How’s It Going?
We’re chugging along steadily toward the middle of November – how are you holding up? Are you hitting those word counts and daily goals? How many of the NaNoDoMore challenge items have you crossed off the list? Wherever you are on your writing journey, shout about it in the Coffeehouse! You’ll find lots of supportive YeahWriters who know what you’re going through! If you still haven’t gotten started, that’s OK. There’s plenty of November left, so get to it!
Welcome to Week 396
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
Hidden Hazards
The deciduous trees here are mostly bare now, which makes my hikes in the woods full of tripping hazards. My dogs don’t even notice, but I find myself looking at the ground constantly, even though that really doesn’t help since I can’t see anything but leaves. Today was windy and cold and I managed not to fall despite the occasional root that found the toe of my hiking boot. Go me!
Do you want to write about a hidden hazard you’ve encountered? Go for it! If not, write whatever story you’d like. There are no mandatory prompts on the nonfiction grid. If you prefer a different prompt, feel free to ask for one in the YeahWrite Coffeehouse on Facebook. Happy Writing!
Technique Toolbox: Metaphors
Metaphors can take your plain, boring, book-report-style writing to the next level. But overembellishing can be as bad as underreporting, from a reader’s standpoint. How do you use metaphors properly? What are the rules? When do you stop? Find out in this month’s Technique Toolbox!
Nonfiction Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry Challenge
Tell Us More
We writers talk a lot about showing vs. telling, but really you need a delicate balance of both to convey your plot. One trick, as I see it, is to be very conscious about which bits of info you’re describing for your readers and which bits you just tell them. While judging the latest Super Challenge, I read a few stories in which the author decided to tell—instead of show—the most interesting scene.
Imagine you’re reading this tale about a rabbit who’s trying to find his children after a flood. There’s all this build-up: Will Papa Rabbit find his kids? Will he survive the alligator attack? Will he get to dry land? And all the while, the author is painting these beautiful scenes for you to imagine and you’re loving it. And then you get to the part where Papa sees his children, and it’s “Papa Rabbit found his children in a barn on the edge of town.” That’s it. No emotion, no description, no inner monologue. Just “The children were here.” I think we’d all agree that it’s disappointing.
November Poetry Slam: Sestina
It’s Rowan’s birthday month, and we’re celebrating with a poetry slam of one of her favorite forms: the sestina! This unrhymed seven-verse poem depends on rearranging the last words in each line according to a set of easy-to-follow rules. If the sestina sounds overwhelming, you can also join us with its little sister the tritina: a four-verse poem following the same structure with fewer lines. Join us!
Prompt Up!
Prompt Up is our mandatory weekly writing prompts for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here's How It Works!
For November we’re asking you to focus on showing, not telling, in your stories. We’re giving you a single one-word prompt and asking you to use the word and its meaning as the basis for a plot element. You may not use the word itself in your story. For example, if the one-word prompt is “sonar”, then your story could describe how a superhero catches a villain in a dark cave by hiccoughing and interpreting the sound feedback to see the bad guy peeking out from behind a stalagmite (not sure what a stalagmite is? Click here to find out).
The one-word prompt, from YeahWrite #394 fiction|poetry winner Myna, is:
paradox
noun
par·a·dox
/PAIR-uh-doks/
3: any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature.
Poets: Write a poem incorporating the meaning of the one-word prompt, or write a poem in this month’s poetry slam form, the Sestina.
Fiction|Poetry Challenge Grid: Basic YeahWrite Guidelines
Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Congrats to Laura Duerr, our Super Challenge #10 champion, and to Myna Chang and Trish Tuthill for rounding out the top three! Super Challenge #10 may be a wrap, but Super Challenge #11 (nonfiction!) is right around the corner. 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.
