Mold
I am a practical person. I am often teased in my family for including things like new sheets, a humidifier, a new pair of rubber boots on my Christmas wish list, and never anything fun.
I also adhere pretty strictly to a routine. So much so that my cat Link anticipates where I will be to maximize his
At my
Because of all of this my writing can fall into a rut—similar hooks in stories, narrators in different stories with the exact same speech patterns, poetry regurgitating the same themes. That sort of thing. What I hope to get from this month’s prompts (and I hope you get, too) is
~Nate
Welcome to Week 409
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 Saturday 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.
Technique Toolbox: Year of Fearless Writing – Finding a place to submit your work
Ready to take yourself seriously as a writer? Not sure how, or not convinced you’re ready? We think you can, and are, and will be. This year is our Year of Fearless Writing, where we’re going to focus on the craft of writing, not the art, to take you from “I write” to “I’m a writer.”
Our February focus will be getting something onto your submissions spreadsheet. We’re talking about how to find a market that wants to publish the things you like to write. You probably have a “dream publication” that you’d love to see your name in, but there are dozens if not hundreds of markets looking for your work right now. Learn how to find them and take this month’s YFW challenge, right here!
Nonfiction: Optional Prompt
The nonfiction grid has no mandatory prompts. However, each week, we will give you an optional prompt in case that helps your mostly-true story juices flow. This week’s prompt is to write about a time you failed. Have fun!
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
Prompt Up is our mandatory weekly writing prompt for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here's How It Works! February is for experimenting! I just made that up, but why not? We’re going to use prompts from Brian Kiteley’s The 3 A.M. Epiphany. Not gonna lie—these prompts are challenging, but the new year is fresh and horizons aren’t going to broaden themselves!
The writing style prompt, chosen by our YeahWrite #407 fiction|poetry winner, Tara, is: Write a story using a particular and vivid item of clothing that connects two characters in some way.
Paraphrasing from the book: Clothes are an easy way to convey character. What clothing is important to you personally? Why? What does it hide and reveal? Does it fit, is it loose, or is it too tight? Attribute those values onto a character or characters.
The second prompt, chosen by the YeahWrite editors, is an object that must be worked into the story. The object prompt is: a cactus.
Poets: February’s poetry slam is ekphrastic poetry- check it out right here, and write a poem in that style. Or you can write a poem incorporating our writing style prompt or our object prompt. Or all three! (Just not neither- you have to pick at least one prompt.)
Poetry Slam - Ekphrastic
Tired of writing about writing? Write about art instead, with this month’s poetry slam. Ekphrastic poems take a piece of visual art and envision a scene for it, describing the art and imbuing it with extra meaning. Give it a shot!
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Our tiniest challenge with the biggest bang is open the first Wednesday of every month from midnight to 10 p.m.
YeahWrite Super Challenge
The final round of Super Challenge #11 (nonfiction!) is now officially underway! Good luck to all our participants as they furiously finish their essays. Miss out on this Super Challenge? 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.
About the author:
As a professional editor and writer, Nate has published his work in numerous English and history textbooks and in online reading programs. In February 2014, he found his way back to creative writing and began submitting to YeahWrite. Soon after, he became an editor of the Fiction|Poetry challenge. You can read his work at northwest journals, a blog that has been recognized by WordPress Discover, Five Star Mix-tape, Genealogy á la Carte, The Drabble, and BlogHer’s Voice of the Year. He lives in Chicago with his partner and a mini-Bengal tiger.
