Democracy sausages
As this kickoff post goes live, the majority of votes in Australia’s federal election will have been counted. We may have a new leadership; fresh-faced, enthusiastic, exuding that new government smell of hope and change. After six years of socially and economically conservative governments and a plethora of leadership challenges, I’m ready for more stability. Elections are an exciting time, and there’s a peculiar electricity on polling day. Polling booths, awash with colours and posters, are a great place to catch up with friends and neighbours, get a good look at who else lives in your electorate, eyeball the candidates, and grab a democracy sausage. If you’re really keen, you can even look up whether your polling booth will have democracy sausages for sale here (there’s also handy information on what other food and drink is available, and whether the venue is accessible to wheelchairs). I may or may not be in an excellent mood next week, but I’ll definitely have a belly full of sausages–and democracy.
~Asha
Welcome to Week 423
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 – Your Bio and Website
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.”
In May we’re talking about you and how you can get more people to do that. That means having a meaningful bio and website. You’ll need to tell people who you are and what you write, and what’s better than having all that information at your fingertips any time you want it? Plus, the next time someone asks “what do you write? would I have read it?” at a cocktail party you can shrug and say breezily “oh, it’s all on my website” and hand them your card with the URL on it. Wait… you do have cards, right?
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 optional prompt is “a bag.” Tell us about grocery shopping, your makeup subscription, or your school knapsack. Lost bags, found bags, it’s all fair game! Or write about something else entirely; the nonfiction prompt is just a jumping-off point if you’re stuck for ideas.
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
Prompt Up is our mandatory weekly writing prompt for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here's How It Works!
It’s May, and we’re sticking to the two-prompt format. The first will be an object; the second will be a setting. Both prompts are mandatory for short story submissions.
The object prompt, chosen by our YeahWrite #421 fiction|poetry winner, Jen, is: a mailbox. The degree to which you incorporate this object into the plot is up to you, but objects that are integral to the story are more likely to impress the editors.
The setting prompt, chosen by the YeahWrite Editors, is: the exclusion zone in Chernobyl, Ukraine. You may find this article helpful. The setting doesn’t have to be the only place the story happens, but it must be integral to the story (obvs).
Poets (and microprose fans!): May’s form reminds me, Nate, of how the genie in Aladdin describes his lamp: “Phenomenal cosmic powers . . . Itty bitty living space.” The lune will have you telling epic stories in just 13 syllables. Read up on how this form differs from a haiku. Or you can bypass the featured form and write a poem that incorporates either of the short story prompts.
Poetry Slam - Lune
If National Poetry Month has you a little worn down, don’t worry: May’s poetry slam is worn down to only 13 syllables!
Unlike many short-form poems, which were invented in other languages and only nominally work in English because they lack the layered meaning available when you can (for example) write the same sound three ways, the lune – a 13 syllable, three-line poem – was invented in English to take advantage of its linguistic flexibility. So get your counting fingers out and join us on the grid this month!
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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
Super Challenge #12 (fiction!) is now officially underway! Good luck to our remaining competitors as they compete in the final round! Did you miss out on registration? Make sure you also sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss 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:
Asha keeps moving from one side of the world to the other. Her most recent move has taken her back to Perth, Western Australia where she grew up. She lives near the beach but hates sand between her toes. It’s a real conundrum. Asha began blogging at YeahWrite in October 2014 with this post, and YeahWrite was lucky to pull her on board as a Contributing Editor in December 2016. She is currently working on a novelette that grew from a series of flash fiction pieces. Asha is published in a variety of places including Modern Loss, PANK, Dead Housekeeping, and SheKnows. You can find her inconsistent blogging at Parenting In The Wilderness, or at her fiction blog, FlAsha Tales.
