One Wish
If you had one wish for your writing, what would it be? Time to do what you love? Money to sustain your household while you pursue your dream? Confidence to share your work with the world? I think often we feel like if that One Thing was in place, everything else would fall in line. Does that sound familiar? If you’re anything like me, wishing for things rarely works out. If that’s so for you, what little step could you take today to be closer to where you want to be? We might not be able to make wishes come true, but we can take small actions that lead us in the right direction, can’t we?
Welcome to Week 393
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
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
It was a dark and stormy night. No really. I don’t know what it will be like when this post goes live, but as I’m writing this, it’s truly dark and stormy. Don’t write like that though. That melodrama, called purple prose, is something to avoid, in both fiction and nonfiction (unless we tell you to do it for fun, like we once did on the microprose grid). If you find yourself loading your stories with too many adjectives or, even worse, adverbs, you are most likely telling, not showing. What are you going to show us this week? The nonfiction grid has no mandatory prompts so you can write about anything you’d like. But if you need a little nudge, write about being trapped indoors. If you want a different idea, feel free to ask in the YeahWrite Coffeehouse on Facebook. Go!
Technique Toolbox: The Joyride
Bored? Tired? Can’t figure out who your characters are and what they want? Try taking them out for a joyride in an alternate universe. What would your main character do if everything was the same except the setting? And don’t worry, nonfictioneers, this month’s Technique Toolbox has you covered too, with some tips for how to reframe your personal essays!
Nonfiction Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry Challenge
Give Them Wings, And A GPS
I’d been feeling a little down about how many stories I’ve submitted to paying sites and competitions this year. Then I took a look at my spreadsheet and was pleasantly surprised to discover I’d been much more productive than I thought. Do you keep a spreadsheet of all the places you’ve pitched or submitted to? What details do you record? Do you use a spreadsheet program like MS Excel? Do you create a table in a Word document? Or do you write it out by hand in a notebook? Let me know in the comments how you’re keeping track of your wordy babies.
October Poetry Slam: The Pitch
One of the best ways to learn to write poetry is to read the work of established poets and see what they’re doing. Danez Smith just became the youngest-ever winner of the Forward poetry prize, so this month we’ll be spending a little time with one of their poems, PITCH FOR A MOVIE: LION KING IN THE HOOD deconstructing what makes it work and trying to write our own pitch-style poem. Join us!
Prompt Up!
Prompt Up is our mandatory weekly writing prompts for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here's How It Works!
It’s October and we’ve got two brand new prompts for you. The first prompt is a mandatory line of dialogue that can be used anywhere in your story. Your job is to match your writing to it. If they use a word or phrase you would never use, then create a writing style that would use that phrase. Just like September’s opening line prompt, the dialogue prompt should be incorporated smoothly and naturally.
The first prompt, from YeahWrite #391 fiction|poetry winner Anusha, is: “And if she doesn’t come?”
The second prompt is a theme prompt. The theme is not the plot, it isn’t the rise and fall of action, it’s a more general sense of what the story is about. For example, a theme of Cinderella is good vs. evil.
The second prompt, from the YeahWrite editors, is: vengeance.
Poets: Write a poem using the line of dialogue somewhere in your work, or write a poem incorporating the theme, or write a poem in this month’s poetry slam form, The Pitch.
Fiction|Poetry Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Super Challenge #10 (fiction) is officially underway! Good look to our second round contestants as they anxiously await the results. Did you miss out on registration? Make sure you 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 YeahWriters.
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.
hey! I’m new to this website and I think I get how this works but am slightly confused. I want to participate and submit something for the fiction challenge. My only question is: Do I look only at the 2 prompts provided or the entire post has other prompts too?
Hi, welcome! Yes, for the fiction challenge you need to incorporate the two fiction prompts into your work, and then the whole work needs to follow our overall guidelines, which are basically “keep it under 750 words, put the badge on it, and respect the dignity and diversity of our community.” A more complete set of guidelines can be found here: https://yeahwrite.me/jump-in-newbie-page/ and if you’re struggling at any point feel free to drop us a line at editors@yeahwrite.me and we’ll walk you through whatever’s got you stuck.