(R)Evolution
Before I make anyone nervous, let me start by saying one thing: We’re not going anywhere. YeahWrite hasn’t missed a week in 500 weeks, and we’re not starting now.
On the other hand, changes are in the air. We’ve got some big announcements to make, and we hope you’ll stick with this very very long post to hear them. Because YeahWrite has evolved a lot over the last decade, and it’s time for us to evolve again. But first, come with us on a journey through our archives, because our ten years of history are important to us, and we want to honor them.
-Rowan
Once upon a time…
About ten years ago, in Texas, there lived a young woman named Erica. It was the heyday of blogging: BlogHer had been founded in 2005, Facebook had opened to the public in 2006 but had a limited wordcount, and Medium wouldn’t be founded for another two years. The internet was wild in those days. Practically everyone could access it and set up a LiveJournal, or a more formal blog if they thought they could manage a little bit of HTML. And blogs were a relatively new and open form of monetizable writing, with very few gatekeepers (you know, like self-publishing has been for the last couple years). Suddenly, voices that would never have had a platform could be heard. People’s personal stories had an audience. And for the price of a few click-through ads and some promises of engagement, folks could actually make a writing hustle work.
And it was good, except… well, except when it wasn’t. The drive to monetize personal writing, the sort of mini-memoir that a blog was at the time, favored clicks over quality and quantity over everything. Bloggers tended to adhere to a standard formula: conversational writing heavily punctuated with strikeouts and ellipses, maybe in bright colors, and always, always, ending with a question to try to engage casual readers in the comments. There were a thousand “blogrings” – opportunistic linkups of communities hoping that if a reader liked one blog, they’d follow another similar blog. But what there wasn’t was a community of writers trying to become better writers.
That’s where YeahWrite came in. Or, at the time, lovelinks. And then yeah write. 2010-12 was not an era in which we capitalized a lot of things. Erica had the idea to challenge folks to be the best writers they could be, and she created a platform to make that work. She’d scour the net for good writing to add to each week’s linkups, knowing that everyone was watching their blog stats like a hawk and could see where traffic was coming from. And she’d encourage good writers to stay on, week after week.
In those days, there was one grid, and it was full. Between returning writers who had found a community they loved, and new writers being added, the grid would fill a whole page. Writers were encouraged to read and comment, but it was a daunting task! Eventually, the custom would become “read and comment on your row or column of the grid.”
As yeah write’s community expanded, so did its needs. Erica’s friend Flood joined the team as submissions editor, helping monitor the grids to ensure that writing met some basic quality guidelines. If it didn’t, she’d write a “love letter” to the writer explaining what was wrong and how they could fix it. She also convinced Erica to let her run a secondary grid, the “speakeasy,” for folks whose writing tastes tended toward the fictional and fantastic. And for writers intimidated by the thought of moderation, weekends were dominated by the “moonshine” (do you see a theme here) grid, where any post was welcome, no matter how long or short, edited or, well, not. But most people weren’t satisfied staying on the moonshine grid for long, and they made the leap to the main grids.
You’d recognize some of the names of those writers if we mentioned them – and you’ll see comments from them later in this post, so we’ll just note that it was a very good time to be a yeah writer and move on with the history bit.
YeahWrite has always been staffed by volunteers, mostly by writing professionals of one flavor or another, committed to making our little corner of the net a better one. Or at least an easier-to-read one. But volunteer labor means that people’s day jobs and ordinary lives often have to take precedence: Stacie and Michelle joined Erica’s team. Flood left. Suzanne took over the speakeasy, handing out cleverly crafted prompts that excited folks so much that Natalie and Arden were called in to assist with that grid. Obed monitored submissions between classes. And when the Trifecta challenge closed its virtual doors, the team shamelessly recruited Christine to run a brand-new microstories grid. At the time it was called the Gargleblaster because what even is copyright, anyway? To add to its host of violations, each week the grid asked writers to answer an Ultimate Question in 42 words.
Of course, with three, full, moderated grids (and the moonshine grid, still going strong), came the need for a more hands-on submissions editor. Enter Rowan. Whether you loved or hated your love letter, you couldn’t deny she took the time to explain exactly where you’d missed the mark, and how to do it differently next time. She also pioneered the poetry slam, and what’s now called the technique toolbox, generating a library of writing tips and tricks that’s free and thorough. (Rowan will tell you she did it because she’s too lazy to write the same hints more than once.)
