Hustle and bustle
If you hang out in the YeahWrite Coffeehouse on Discord, you’ve probably noticed that it’s gotten a little busier than usual. In part that’s thanks to National Novel Writing Month, but we’re also running our own November writing challenge, which we call NaNoDoMore. We created NaNoDoMore in recognition of the fact that we can’t all manage to pull together 1,667 words a day for 30 days straight, but most of us can do a little more to contribute to our own writing careers and hobbies. Hop in and join the fun! (We’ve even put together a great list of prompts for you to use this month if you’ve got wordcount goals and are fishing for ideas!)
Also: good luck to our Super Challenge #26 participants, who will be spending the weekend writing and polishing their flash fiction entries! Have fun, and happy writing.
~Christine
This Week’s Writing Prompt is:
1) Someone who has left home for the last time
2) This used to be easy, when…
This week’s prompt is brought to you by our list of 30 Prompts for 30 Days. We rolled two 30 sided dice (ok, we used a random number generator) to choose one prompt from each list. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story or essay incorporating both of these prompts. Stuck? We’ve gone into detail about unraveling this sort of prompt style in this Technique Toolbox post on combination prompts. You can use the second prompt as a line in your story or essay, or just use it as your story/essay’s central idea.
There are no word limits. You can write fiction or nonfiction; you may interpret the prompt any way you like, but you must use it exactly as written. 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: Scarlet Quill Society (Free Workshop w/ Optional Paid Benefits)
Welcome to the secret back room where the Scarlet Quill Society meets. In this year-long workshop, the YeahWrite editors will help you hone your own editing skills so that you can feel confident that the work you are submitting is at its absolute best. We’re experimenting a little with our workshop format in 2022, and offering a couple add-ons to our always-free posts that we think you’ll find exciting and worth a few bucks a month: The Scarlet Quill Society will have actual face-to-face (okay, virtual) monthly meetings to delve into the topics and answer your questions, and an editorial backroom on Discord!
This month we’re talking about your last chance to get it right: proofreading. Check out our November post, where we’re doing all this and more, and then tune in to the live talk with your questions!
This month’s meeting took place on Sunday, November 13 at 2pm US Eastern time. Sign up for a membership today to join the Scarlet Quill Society and automatically receive the Zoom link and password for every meeting. One-off monthly meeting tickets can also be purchased on Kofi. At YeahWrite we believe information wants to be shared. If you can’t afford to join us for society meetings, we post the recording about a week later, and you’re welcome to leave the tip you can afford (even if that’s just a nice thank you comment). Check out our YouTube channel for more.
Super Challenge #26 - Fiction
Super Challenge #26 kicks off tonight with round one! Good luck to all our participants as they race to finish their 1,000 word stories within 48 hours. Miss out on registration? Be sure to sign up for our mailing list so you don’t miss out on any future Super Challenge updates.
NaNoDoMore
NaNoDoMore is YeahWrite’s annual November challenge to just do a little more with your writing this month. Whether that’s participating in NaNoWriMo and grinding out 1,667 words a day, or updating your author bio on your website, or finally opening that book everyone keeps recommending, or writing a review for your latest great read – it’s all good. Come check it out. If your lifestyle doesn’t have room for consistent large chunks of time in November, we’ve got your back with tasks ranging from five minutes to five days (kidding) worth of time. You can even win points on the YeahWrite Discord by keeping us updated on what you’ve been able to accomplish! Come do a little more with us this month.
WIP Write-Ins, AKA Co-Working Hours
Last summer, you all joined the YeahWrite editors (and writers like you) for a series of laid-back, low-key co-working sessions. We chatted, we brainstormed, we got to know one another, and arguably most importantly, we wrote actual words! Once summer ended, we weren’t ready for co-working to disappear like the hot weather, so starting in October, co-working is back!
Join Christine every Wednesday from 9:00am – 11:00am Pacific Time for regular WIP Write-ins. Other sessions will be scheduled in the future, so keep an eye on our calendar and we’ll be sure to post announcements of pop-up sessions in our Discord and Facebook groups. See you there!
[Ed’s note: if you add that calendar to your own Google calendar, it’ll change the times to match your time zone automagically. No more searching “what time is 9am Pacific in Warsaw?” You’re welcome. /RBG]
Spontaneous Writing Challenges
Looking for a bit of inspiration? Missing the grids? Then join the Coffeehouse on Discord (where the stories are made up and the points don’t matter) and head to the #spontaneous-challenge channel. Each day, anyone can post a micro writing challenge (but just one per day!). Share your responses within the thread and earn XP within the server. We hope to see you there!
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.
