Schedules Are Sacred
I am one of those people who live and die by their schedule. Everything needs to happen when it’s supposed to happen or I end up losing all sense of timing. Case in point: This past week was Independence Day in the US. It fell on a Wednesday, which is typically a day I go into the office to work. The day before, I had to work from home because of inspections related to selling the house. On Thursdays and Fridays I’m usually home but my kid still goes to day camp, but Friday he didn’t go and instead spent the day and night with his grandparents. Having him out for the evening, my husband and I had a date night and caught a movie, something we never do on a Friday. All this to say that when I realized this morning (Saturday) that I forgot to write this week’s kickoff intro, I was thrilled that I had what I feel is a pretty solid excuse: I had no idea what day it was.
Do you know what day it is? Well, check a calendar and don’t miss out on participating in this week’s challenge!
Welcome to Week 378
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.
Looking For Microprose?
Our tiniest challenge with the biggest bang is open the first Wednesday of every month from midnight to 10 p.m.
Nonfiction Challenge
Burst of Color
I came back from ten days in California, and during my absence, my hydrangeas bloomed. I have a lot of them so the border around my yard is lovely right now, especially since the lilies and roses are still out in full-force too. Most of my hydrangeas are blue, but I have a few plants, my favorites, that are pink and purple. It’s all about the soil acidity, so probably the pink ones are courtesy of my dog peeing there. Shhhh, don’t tell. I would, however, love it if you would tell a story for the nonfiction grid this week! Remember, there is no mandatory prompt for nonfiction, but if you need and idea, you can use “flower” as a prompt or ask for a different prompt in the YeahWrite Coffeehouse on Facebook. Have fun!
Technique Toolbox: Writing About Writing (Part III)
Ready to start reading critically, and learning how to describe what you see when you do read? Check out Part III of our vocabulary and skill-building critique series in this month’s Technique Toolbox! This month we’ll dive into substantive issues: the stuff that’s frustrating to read, how to spot big problems and plot holes, and a few gentle ways to break that news to the author who trusted you with a work they care a lot about in its current form.
Nonfiction Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry Challenge
Summer Holiday
When I was a kid, my father used to sing Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday (the theme song from the movie of the same name starring Cliff) as we pulled weeds from the lawn at the weekend. In the movie, Cliff and his friends travel around Europe in a double decker bus.
When I was a teen, the hit U.K. TV sitcom The Young Ones (named after another Cliff Richard song) was practically mandatory viewing. For their twelfth and final episode, Summer Holiday, the boys went on a disastrous bus trip to Europe.
Now as an adult, I’m finally on my first ever trip to Europe during the northern hemisphere’s summer. I’m on my summer holiday, y’all!
July Poetry Slam: Chant
Same old, same old. But the same old can be brand new when you read it in a different context. This month we’re exploring chants, a kind of singsong poetry with a line that stays the same and keeps changing, depending on where you read it in the poem. Join us!
Prompt Up!
Prompt Up is our mandatory weekly writing prompt for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here's How It Works!
For those of you who appreciate a looser prompt, July is the month for you! This month we’re only giving a setting prompt to frame your story around. However, more than half of your story MUST take place at this location. Characters, plot, genre, voice are all up to you!
The prompt, from YeahWrite #376 fiction|poetry winner Stephanie of Imaginings Blog, is: the ocean floor.*
*This is where I’m going to tell you a little secret. I like writing to more than one prompt. So I will probably Google “random prompt generator” and give myself a second one, but that’s just me. Shhh! No one needs to know.
Poets: Write a poem set on the ocean floor or write a chant (or combine the two).
Fiction|Poetry Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Last chance! Registration for Super Challenge #9 (nonfiction) is only open through July 11! Don’t miss out. Register today! 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.
