Learning new routines

My kid started kindergarten this week. I was going to write something about that, about how hard it was to leave him with strangers all day long, five days a week; how hard it was to let his little hand leave mine. How much I wanted to cry. Only, here’s the thing: my kid’s been in daycare since he was six months old. Strangers have been raising my kid for five years. I leave him at 7:30 AM and pick him up at 6:00 PM. I only cry when I drop my bike’s kickstand on my foot. At this point, it’s not about leaving my kid. It’s about learning different routines: what time he needs to be there, what he can bring with him, when his homework is due, which bathroom the boys should use.

What does this have to do with yeah write? Well, we’re all busy people. There are a ton of writing sites out there competing for your attention. And for each site, you’ve got to learn different rules and routines. We’ve got our own spin on blogging. It works pretty well for us, and we think you’ll like it too. But it takes time to grok the rules. Especially when they change.

Cue the ominous music. We’ve been hinting at changes, and here’s the first one: starting on September 14 (yeah write #179), all three competitive grids will be moderated. That’s the challenge grid, the speakeasy, and the gargleblaster. Not the moonshine grid – we like our moonshine to flow free and easy. We’re going to be reading your submissions carefully and only letting the best onto the grid.

Now to the good part. You will never – and I have it straight from the editor’s mouth – never get a boilerplate love letter from yeah write. Submissions editor Rowan G will always provide concrete and specific advice designed to guide you onto the grid next time. She’ll highlight what you did well and gently point out things that didn’t work. We hope you walk away from the experience feeling like we appreciated the time and effort you put into your submission, because really, we do.

We’ve got some more exciting changes coming up for the fall, so make sure you’re subscribed to our weekly e-mail blast. That’s the best way to get all our news, fast! Just fill out that little form in the left-hand sidebar and call it good.

Prizes!

We love giving out prizes whenever we get the chance. Consider this our end-of-summer, back-to-school, just-for-the-hell-of-it gift to you for all the awesomeness you bring to the grids.

The editors put their heads together to pick the very best posts from the last two challenge grids challenge grids (#176 and #177). Sparks flew, keyboards were pounded, but eventually we came to a consensus. This writer burst on the yeah write scene two weeks ago and just blew us away. Congratulations, Anastasia of AnaChips! 

• a random penguin mug good for all of your drinking needs designed by friend of yeah write ML Philpott;
• NYT bestselling title Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Redemption and Resilience by Laura Hillenbrand; and
• A $20 Shutterfly Gift Card.

Please e-mail us with your mailing address, and we’ll get your prize package to you as fast as penguins fly, er, swim!

Challenge winners round-up

In case you missed them, here’s a summary of all the #177 winners. Take a few minutes to check out the best of all the grids right here.

Challenge grid

• Crowd favorite: Jan at Red’s Wrap for Staying in the Life Outside
• Top row: Ana at Ana Chips for How We Move
• Kevin the Kiwi: Ana at Ana Chips for How We Move
• Comment Bob: Celeste at RunningNekkid

Speakeasy

• Crowd favorites: #1 Genna for Impatiently Waiting; #2 Meg at Pigspittle, Ohio for Survival of the Fittest; #3 Silverleaf at Silverleaf Journal for Waiting for Josef
• Editors’ pick: Silverleaf at Silverleaf Journal for Waiting for Josef

Gargleblaster

• Crowd favorite: Karen at Spilling Words for The Univited
• Editors’ pick: Irrational Realist for Goodbye
• Top row seven: In addition to Karen, the top row seven includes: Rowan at textwall for The Open Window; Meg at Pigspittle, Ohio for Waiting for Father to Return; Jan at Red’s Wrap for Eight Dollars and Change; Jennifer at Graceful Press Poetry for Girl and Bat: A Poem for Two Voices; Suzanne at Apoplectic Apostrophes for Coda; and Christine at Trudging Through Fog for Nightsongs.

Congratulations to all! Don’t forget: the moonshine grid is still open. Have something to add? Old posts and new are welcome. Go add yours, and while you’re there, visit your fellow yeah writers.

A special offer for yeah writers

Here at yeah write, we’re all about bringing our best creative nonfiction stories to the grid each week. We’re excited to announce that contributing editor Cindy Reed is offering an online course to teach you how to hone your storytelling skills. Storytelling for Bloggers | A 60 Day Online Writing Experience begins September 15, and she’s giving yeah writers 20% off!

