Risks, rewards, and regrets
There’s an inspirational poster on the wall of the Taekwondo studio where my kids and I take classes. It reads: “If you want to be good at something, you must first be willing to be bad at it.” And you know what? I’m really bad at jump spinning kicks, as evidenced by my newly-sprained ankle. And yet, I don’t regret trying it. I’ve been making incremental progress over the last two years by trying something just a little bit harder every week. If anything, this setback has made me more determined to succeed.
I don’t have to spell out the parallels here. In order to improve, you have to risk failure. There’s always the chance you won’t get better, but if you don’t push yourself, you’re pretty much guaranteed not to get better. Try that new genre. Give that new poetry form a try. Dig a little deeper, be willing to put something bad on the page so that you can get to the good stuff later. It’s a risk, but the rewards just might outweigh any regrets.
~Christine
This Week’s Writing Prompt is:
Cozy mystery
A cozy mystery is a subgenre of crime stories that generally includes an amateur sleuth, a bloodless (or at least, an off-screen) crime, and a victim that the reader hasn’t had a chance to get to know. Cozies tend to eschew depictions of violence and sex, and often take place in small communities where everyone knows each other. Think of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, or television’s Murder, She Wrote.
That’s the genre description we’d use if we were setting up cozy mystery 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:
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.