It’s hard to mark time by the comings and goings among the team, because there have been so many people who stepped in over the years to give us a hand: Cynthia, Courtenay, and Kristin all held various positions on the team at this time, and Jenny has been a quick text away when we needed a hand. Cindy headed up the nonfiction grid with a steady hand, and helped out with summer how-to workshops in the grid posts in between classes for her own writing and editing business. Recruiting Nate when Suzanne stepped away from the speakeasy – now the fiction|poetry grid – has been one of our best ideas, and Meg was an invaluable voice on nonfiction until the pressures of daily life took her back again. [Ed’s note – five people have looked at this paragraph and we’re still probably forgetting someone we should be naming. Let us know, ok? /rbg]
Remember how volunteering takes its toll? In 2015 Erica stepped back as head of yeah write, and the new executive committee took over, with Michelle as EIC, Stacie as Executive Editor, and Rowan as Managing Editor. Those were big shoes to fill (it took three of us!) but the team managed somehow, and even added the Super Challenge to our roster. We couldn’t have done it without Asha, though – her thoughtful commentary and steady heart have been a lodestone throughout YeahWrite’s evolution from a little linkup to a community of dedicated writers, even before she agreed to a staff position.
And with that round of changes, YeahWrite has stayed mostly same-shaped for the past few years. We’ve kept the lights on for the weekly nonfiction and fiction|poetry grids (although the moonshine closed its doors, finally), and run the micro grid monthly. The Super Challenge has grown into something we’re really proud of, although let’s be honest, we were proud from SC#1 to see how enthusiastic everyone was. And we’ve run workshops and classes for pay and for free.
But writing was changing around us. Big publishers were discovering bloggers, and getting jealous of their rights of first publication. Suddenly, work on your personal blog counted as “previously published” and it started making folks leery of putting their words up. More small venues and markets were opening up as self-publishing, e-books, and small presses expanded options for writers. And at the end of the day, YeahWrite’s community commitment to nurturing the best writing is no longer served by the grids we’ve run for the past decade. We’ve been doing more than telling bloggers to take that final question off their essay for a long while now, and it’s time to acknowledge that.
All good things must…
Evolve. Not come to an end. Although if you’ve ever had InLinkz drop a link before the popular vote opened, you’ll be as excited as we are to never click that blue button again.
But first: We promised at the beginning of this post that we’re not going anywhere. And we mean it. We’ll still be here every week with a writing prompt that brings out your – and our – best.
We’re also definitely keeping the Super Challenge. Watching our competition grow from nothing to “can you possibly judge two groups this weekend?” has been thrilling, and we hope you’re still as excited about it as we are. From the signup numbers, it looks like you are.
On the other hand, we’re closing the weekly grids, as well as the popular vote. A blog linkup doesn’t reflect what writers today are doing anymore, and we want to meet you where you are as writers. Instead, we invite you to share your work in the coffeehouse, where we’ll be hosting more open discussions, talking about your (and our) works in progress, and sharing exciting news. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, too!
With the grids closed, we’ll have more time to bring you the classes and workshops you want. In fact, we’re opening registration for a class this weekend, and we hope you’ll join Rowan for that character-driven trip into fiction.
And stick around this week for our final grid – we’d love to see you on it.
A few more changes…
As if we hadn’t dropped enough surprises on you, YeahWrite’s managing team is reorganizing. We’re so happy to announce that Christine is stepping up as our new Editor-in-Chief. She brings years of writing and organizational experience, of course, but more than that, she’s been one of our most ardent and enthusiastic team members since, well, it feels like forever. We’re confident that her combination of vision and love for this community will be a steadying influence as we move forward with this next phase. But don’t worry, Michelle isn’t going anywhere. As a contributing editor, she’ll still be one of our bedrock team members.
We’re also pleased to announce that Arden is our Executive Editor and Social Media Manager. Honestly it’s hard to limit Arden’s contributions to a title, but we feel like this one (or actually two) fits her well. Stacie has already promised not to leave us, though, as she takes a little time to focus on her day to day life. You’ll see her popping up all over the place at the Super Challenge!
Change can be a bittersweet thing, but growth is part of our lives as people, as writers, and as a community. We’re sad to say goodbye to the weekly grids, but the time had come to let them go and focus on the real needs of our community of writers. And we’re excited to move into this new phase of our evolution. See you there!
A quick word
Love letters used to be what we called our emails to writers who needed a little help that week. More than a rejection, the love letters reinforced what we wanted our community to be about: not gatekeeping or dismissal, but the opportunity to grow together.
