Risk Assessment
Some of you may know I’m in the middle of a career change. It’s been scary to pull myself out of my comfort zone for a career that I’m not even sure I’ll like or be good at.
The leap between writing textbooks and designing eLearning courses isn’t broad. Both industries require creativity and constantly gaining new knowledge. They involve writing and design. If you know the degrees I hold, you’ll know why the change seemed worth the risk.
This week in my instructional design course we talked in depth about story. Good teaching is storytelling. Mathematics is a story of problem solving. Science is astory of need and invention. History is a story of how we became us. It’s a concept that makes sense when someone else says it, but I had never thought of it that way before.
So we learned why converting a lesson into a story with characters and a plot helps learners engage with the subject matter. We learned that connecting learners to the content will make them more likely to seek out more information about the subject. We learned that learners who are taught by storytelling retain information for much longer than those who are lectured.
And I learned, to my surprise, that instructional design is even more of a nexus of my interests than I had originally thought.
–Nate
Welcome to Week 473
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.
*Note that our microprose grid now opens on Saturday at 12 midnight and closes on Sunday at 11:59pm ET. You’ve got a whole 48 hours to get your submissions in! Voting will open with the rest of the grids on Wednesday.
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: May’s challenge is to rewrite your story from a different point of view. That might mean changing narrators, becoming your own narrator, or a shift in focus. Whatever you choose, it’s time to see how your narrative POV affects the information you can give your readers.
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, in coordination with the microfiction grid, is to write about a childhood fear. Did you have a monster under your bed or in the closet? Were you sure you were going to go down the drain with the bathwater? Tell us, and we’ll give you a hug and a glass of warm milk (unless you’re lactose-intolerant) and tuck you in.
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
April showers bring May…writing prompts!
This month we’re transforming flowering plants into characters. Give the qualities of plants to a realistic person or give plants human qualities. For example, how would a red rose behave as a human being? Why is the weeping-willow man so sad sitting near that river? Either way, just make sure to give them a plot.
Okay. Now for the prompts:
- Write a story with a character who is based on the dill plant. The dill plant represents “power against evil.” It is described as biennial, hardy, and feathery. Interpret that how you wish, but help the editors out by drawing clear interpretations so that we can tell which character you’ve ascribed the qualities to.
- Mention potting soil in your story. It doesn’t need to be integral to the plot.
Poets: For May, we’re playing with repetition to build poetic structure. Check out our technique-based 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 both? You might be able to do both.
Poetry Slam - Echo Chambers
In 2020, we’re turning from “how to write a poem” to “what is a poem?” with technique-based slams. For May, we’re looking at not one poem but several to explore the different ways that repetition can be used to build structure and interest in your work. Check it out.
Microprose Mandatory Prompt
It’s the first Saturday of the month, and that means it’s time for 48 in 48!
Here’s how it works: we give you a prompt, and you have 48 hours to write a response in exactly 48 words. Submissions will close on Sunday at 11:59pm US Eastern time. Voting opens on Wednesday at 10:00pm, which gives you plenty of time to read this grid—and the others!—before you vote.
Here’s the prompt: you must use the following sentence as either the first or the last sentence of your story.
Something moved in the shadows.
A few rules:
- The sentence must be either the first or the last sentence of your micro. Add 48 of your own words to complete the story, which brings you to a total of 53 words.
- The sentence must be used exactly as is and in its entirety without changing punctuation, except that you may put quotes around it if used as dialogue. (No changing the final period to a comma, though, just so you can add a dialogue tag; besides, who wants to waste words on a dialogue tag?)
- Surprise us: you don’t have to tell the most unique story ever, but don’t fall back on lazy writing and tired tropes that can turn off your readers.
- Pay attention to tense!
That’s it! Happy writing!
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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Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Super Challenge #16 is now open for registration through May 6! This time, we’re heading back to the land of flash fiction. Sign up today! 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:
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.
