The Home Stretch
This is it! You’re almost there! For anyone participating in any kind of November writing challenge, these last few days can either be torture where you’re just phoning it in to prove a point or it can be your last little sprint at the end. Either way, we get it. I know I’ve been on both sides of that coin! I do hope you got everything you wanted out of this month and that you gave our challenge a chance. If you didn’t, that’s OK. There’s still time! That’s the beauty of a come-as-you-are sort of challenge.
Welcome to Week 398
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
Rain, Rain, Go West!
This has been the wettest fall since I moved to the East Coast of the U.S. eight years ago (hurricanes and superstorms notwithstanding). I only wish I could send all this water to California, where it’s so desperately needed. All these fires are so devastating, and I’d be lying if I said they weren’t giving me pause around my dream of returning to my home state in a few years. Regardless, I have to leave the cold and snow; I’ve been done with brutal winters for quite some time. What’s your favorite season? Would you like to write a mostly-true story about an adventure you had during your favorite time of year? If not, there are no required prompts on the nonfiction grid, so you can write any story you wish. If you want a different optional prompt, feel free to ask for one in the YeahWrite Coffeehouse on Facebook. Good luck!
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
Holiday Writing
I always struggle to carve out writing time during the holidays. This holiday (it is Thanksgiving in the United States) is no different. I am in Michigan, as always. I am currently holed up in a bedroom upstairs as my sister-in-law and her wife just arrived for supper. The rest of my weekend will be spent in a car traveling to different family’s and friend’s houses. How does a writer sneak some wordage during a weekend like this?
Well, I remembered Christine’s advice: to take five minutes when you can to write ideas in a Notes app on my phone. On our car trip from Chicago, I asked my partner to read my latest story and tell me what he thinks (He usually does anyway.) It was a little weird because, as the driver, all I had to do was pay attention to the road and listen to his every reaction. But he gave me some things to think about, and I wrote down some notes on editing that our conversation inspired.
All of this is to say it is possible to squeak in a little “me” time. So, whether it’s a NaNoWriMo word count you’re striving toward or our NaNoDoMore challenge, think of a few pockets of time you might be able to jot some words down!
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 #396 fiction|poetry winner Marcy, is:
insulation
noun
in•su•la•tion
[ihn-suh-LAY-shun]
the action of placing a material into a position in such a way that will deflect heat, cold, or sound
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
Super Challenge #11 (nonfiction!) is now open for registration! Our next contest kicks off in 2019 so sign up today to ensure your spot. 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.