But it also means, well, love letters. And we thought we’d share some of ours. YeahWrite has meant a lot to us over the years, but it’s meant a lot to you, too. We reached out to some former YeahWriters as well as our staff, and here’s what they wanted to share. If YeahWrite’s been important to you, we’d love to hear about it in the comments on this post. And yes, that’s a cry for attention. We’re writers. We thrive on feedback–we thought you knew that!
Meg
Six years ago seems like 20 years. That’s when I found Yeah Write. I had followed Nate over, after some Word Press workshop group we were in together. In 2014, the Gargleblaster was the popular weekly contest—a 42-word response to a question prompt. I had never read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so it took a while before I learned the origins of the Gargleblaster and some of the nomenclature the editors used in their weekly introductions. For most of that first year, I thought Rowan’s name was Saroful. I was totally in awe of the editors. (I trust Rowan will correct my verb tenses here.) I was lucky to become friends with them and meet writers from around the world, and to serve, briefly, on the editorial team. While I still have a long way to go as a writer, Yeah Write gave me that singular gift: to allow myself to call myself a writer. The process of writing, the discipline of it, and the letting go of preciousness were all aspects of my tiny writing world that I had never explored. When you are cheered on just because you sat down and wrote for two hours that week, you start to gain confidence and motivation to keep going. Of course, for some like me, life gets in the way and writing is put on the backburner. I write for a living and writing for myself hasn’t always been a priority. But in my mind, this is a temporary thing—like the off-season for a football player. I know I will return to it. And when I return, I will go back to where my writer’s heart is – that place I found a home with Erica, Michelle, Rowan, Asha, Stacie, Christine, Arden, Natalie, Nate, Cindy, Jenny and so many more. Yeah Write. Thank you for all of it, my friends.
Cindy
I first joined yeah write way back in Week 54(!) in the spring of 2012 as a guest blogger over at gfunkified. I was instantly hooked. In yeah write, I found discipline, an education in shortform essay writing and, most of all, community. My time editing the nonfiction grids honed my storytelling skills and launched a platform for me to teach and speak about the art of the personal essay. I don’t blog anymore, but I do write and edit full-time for a living now as the editorial director for a nonprofit. Yeah write gave me the confidence to do that, and I’ll always treasure my time on the grids with people I still call friends to this day—even though I’ve never met some of you in person.
Mary Laura
500 posts! Congratulations, everybody at YeahWrite. And thank you for all you’ve done over the years to encourage writers to stretch and grow. Here’s wishing you 500 more!
[Ed’s note: Mary Laura was a special part of YeahWrite’s growth, lending us some of her Penguins with People Problems as grid mascots for years. If you remember Comment Bob or Kevin the Kiwi, you have Mary Laura to thank.]
Bill
The first post I submitted to YeahWrite was on the #59 grid in 2012. That post was titled, “The Other Bill.” I was hooked. The editors and writers at YeahWrite encouraged me, challenged me, and made me want to become a better writer. For years, I submitted weekly posts, honing my writing skills and building up the courage to publish essays in major publications, and finally to write a book. That very first post from the #59 grid became the seed of a chapter in my debut memoir, “The LIE: A Memoir of Two Marriages, Catfishing & Coming Out,” a New York Times Editors’ Pick. Look in the margins of everything I write, and there you’ll find YeahWrite.
Shailaja
I found YeahWrite back in 2013 when I was venturing into the art of writing long form essays. What I thought was a writing community very quickly turned into one of my go-to places on the web. The editors at YeahWrite gave me such incredible feedback and constantly urged me to push out of my comfort zone that soon I was trying my hand at things I had never dreamed of: poetry, experimental writing and my most favourite of all- micro fiction. But above everything else, YeahWrite has always meant more camaraderie, more constructive criticism and more goodwill than any other group I’ve ever been a part of. And even though my current goals as a writer have changed significantly, there will always be a special place for YeahWrite and all the wonderful friends I’ve made through their grids. Thank you, for all that you do.
Natalie
What initially drew me to YeahWrite was the emphasis on excellence, with the driver being community, not some figure on high grudgingly dispensing pearls of wisdom. I wanted to be a part of it from the very first challenge; a place that did not compromise on quality writing standards, yet did so in a way that encouraged writers to keep trying. Over the years, I have found friendships here that mean the world to me, and the confidence to have faith in my own abilities as a writer. With a little extra work, I can always improve—and YeahWrite taught me that. Though motherhood has pulled me away from my writing in recent years, I still think of YeahWrite as my home, and it will always have a place in my heart.
