Vacationing from the pandemic
Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s happening. I take a break every year around now to hang out with my family and friends in northern Michigan. There’s usually about 30 of us in assorted cabins around a lake, but this year it’s just me and a friend. We decided to go anyway because social distancing in a small town would be easier than on the crowded streets of Chicago. We also figured we’d have a pretty good idea of where to stay away from people on non-crowded beaches and which stores will be mostly empty since we’ve been vacationing there for over a decade.
I’m trying to reset my expectations because this year is going to be SO different. It seems to be a theme lately. However, with so many fewer people to visit with I’m hoping to write some. Wish me luck!
– Nate
Welcome to Week 485
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: July’s challenge is to tell it in a different order. And not just as a flashback: we’re exploring the different structures possible for your narrative arc by rearranging the elements of the story!
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 promises. Kept or broken, promises make up a huge part of our lives. They teach us how to hope, and sometimes how to survive when hope is dashed. Tell us about a promise you’ve made, kept, broken, or about being on the receiving end of any of those promises. Or write about whatever else you want; it’s an optional prompt, after all.
Fiction|Poetry: Mandatory Prompt
July is here! How is this year simultaneously 500 years, and two weeks long? This month we’re giving you three mandatory prompts to work with; an image, a point of view (POV), and tense. Beyond that, let your imagination go wild. Want to write a steampunk mystery? Sure, why not. Want to write that rom-com you’ve got burning inside you? Go for it. Noir more your thing? Bring those smokin’ dames and smokin’ guns. Why not use this as an opportunity to try a genre, style, or voice that’s unfamiliar to you? Push some boundaries, but make sure you include all three prompts.
This week’s image prompt is this image Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash:
You can find the image for download here, or click the image itself. Don’t forget the image credit in your post.
This week’s POV is: third person, omniscient.
- Not sure what that means? Click here. Scroll past the introduction to the First Person banner heading, or read the entire article for an excellent overview of the common POVs in fiction.
- Watch out! It’s easy to slide into third person limited POV!
And the tense you should write your story in this week is: present tense.
Have fun, try something new, and come join us on the grids.
Poets: It’s halfway through July and we’re all feeling a little unmoored, so this month we’re exploring how to anchor a poem in space or time. 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: Anchors Aweigh!
In 2020, we’re turning from “how to write a poem” to “what is a poem?” with technique-based slams. For July, we’re exploring space and time, and how to locate your poem on that X-Y axis. Don’t worry, no math is required, just a working knowledge of a date, time, or place that’s important to you. 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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Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite Super Challenge
Super Challenge #17 (nonfiction) is officially open for registration. 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.
