Silver linings
At a time when the news is largely bleak, I’ve been noticing a trend amongst creative friends and family and strangers. People are turning to craft, to making things, to art, to music. More and more people are picking up new-to-them pursuits, or dusting off old skills, or utilising existing expertise, and creating things of beauty. Sometimes those creations are given away – the Metropolitan Opera is streaming nightly performances for free, Yo-Yo Ma played the cello for health care workers on Twitter (#SongsOfComfort is a hashtag worth following), people are singing to each other from their balconies in Italy, Lebanon, and Spain, even Bono got in on it. Are you immersing yourself in the Arts? How are you lifting yourself and others up in these worrying times? How are you finding beauty and comfort right now?
– Asha
[Ed’s note: speaking of events, YeahWrite’s birthday is coming up and we’re still planning to celebrate. In fact, we got you a present. Stay tuned! -RBG]
Welcome to Week 467
We’re kicking off the week in style at YeahWrite with 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: 20/20 Hindsight
For 2020 we’re looking back at stories. Didn’t get a chance to write one in January? That’s fine: jump in whenever you can.
If you have a story or essay to work on, tag in: March’s challenge is to rewrite your work using a limited number of adjectives. We’re activating our verbs and participating in our participles this month to try to strip the purple out of our prose.
Check out this month’s challenge and some suggestions for how to succeed 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 look for the helpers. Write about a time you helped someone, someone helped you, or you saw strangers helping each other. Have fun!
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
March is here! Hooray! We made it.
I [Nate] have noticed calls for submissions lately that use structural requirements, so I thought we should practice those. By “structural requirement,” I mean a cosmetic prompt that does not affect the plot, such as “the last word of your story must be onomatopoeia” or “The opening line must be a proverb.” Our second prompt will be one of our stand-bys. You must incorporate both prompts to enter a fiction story into the challenge.
This week’s structural requirement is:
The final sentence of your story must contain exactly three words.
This week’s tried-and-true prompt is: an occupation.
One of your characters must be an archaeologist. This character must be INTEGRAL, which means their job must affect the plot in a meaningful way. To test if you have made the occupation integral, give the archaeologist character another occupation and see if it would significantly affect your plot. If it does, you are approved. Follow this link to read a definition and some characteristics of an archaeologist.
Poets: This month, we’re playing with rhymes in a new way: by moving them from the ends of lines to… well, wherever you want them. Check out our technique-based March slam then explore that technique to write a poem of your own. Or write a different style of poem incorporating at least one of the prompts above. Or some combination of those things, if you’re feeling extra fancy this week.
Poetry Slam - It Rhymes on the Inside?
In 2020, we’re turning from “how to write a poem” to “what is a poem?” with technique-based slams. This month, we’re playing with rhymes in a new way: by moving them from the ends of lines to… well, wherever you want them. Check it out.
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!
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Our tiniest challenge with the biggest bang is open the first Saturday of every month for exactly 48 hours.
YeahWrite Super Challenge
Congrats to Rachael Elliott, our Super Challenge #15 champion, and to Rosie Clemo and Susan Walker for their top three finishes! Stay tuned for details on the next Super Challenge and 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:
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.
