Touch Up
I got my tattoo touched up today. It was included in the original price, but I tipped accordingly because whoa that was a lot of work. You see, the color wasn’t deep enough, so it faded too much, too fast. And the color was supposed to make a particular point about impermanence–perhaps more aggressively than intended since the point was lost in the more subtle hues of the color being impermanent (I know…). The retouch was even more painful because the color had to go deeper. Ouch. Writing is kind of like that too. Sometimes letting something sit as is for a while, unpublished, lets you see its true colors, and THEN you know what to do to make it into the artistic piece you intended in the first place, even if that process is painful. You got this!
~Stacie
Welcome to Week #505
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:
What did you get 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.
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:
Stacie joined YeahWrite as its Fiction Editor in early 2013 and served as YeahWrite’s Executive Editor from 2016 – 2020. She blogs at Stacie’s Snapshots and Tidbits and was thrilled to be honored as a 2015 BlogHer Voice of the Year (VOTY) for this post. Before retiring, Stacie’s career involved developing new medicines for cancer and autoimmune diseases, work that resulted in more than twenty publications in scientific journals. Now, she enjoys daily hikes with her dogs and spending more time with her youngest son while her oldest is off at college.
