How Are You Holding Up?
Now that the first week of November is behind us and we’re diving headlong into week two, how are you holding up? Are you still going strong on your November writing goals or have you already fizzled out? Or, are you like me, and never really put those vague ideas into actionable steps so you’ve not written a single word? Either way, it’s okay! First, November is some arbitrary month and if you write this month or next or you wrote a ton in August or September, YOU STILL WROTE (or will write and I have faith in you!). If you’re planning to get started now, go for it! And, if you’re not quite sure where to start, don’t forget about our November writing challenge, NaNoDoMore. It’s a go-at-your-own-pace, do-as-you-please sort of scavenger hunt of fun writing activities. Scroll down to learn more!
No matter what you do, we think you’re awesome and we’re glad you’re here!
–Michelle
Welcome to Week 448
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 – Time Confetti
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 November, we’re focusing on time. Do you have time to write? How can you find or make it? One way is to schedule dedicated writing time, but another is to assemble it out of the time confetti all around you. If you don’t have enough time to do what you want, there’s still probably something you can fit into the time you have. Take a look at some ways to free up your time to write!
NaNoDoMore
Don’t get us wrong: we love NaNoWriMo. Several of our editors have “won” the 50,000 word November challenge. But as we’ve gotten older, families and jobs and, well, just life things, have taken over. But that doesn’t mean you can’t score a November win, even if you, too, don’t have time to bang out a whole novel. Check out our NaNoDoMore challenge, which asks you to do just that: more than nothing. Do something new. We’ve got 30 days’ worth of challenges for you to check out (some of them would take you more than one day, 30 is just a convenient number) and completing any of them can earn you a chance at our prize.
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. I got a piece of mail I’ve been waiting for yesterday, so this week’s prompt is… tell us about getting or sending something in the mail. Was it a present? A letter? Was it good or bad? (Or, of course, you can write from your own inspiration. Don’t depend on our prompt just because it totally strokes our ego and makes us feel amazing when you do.)
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
November is here and it’s a busy month for writers; there are competitions galore including NaNoWriMo and even our own NaNoDoMore. This month we’re bringing back a familiar prompt format to make things a little easier. We still have two prompts and both prompts are mandatory. The first prompt is a picture prompt, and the second is an emotion that you will need to convey through your writing without using the word that describes the emotion. This prompt pairing is a good challenge to see how well you can show, rather than tell emotion.
The first prompt to incorporate into your story, a photo prompt, is this image by Iqbal Nuril Anwar on Pixabay. You can access a downloadable version of the photo by clicking on it.
When we say incorporate the photo, we mean “use the image to inspire your plot, setting and character(s).” Some questions you might want to consider: Who is this person? What brought them to this place? What do they expect to achieve? Consider taking five minutes to look carefully at the photograph. Don’t write during this time. Set a timer on your computer, phone, watch, or an old fashioned egg timer to help you keep track. Start writing only once the five minutes are up.
The second prompt, from YeahWrite Editors, is to use the following emotion: anger. For the purposes of this week’s story, you may use either definition of the emotion in the Merriam-Webster dictionary — you can find it here.
Remember with the emotion prompt not to use the word itself in your story. Instead, try to convey a sense of the emotion in other ways. For example, you might consider how the emotion is physically or verbally expressed; how a character might hold their hands or set their jaw, what a character’s posture is like or their tone of voice or their behavior. Show the reader how this emotion manifests, don’t just tell us that the character is feeling the emotion.
Poets: We’re exploring the kimo, a three-line counted form, over at the poetry slam this month. Since this form has a “no motion” requirement, the image prompt is a nice pairing for it, isn’t it? Or write a kimo about anything else, or another form of poetry incorporating either of our prompts. If you want to write something that’s neither a kimo nor uses the prompts, our nonfiction grid does also accept poetry that expresses your truths.
Poetry Slam - Kimo
Between NaNoWriMo and family visits, who has time for a long poetry form? Not us, anyway. This November we’re focusing on the kimo, a three-line counted form with just a little more breathing room than the three-line counted form you probably already know. Come string some syllables together with us 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, and are looking into alternative services. Thank you for your patience!
Loading InLinkz ...
Loading InLinkz ...Looking For Microprose?
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 officially underway! Good luck to all our participants as they anxiously await the Round 1 results! Miss out on registration? 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:
Michelle submitted her first entry to YeahWrite in March 2012 and was brought on staff shortly thereafter. In 2016, she stepped into the role of Editor-In-Chief. Outside of YeahWrite, she is a freelance writer working with a variety of corporate clients, primarily in the insurance and employee benefits space. Her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, Cosplay Culture, and xoJane, as well as several local websites near her former home in northern NJ home. She now lives in Southern California, enjoying the sunshine. She sometimes blogs at themichellelongo.com.
