South Central YeahWrite
One of the most amusing things about moving back to Australia has been keeping up with the grids at YeahWrite – and I know I’m not alone in this. As my morning walks weave past flowers and nesting birds, the headers on the posts turn to fall leaves and spooky ghosts. Soon, I’ll be sweltering in the sun, sitting on the beach and writing to prompts about snowflakes and bare trees. It keeps me on my toes, and perhaps my imagination will even keep me cool this summer!
–Asha
Welcome to Week 443
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 – Don’t Quit Your Day Job
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 October, we’re exploring that old, tired advice, “don’t quit your day job.” But should you take that advice, or is there a day job (or combination of day jobs) that’s right for you as a writer? Could writing be your day job? If not, how can you fit your writing life into your daily life?
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. It’s ROCKTOBER, y’all, and this week’s optional prompt is rock. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Use the word in your essay, treat any of its definitions as a jumping-off point to inspire your creative nonfiction, or ignore it completely!
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
Forget pumpkin spice lattes; this fall is gonna be all about CHARACTER.
It’s October and the second half of our twofer (two for one) deal. [Ed’s note: WOGO? Write one get one? /rbg] In September we focused on writing active character sketches. This month, we’re going to use the winning character sketches from each week as one of the two prompts for a story.
As always, there will be two mandatory prompts; a main character (taken from September’s Fiction|Poetry challenge) and a scenario. You must use the main character exactly as they were written — the same behaviors, the same traits, the same appearance, not just the same name. The challenge is to make that character’s actions and reactions, in the given scenario, consistent with the original.
Example only: the main character is an older judge who works the night court circuit and keeps her hair tightly cropped, and the scenario is What if the character needed to use the restroom desperately at a horribly inopportune time? Your story might include perimenopausal symptoms like hot flushes, irritation, and dry wiry hair. The judge may not want to cough or laugh. She may be fidgety in her seat. She may call a sudden recess in the middle of a key witness’s testimony. You get the picture; the judge’s behavior in the scenario has to be consistent with behavior you would expect from her based on the character sketch.
Before you write your story, click on the character name (below) to re-read the winning September story and refresh your memory of the main character and their traits.
This week’s main character, from YeahWrite #440 Fiction|Poetry winner, Nate, is: Mags.
The scenario, from YeahWrite #441 Fiction|Poetry winner, Lisa, is: What if the character needed to get home quickly without access to a car or money? (Assume that “home” is not a short walk from wherever your character is at the beginning of the story)
Poets: We’re exploring elegies over at the poetry slam. Write an elegy for the prompt character, or from their point of view, or write one for a different real or imagined loss. If you’re not in an elegiac mood, our nonfiction grid also welcomes poetry that expresses your truth.
Poetry Slam - Elegy
Halloween is in the air at YeahWrite, and what better time to explore funeral poetry? Come write an elegy with us, focusing on a real or imagined loss in your life and using your poetic vocabulary to share why it matters to you or your fictional narrator. See you on the grid?
A QUICK NOTE REGARDING OUR GRIDS: Inlinkz, which supports our grid format, is currently upgrading its offerings and website which can sometimes result in a glitch or two. If you upload a piece to the grid and notice it disappears later on, please email us and let us know. This has been happening to one or two pieces each week. We will happily add it manually once we are notified. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience!
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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 #14 (fiction!) is now open for registration! Our next contest kicks off in October so sign up today to ensure your spot. Make sure you also 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:
Asha lives near the beach in Perth, Western Australia, but hates sand between her toes. She 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. In addition to short stories and personal essays, she is currently working on a novel set in the Perth hills. Asha is published in a variety of places including Modern Loss, PANK, Dead Housekeeping, and SheKnows. You can find her inconsistent blogging at Asha Rajan Writer.