Click HERE to learn all about the course – syllabus, pricing, schedule – but to register, use the links below to get your discount:

The ultimate question

Looking for the fastest and most furious challenge on the web? You’ve come to the right place. Sit yourself down and give the pangalactic gargleblaster a try. Just don’t sit too long – the gargleblaster grid is notorious for filling up in hours. This week’s ultimate question is:

Can I eat this?

Have fun with this one! Give us your best answer in 42 words. Don’t forget everything you’ve learned this summer about dialogue, concise writing, literary devices, and all the other tips and tricks for writing effective microfiction and micro narratives. Remember that you don’t need to include the question in your response. Here are a few guidelines:

1. Do not mention anywhere in your post, either as intro or footnote, that you are writing to a prompt.
2. We want the story the furthest away in your imagination from the original prompt. Let your imagination loose.
3. Keep your writing style! Do you tell stories with humor? Prose? Verse? Photos? Illustrations? Keep doing that.
4. Proofread. Just because it’s short doesn’t mean you can cut corners.

Make sure your answer stands alone. What do we mean? Write down the question. Write down your response. Now cover the question with your hand and read your answer out loud. Does it still make sense when you don’t know the question? That’s what we’re looking for.

The grid opens at midnight on Monday (that’s one minute after 11:59 PM on Sunday) and closes at midnight on Tuesday (that’s one minute after 11:59 PM on Monday). Yes, we give you only 24 hours to post, so you’d better get writing now! Come back to vote on Tuesday, and we’ll announce winners on Wednesday. Don’t forget to badge your post – you can pick up the current gargleblaster badge below or over there in the sidebar.

Yeah write coffeehouse

The coffeehouse is open for business! Come on in, pour yourself a latte – this place is self serve. The coffeehouse is a place for the yeah write community to gather, get to know each other, exchange ideas and links, and chat. Read a good book lately? Have a link you want to share? Dealing with some writer’s block? Pull up a chair, grab a latte and start a conversation. We won’t be doing any critiquing in the coffeehouse, mind – we want to keep things there light and casual. We hope to see you there!

New to yeah write? Need a refresher?

Welcome! This is a special kind of place, and we hope you will dive right in. If this is one of your first visits to yeah write, please take a look at our page detailing how yeah write works. If you’re having trouble figuring it all out, feel free to email us, and we’ll help get you started along your way. We think this is the best community on the web for writers who blog and bloggers who write. We’re thrilled to have you join us.

Down below, you’ll see the detailed schedule for the week. In a nutshell: the gargleblaster opens on Monday for microfiction; the challenge grid and speakeasy open on Tuesday for creative nonfiction and fiction; and the moonshine grid opens on Friday with a little bit of everything. Pick one grid or all, but make sure you follow the proper guidelines for each one. And don’t forget your badge!

Get your badges!

Here are the badges for yeah write challenge #178 and this week’s gargleblaster. Copy the code under the appropriate badge and paste it into the html or text view of your blog editor. Having trouble? Contact christine@yeahwrite.me for tech support.

<a href="https://yeahwrite.me/writing-challenge-178/"> <img src="https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/challenge178.png"> </a>

<a href="https://yeahwrite.me/gargleblaster-177/"> <img src="https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/gargle177.png"> </a>

Challenge schedule

There’s a lot going on around here lately. To make it simple, we’ll lay out the multi-grid schedule. All times are Eastern US time:

• Sunday midnight: the gargleblaster prompt is announced in the kickoff post, and the speakeasy prompt is announced over at the speakeasy.
• Monday midnight: the gargleblaster grid opens for submissions.
• Tuesday midnight: the gargleblaster grid closes, and voting begins. The challenge grid and the speakeasy grid open for submissions. 10:00 PM: gargleblaster voting closes.
• Wednesday by noon: the gargleblaster winners are announced.
• Thursday midnight: the challenge grid and speakeasy grids close, and voting begins. 10:00 PM: voting for both grids closes.
• Friday by noon: the challenge grid and speakeasy winners are announced, and the moonshine grid opens.
• Saturday and Sunday: moonshine grid is still open, writing, editing and rewriting happening for upcoming week!

Gargleblaster grid opens Monday!