meter when you’ve got rhyme? In this month’s poetry slam we’re working with syllabic quatrains to build an ae freislighe (say “aye freshly”), an Irish poetry form with a straightforward rhyme scheme and a twist at the end. Join us!
Prompt Up!
Prompt Up is our mandatory weekly writing prompt for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here's How It Works!
June is all about being smooth. We’re giving you two prompts that need to be worked into your story without sticking out like a broken mop in a garbage bag. One way to know if you’re smooth is to leave off any notes that tell people the prompts you wrote to. That way if someone leaves a comment saying, “I’m not sure why there are piggy banks in your story at all” (ahem–that might be a direct quote) then you know your story still needs some fine-tuning.
The first prompt to incorporate into your story is the following object in an INTEGRAL way: a popcorn popper.
The second prompt, from YeahWrite #371 fiction|poetry winner Laura, is to use the following sentence VERBATIM as either the first or the final sentence of your story: Retirement had never looked so appealing.
We’ll let you decide how much you want to practice prompt inclusion. Stronger pieces will match the verb tense and writing style of the sentence prompt. They will also use the object prompt in an integral way. In other words, in a way that the story wouldn’t make sense if the object were replaced with another. You may add quotations around the sentence, but those wanting a challenge will want to leave the sentence as is and find a way to work around it.
Poets: Use the object prompt, write a poem using the required sentence, or write an ae freislighe (or any combination of those three).
Fiction|Poetry Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Congrats to Myna Chang, our Super Challenge #8 champion! Please also give a big round of applause to Laura Duerr and Cayce Osborne who rounded out the top three! Registration for Super Challenge #9 (nonfiction) is open now! Make sure you also sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any Super Challenge announcements.
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.
YeahWrite in the Wild
You read their words every week, but it's not often you get to see the people behind those words. Browse through our gallery and see if you can spot regular contributors or editors.
If you'd like to be featured in the gallery, simply head over to our Swag shop, make your purchase, then when it arrives send us a photo of you in/with your YeahWrite swag to editors@yeahwrite.me.
About the author:
Michelle submitted her first entry to YeahWrite in March 2012 and was brought on staff shortly thereafter. Over the years, Michelle has been an integral figure at YeahWrite, but in 2016, we were thrilled to have her step into the role of Editor-In-Chief. Personally, she has worked in the insurance/employee benefits industry for over twenty years and also fills her time as a freelance writer. 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.
