Boundaries
I used to be good at this—at using the small breaks between tasks to write, or at least to think about writing. I carried a little notebook with me wherever I went (okay, I still do that, but usually I just use my phone nowadays). Give me fifteen minutes, I’d say, and I’ll get a couple paragraphs down. I completed two NaNoWriMo novels this way, in bits and pieces and furious writing spurts. All of this was, of course, before kids, when my brain was more or less my own and time didn’t feel like so much confetti scattered to the wind.
Now that the whole family is home 24/7, I find that I have to get creative about carving time for writing. Sometimes that looks like bribing the kids with extra screen time; sometimes it looks like sitting outside and ignoring the muffled arguments through the front door. But mostly, it looks like boundaries. With or without kids, boundaries protect our private spaces (physical or mental). If you’re looking to focus, create and communicate some specific rules around those spaces.
But also: boundaries aren’t just for other people. Set some limits on yourself. Close Twitter after a set amount of time (guilty!), remember to clock all the way out and turn your notifications off at 5pm (or your normal end of workday), and give yourself the space you need to let your imagination breathe.
–Christine
Welcome to Week 489
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: August’s challenge is to tell your story. No, to tell it, not write it. Intrigued?
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 our interpid editor is trying to come up with a prompt through a migraine, so that’s what you get: headache. Is someone or something giving you a headache? Do you get migraines and you can’t quite explain that cool halo around your fingers as you stare at them because the screen hurts too much? No? Just me? Write something else, then, the prompt is optional!
Fiction|Poetry Mandatory Prompt
It’s August and we’re powering ahead to take a chomp out of the second half of the year with two new mandatory prompts. The first prompt is a superpower, and the second prompt is a food. Each week this month we’ll give you a specific superpower and a specific food to include in your story. Both prompts must be integral to the plot.
This week’s superpower prompt is: supernatural smell. That doesn’t mean your character has terrible body odour, or smells like they were dipped in a vat of perfume. It means they have superior olfactory abilities (like dogs) and can detect subtle aromas. Click on supernatural smell to find out more about what this superpower is and how it manifests. You may use any or all of the applications of this superpower in your story.
This week’s food prompt: potato (Click the link to learn about potatoes! You may use any form of the potato tuber; uncooked, crisps, chips, wedges, mashed, dauphinoise, boiled, roasted, or fried, but it must be integral to your plot. And no greens; they’re bitter and poisonous!)
Have fun, try something new, and come join us on the grids.
Poets: For August, we’re focusing on words and the sounds they make as ways to play with the form of your poem. 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 - Pros & Consonance
In 2020, we’re turning from “how to write a poem” to “what is a poem?” with technique-based slams. In August, we’re falling in love with words again. Explore consonance, rather than rhyme or alliteration, as a way to add sonic structure to your poem and entrance your reader. 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
The initial round of Super Challenge #17 (nonfiction) is officially underway! Good luck to all our participants as they anxiously await the results! 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:
Christine Hanolsy is a (primarily) science fiction and fantasy writer who simply cannot resist a love story. She joined the YeahWrite team in 2014 as the microstory editor and stepped into the role of Editor-In-Chief in 2020. Christine was a 2015 BlogHer Voices of the Year award recipient and Community Keynote speaker for her YeahWrite essay, “Rights and Privileges.” Her short fiction has been published in a number of anthologies and periodicals and her creative nonfiction at Dead Housekeeping and in the Timberline Review. Outside of YeahWrite, Christine’s past roles have included Russian language scholar, composer, interpreter, and general cat herder. Find her online at christinehanolsy.com.
