Dah Brees-way
Our apartment is unique for Chicago because it is both large and comparably inexpensive. In the back of the line of rooms, like a caboose, there’s a large, covered…well, in Michigan we’d call it a back deck but our landlord in his thick Chicago accent calls it dah brees-way.
It’s like a little time capsule, our breezeway. An Olde Tyme-y brass doorbell clings to the wall beside the heavy 1920s door into the inner sanctum of our kitchen. A panel underneath used to be a door for the milkman to leave glass bottles of fresh cream. And my favorite detail: if you look to your left, you will see a horizontal bar and hanging from it on clothes hangers are button-up shirts peering out the window at you like dogs spotting a squirrel.
That small window, formerly a way for occupants to check the back door, had been sequestered to the back of my bedroom closet through a century’s worth of edits.
~Nate
This Week’s Writing Prompt is:
Take a ride
Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story or essay using this action prompt. The action prompt doesn’t have to be the plot, but it should be important enough to the plot that if it didn’t happen, neither could the plot. Stuck? Think about what information is included (or implied) in the prompt. It may give you hints about what characters could perform the action or what objects are necessary for it to occur. Need more pointers on how to use an action prompt? We’ve gone into detail in this month’s Technique Toolbox on Navigating Prompts.
Rowan’s note: Have you read the Navigating Prompts post? Then you know this prompt is wide open. Nate didn’t constrain your imagination at all with clarifying notes. “Take” could mean “go for a” in this context or it could mean “acquire.” A ride could be a verb (riding horses, joyriding) or a noun (a carnival ride, or slang for a car). Where is your imagination taking you? Let us know in the Coffeehouse!
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 - Action 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!
While it’s entirely possible to write a valid story where nothing happens, it’s more likely that a writer who’s following Western traditions of storytelling and still ends up with a story where nothing happens has simply skipped putting in any actions. Competition judges and anthology editors will eventually melt down after reading a certain number of stories–it’s different for everyone, but there is a number–that can be summarized “Character stood alone in a room and had an emotion.” To prevent that, some competitions or anthologies provide a prompt that prevents potential punishment: the action.
In June, we’ll be looking at action prompts. These prompts can be sparse or rich in information, but they share certain characteristics that will inform how your story gets written. We’ll discuss how to analyze an action and how to make sure it’s important in the context of your story with a simple “but for” test. And we have a host of examples for you to read and consider. Check it out!
Super Challenge #20
The winners announcement for Super Challenge #20 is almost here! Good luck to all our participants as they anxiously await the results (publishing later today!). 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.