Asha
I’ve been blogging very erratically since around 2001, but in 2014, my friend Erica convinced me to be more purposeful about my writing and to join an amazing community of writers that she’d gathered together. My first ever blog post for yeah write (remember when we were separate words and lowercase?) was on the #182 Nonfiction grid on October 6, 2014. That was quickly followed by another on the #183 Nonfiction grid, the #184 Microstories grid, and even a post on the Moonshine grid. I was hooked. Finally, I’d found a real community of writers who would read my work consistently, and would both lift me up and point out where my writing needed work, in the kindest ways. I still can’t believe my luck. Here was a group of genuinely curious and dedicated writers and editors who were invested in seeing my writing improve. I was in love. I started hanging around the grids like a lovelorn teenager, and in 2016 I was honoured to come on board as staff. The word ‘honoured’ is often used flippantly, or as a placeholder, but I was genuinely thrilled that this amazing team of editors that I respected and loved saw skills in me that would add to the team. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been welcomed into this fold. I’ve learned so much about writing, editing, and giving concrete, useable feedback with kindness by being part of the YeahWrite family – both from the incredible editors I work with, and from the creative, dedicated, thoughtful writers who generously share their work and their comments. More than that, I feel fortunate to have built friendships across the world with a community of writers, dedicated to improving their own work while supporting each other.
Christine
I have to say, I had no idea what I was getting into back in 2014 when I was invited to help manage the micro challenge. Since then, YeahWrite has become my online home. It’s led to some of my greatest and truest friendships, and it’s broadened my perspective on everything from world events to parenthood to mental health to—of course—writing. As writers, we never stop learning, and YeahWrite has given me the opportunity to learn not just from the editors, but from all our participants, past and present. I think it’s entirely fair to say that I would not be the writer, or the person, I am today if not for this community.
Nate
Rowan
Ironically, what sucked me into YeahWrite wasn’t good writing – it was bad writing. A friend had just introduced me to the site and suggested I read through the grid to get a feel for how everything worked. The next thing I knew I was texting her to say ok but how much feedback do people here actually want, because this story needs a lot of it. One thing led to another and before I knew it I’d tried to submit something (and failed–I missed my first grid!) and was hooked for life on the combination of competition and collaboration that the community could provide. Along the way I found friendship, and even a new career. It’s been a long journey for me here, in some ways, but it’s only just beginning in others.
Arden
As a serial overwriter, I’m surprised at how hard it is for me to articulate exactly what YeahWrite has meant to me over the years. Way back in April of 2013, I published my first post to the YeahWrite nonfiction grid. At that time, I was a baby blogger, looking for a new creative outlet after having to quit the dance scene. I soon dipped my toes into the fiction grid, finding a well of inspiration both from the funky prompts and the writers’ unique takes on them. From that point on, YeahWrite couldn’t have gotten rid of me if they tried, and I couldn’t say yes fast enough when they asked me to come on board as staff later that year. Since then, it’s been a privilege to work alongside my friends here.
A Letter from Michelle
I put off writing this as long as I could. A writer lost for words is never a good thing, you know? YeahWrite has been my home for a LONG time. I lived and breathed it. Before I was an editor, I used to set an alarm so I could get up in time to get my post on the grid before it maxed out. I cried good and hard when I got my first love letter. And my second. I cursed when I didn’t place where I wanted and what I wanted was to always be #1 in the popular vote and get an editor pick or whatever iteration it was at the time. It made me work hard and learn.
I wrote a memoir (currently in it’s 900th draft!) because YeahWriters told me I could. I got professional editing advice. I learned how to be a professional editor. I met friends here who helped me write better, helped me switch careers, helped me quit drinking, helped me raise my kid. Not just friends I’ll have forever, but also acquaintances who came and went but left an indelible mark on my soul along the way, and somehow I managed to get my heart broken here, too. I’ve learned hard lessons about social justice and privilege and I expanded my worldview far beyond my NJ roots. When I tell you YeahWrite has been one of the biggest influences in my life, it’s not an exaggeration.
The decision to step away from the day-to-day was extremely difficult. So hard, in fact, that I put off writing this because I didn’t have time for crying earlier this week. I don’t really have time for it now, either, but Rowan is on me to get this done. I’m really going to miss that.
What does YeahWrite mean to me? Everything. Thank you, all of you, for everything.
