Purple, red, and shocking white
Natalie’s post last week reminded me of a gift I inadvertantly gave myself. Last year this time, when anxiety was high and everything was a question, I started taking photos of blooming plants I’d see on the get-out-of-the-house walks I took every few days. Lilacs, tulips, magnolias, peonies, purples, reds, shocking whites with pink stripes. I’d spend 15 minutes setting up the perfect shot, where the sunlight highlighted a petal in just the right way, where a bee was just about to alight. Documenting them was grounding for me. A reminder that the world was still growing, bees pollinating, trees speaking to each other using their roots underground. I didn’t know what to do with the photos after I took them at first, but then I started posting them on social media. Now, every day, these photos come back to me as digital memories. I remember my state when I took them: desperately looking for hope. And that is not a place I am at any longer.
~Nathan
This Week’s Writing Prompt is:
Mythic fiction
Your goal is to write a story in this element-based genre.
Mythic fiction is, well, fiction with a contemporary setting incorporating elements of myth. But instead of making your own myths, you should work within the boundaries of at least one established mythos. If you’ve been watching Lucifer, or American Gods (which is canceled, btw, because we can’t have nice things), or if you read Paradise Lost, you know how a new story can fit into an established mythos. Mythic fiction also has a lot of overlap with urban fantasy, with some differences: mythic fiction can have non-urban settings, and urban fantasy can invent its own legends or folklore whereas mythic fiction is limited to working with established tropes. You don’t necessarily have to use Coyote or Anansi in your mythic fiction (and in fact you should be really careful if you do and consider getting a sensitivity reader early, maybe even at the “I have an idea for a book” stage, so that you don’t end up with a final product that doesn’t represent who you want to be) but the “trickster” archetype might be very present, and you could consider looking at several pantheons with a “trickster” (oh, hi, Loki, didn’t see you there) to see who the trickster’s foil usually is, or what other tropes they have in common, then using those in your work.
That’s the genre description we’d use if we were setting up mythic fiction for a Super Challenge, anyway. Want some more pointers on how to really nail it, or how to read that description and really pull all the interesting bits out of it? 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.
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.
Upcoming and Ongoing
Sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any upcoming classes, workshops, or competitions.
Ongoing: Navigating Prompts - Element-Based Genre Prompts (Free Workshop)
In our monthly Navigating Prompts series, 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!
Ah, genre. Those allcaps titles hanging alluringly over the shelves at your favorite bookstore. Okay, fine, maybe they’re just a checkbox in the margin of your online shopping experience, but when you ask most people what they like to read they’ll name a genre first, and then get more specific. And genre prompts are beloved of competitions and anthologies, because they can give widely disparate stories a sense of unity.
In May, we’ll be taking the first of two looks at genre prompts. This month we’re discussing the sorts of genres that break down into lists of elements. You’ll get tips on what’s vital, what’s nice, and how to tell if you’ve hit or missed the mark in writing to a genre prompt. Check it out!
Super Challenge #20
Round 1 of Super Challenge #20 is officially underway! Good luck to all our participants as they anxiously await the results. Did you miss out on registration? Make sure you sign up for our email blast.
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.
