Lockdown, fires, and editing, oh my!
It’s Day Two of a (currently) five-day lockdown where I live. It’s the middle of Summer, there’s a familiar but disconcerting smell of burning eucalyptus in the air, the sky’s a deeply worrying shade of orange, and ash is floating like errant snowflakes to the ground. A perfect time to hunker down and get on with the edits to my novella that I’ve been putting off for many months. I love writing, but editing my own work? Not so much. Being easily distracted doesn’t help. I spent an hour yesterday looking up the word for a flat hoe/flat mattock, first in English, and then in other languages, and then I messaged my cousins in India, and also my mother, who lives in the same city as me (don’t know what a flat hoe/flat mattock looks like? Click here). Why? Because I decided that one of my characters is more likely to use a flat hoe than a shovel to hit someone with. Like I said; easily distracted. In the end, I stuck with the shovel as a hitting implement (it made more sense). On the up side, I discovered that the word I’d always used for a flat hoe was actually a Malay word. Yay for knowing lots of languages, I guess. How are you at editing your longer works?
~Asha
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, located both on Facebook or Discord. 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:
They hadn’t been known as Umair since Wednesday.
Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to incorporate this phrase, unchanged in any way, anywhere into your story or essay. Want some pointers on how to do this? We’ve gone into detail in this month’s Technique Toolbox on Navigating Prompts.
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 Coffeehouse, located both on Facebook or Discord, 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
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Ongoing: Navigating Prompts (Free Workshop)
Each month, we’ll talk you through how to analyze and respond to a specific prompt style. We’ll coordinate the weekly prompts with the monthly post so you’ll have a chance to practice, compare notes with other writers in the Coffeehouse, located both on Facebook or Discord, and get advice from beta readers and YeahWrite editors. You’ll get to hone your skills when you’re not in crisis mode, trying to meet that fast-approaching deadline. And who knows—maybe you’ll end up with a new story or two in your back pocket!
This month, we’ll be taking a look at one of our favorite prompt styles: the word, phrase, or sentence prompt. We use this prompt style in both our fiction and nonfiction Super Challenge competitions. It’s a great way to test a writer’s flexibility and attention to voice, nuance, and context. So how do you use it? February’s post will walk you through it. Check it out!
Super Challenge #19
Registration for Super Challenge #19 is open through February 10! This one’s for the personal essayists and creative nonfictioneers out there—or for anyone looking to stretch their writing skills. Make sure you also sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any Super Challenge announcements.
About the author:
Asha lives near the beach in Perth, Western Australia, but hates sand between her toes. She began blogging at YeahWrite in October 2014 with this post, and YeahWrite was lucky to pull her on board as a Contributing Editor in December 2016. Asha writes flash fiction, short stories, and creative nonfiction. She is published in a variety of places and you can find links to her work at Asha Rajan Writer.
