It’s a Mood.
I’ve been taking long walks lately to clear my head, get some exercise, and quell the cabin fever. Last night, in a rush to get out before sunset, I just poked at a Spotify playlist and took off. Turns out the playlist I chose was exclusively movie soundtracks. Walking around a familiar setting with dramatic music in my ear changed my whole perception of the things I saw. Adding a song from the Henry VI soundtrack, the barks of a dog who had just treed a squirrel were no long menacing: they were desperate proclamations of love. Stay beside me. Love me. I can’t be me without you, Stumpy. Stumpy the Squirrel. I don’t know. That’s just what my brain came up with. I plan to walk around my neighborhood more with soundtracks in my ear just to see what other stories it inspires.
~Nathan
Welcome to Week #504
Here’s where you’ll find everything you need to get yourself ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)! Use our prompts—or don’t—and share links to your essays, stories, and poems in the Coffeehouse.
The Schedule
We will release a new prompt on our blog every Friday at 12pm Eastern.
Then it’s up to you! Write your response to the prompt on your own blog or website and share the link in the Coffeehouse. If you prefer to keep your work under wraps (and away from the eyes of potential publishers), you can still ask for beta readers in the Coffeehouse and share your work privately!
Every Monday, we’ll check in to see how you’re doing and what your writing goals are for the week.
Wednesdays are “Work-in-Progress Wednesdays.” Share a few sentences or even a paragraph or two in the Coffeehouse (no more than 250 words, please). Even if you’re not done writing, this could be the boost you need to stay motivated.
Did you publish a book? Do you have a story in a magazine? The First Friday of every month is for self-promotion, where you can share commercial links to your work for purchase. (You can always share the news that you’ve been accepted for publication, though!)
And of course, the entire community is here 24-7 to share your victories and setbacks, challenges and accomplishments. So come on in, pull up a chair, and say hello. We’re all writers here.
This Week’s Writing Prompt is:
Why didn’t you tell me?
Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to answer this question. There are no word limits. You can write fiction or nonfiction; you may interpret the prompt any way you like. Share your response in the YeahWrite Coffeehouse by linking your blog post, Google Doc, or other file. Check out your fellow YeahWriters’ responses, and don’t forget to leave them some love in the comments!
Looking for our weekly grids? After nearly ten years, they’ve been retired. Read more about the latest changes to YeahWrite in the #500 Weekly Writing Challenge Kickoff Post.
Upcoming and Ongoing
Sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any upcoming classes, workshops, or competitions.
New Class: No More Puppets
Do your characters feel wooden? Do you have to jerk their strings pretty hard to get them to participate in the plot? Delve into motivation and how to keep your characters in character while convincing them that yes, they do need keep doing the things that advance the plot, in this one-day class taught by Rowan.
REGISTRATION CLOSES DECEMBER 5!
Get all the details and register now!
For more information or to inquire about other class topics, please email: editors@yeahwrite.me.
Ongoing: 20/20 Hindsight (Free Workshop)
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.
In this, the last month of an unexpectedly long year, we’re not taking your stories apart. Instead, we’re putting them back together. No matter whether you participated in all eleven months of the workshop or for just one or two months, you know your work better than you did in January. So in December we’re teaching you to take the best parts of what you learned about your writing and yourself, and bring them together into the story you wanted to write in the first place.
Check out this month’s challenge and some suggestions for how to succeed right here.
Ongoing: Poetry Slam
In 2020 we focused on poetic techniques, rather than forms, and we hope you had as much fun exploring what you can do with language as we did. If you want to take a shot at anything you missed before, or try something new in your poetry or even your other writing, we’ve collected all of 2020’s poetry slams right here. If you do, don’t forget to tell us about it!
Super Challenge #18
Super Challenge #18 (microfiction) is officially underway! Good luck to all our participants as they anxiously await the results!
Watch this space for news about Super Challenge #19 for creative nonfiction, which will open for registration later this winter. Make sure you also sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any Super Challenge announcements.
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.