Welcome to the Week 500 megagrid
It’s the final week of YeahWrite’s grids, so we’re hosting a throwback grid. In 2011, the maximum wordcount for each post was 500 words, and every post went on the same grid. So that’s what you’re going to see this week. Check out the prompts, because we want to see you on the grid with your 500-or-fewer word post!
One more quick rule change: you may submit two posts this week, so long as they are not in the same category. Categories are: nonfiction, fiction, poetry, microprose. Got it? Great.
As usual, submissions for this week’s grid open on Saturday at 12 midnight and close on Wednesday at 10pm ET. Voting will then open immediately thereafter and close on Thursday at 10pm ET. The winners, as always, will be celebrated on Friday. Week 501 will kick off our new format and schedule, so keep an eye on that post for details (this one is long enough).
Having trouble getting started? Hop on over to our quick guide. And don’t forget to doublecheck the full submission guidelines before you hit that button.
THE ONLY PROMPT YOU NEED
For my (Nate’s) very last prompt for the YeahWrite fiction|poetry grid, a.k.a The Speakeasy, I wanted to go back to the first. Not the true first, mind you—that would require a lot of spelunking in the YeahWrite storage vaults—but my first prompt. Back in November 2015, we started Prompt Up!, a sentence from the previous week’s winning Nonfiction essay used as a prompt for a story or poem.
The prompt:
Use the following sentence from Meg’s essay Emptying the Cabinet of Angst as the first line of your poem or short story: Their hold on me had long since loosened. Anything after that is up to you.
USING THE PROMPT THIS WEEK:
For nonfiction, use the prompt as a jumping-off point. Incorporate it in your essay as a sentence, or use the central idea for the prompt to inspire you. (Or don’t; our nonfiction grid has always been prompt-optional and we’re not changing it this week!) Remember the 500-word limit!
For fiction, use the prompt as directed. The prompt is mandatory, and your limit is 500 words.
For poetry, incorporate the sentence in your poem of any form, or use the technique in this month’s poetry slam: whether you call it a tornada, volta, or just “that thing I did at the end of the sonnet,” there’s a technique that encourages you to make your reader re-evaluate everything they just read. That’s what we’re digging into for November’s slam. Check it out! (Your limit is technically 500 words, but we don’t expect you’ll need them all)
For microfiction, use the prompt as the first sentence of your story, then add 42 of your own words for a total of 50 words exactly. The prompt and wordcount are mandatory.
A QUICK NOTE REGARDING OUR GRIDS: After literally years of trying to work with InLinkz to resolve the issue where links would disappear from our grids, it’s become obvious that the problem isn’t going to be fixed. We’d like to extend a final apology to everyone who has been affected by this, which at this point we suspect means everyone. We’ve been as frustrated as you, and it would be somewhat disingenuous to say that this didn’t play any part in our decision to shut down a sharing mechanism that was nervewracking for everyone. You deserved to have your work appear on time, every time, and stay put, and we’re sorry we were unable to make that happen or find an alternative option that would allow and display submissions as well as support a voting format. In the meantime, if your piece disappears this week please drop us a note with the URL and we’ll put it back.
Loading InLinkz ...YeahWrite’s Got Class!
Rowan’s class Cut the Strings will open for registration soon! Do your characters feel wooden? Do you have to jerk their strings pretty hard to get them to participate in the plot? Delve into motivation and how to keep your characters in character while convincing them that yes, they do need keep doing the things that advance the plot, in this one-day class.
YeahWrite Super Challenge
Super Challenge #18 (our very first MICROfiction competition) is now open for registration! Registration caps at 40 so get in while it’s hot! Make sure you also sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any Super Challenge announcements.
Winners’ Round-Up
In case you missed them, you can find last week’s YeahWrite staff picks and crowd favorites all laid out for you on last Friday’s winners’ post. Leave the winners some love in the comments. They will love you right back, we guarantee it.
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.
This is bittersweet. I remember how sad I was when Trifecta closed their doors. I’ve been participating in Yeah Write for several years or longer. I’ve enjoyed the interaction with other writers and the staff/editors/writers of Yeah Write!
I appreciate the work put into Yeah Write. It’s created a safe place for me to share my poetry and a couple microstories.
I’m excited to see the changes as well. 500 weeks is an amazing number! Thank you everyone! You all are amazing!
Thanks, Donetta! It’s bittersweet for us too, but we hope you stick around and write with us as we move to our new focus. 🙂