Carpe Liam
I’ve been thinking a lot about this year’s high school senior class. A friend’s son, Liam, graduated with honors last week. He won’t get a ceremony or the chance to toss that frisbee hat into the air, but none of that will matter as much when he’s a college freshman either in person or online this fall.
Liam is a very talented musician. A drummer. I am very proud to announce that in only 18 years of life he has the pinnacle of tastes in music. He will helpfully tell you if he doesn’t approve of the music you enjoy. I admire his idealism. It reminds me of when I was in college, looking straight into the empty pockets of an English degree. The way he looks at his future, even now, like a eagle soaring toward him, gives me hope.
~Nate
Welcome to Week 477
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: You’ve got a little time left to complete May’s challenge 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, we want to hear about a time you felt unheard by someone more powerful than you. Was it a teacher? A parent? A formal representative of a grinding, crushing bureaucratic system that did not care about you? What did you do about it?
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 amaryllis. The amaryllis represents “pride” and “determination” in the language of flowers. Its petals are bright red on the edges and white toward the middle. The story goes a young nymph pierced her heart with a golden arrow every day for 30 days to win the love of another. When the beloved found her, she was dead, but an amaryllis had sprung up from the nymph’s blood.
- Mention the act of weeding 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. This is the last week to 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. Or keep an eye out for our June slam; in overlap weeks you can use either one!
A QUICK NOTE REGARDING OUR GRIDS: Inlinkz, which supports our grid format, is currently STILL 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 seriously, we promise, 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
Super Challenge #16 is officially underway! Good luck to our finalists as they furiously finish their final round stories. Miss out on registration? 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.
