Writing Help
Looking for a few extra tips and tricks or craft hints? You’ve found YeahWrite’s Writing Help archive. Below, you’ll see a collection of the posts we think you’ll find helpful. Besides our monthly Nonfiction Know-How and Poetry Slams, we’ve included posts from past workshops, guest authors, classes, and the times one or another of our editors added some in-depth knowledge during a routine weekly post. Be sure to check out our favorite post: the one that defines the “so what.” Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, or correspondence, your reader should never be left asking… so what? We’ve also collected our best of the best posts about constructive criticism in one place, because writing help is also about helping each other write. Good luck, and happy writing!
Bearing the Burden
It's music to my ears How often have you heard that? Especially in reference to poetry? Well, poetry and music are pretty closely related. We'll discover how closely in this month's slam, when you write a poem-within-a-poem using a few rules cribbed from...
Deconstructing Prompts – Complete
Prompts. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're at the center of most flash fiction writing. Whether you're dealing with a genre (or two), character, object, image, or something else entirely, the competition or anthology you're submitting to expects you to...
YeahWrite #373 Weekly Writing Challenge is Open for Microprose
Tricks or treats Hi everyone, it's Asha. I'm hosting the Microprose Challenge this month. Grab a canapé and a beverage of your choice and come on in! Microprose is one of the most challenging forms to write. You have a short word limit to capture your reader's...
Ae Freislighe Pressed
The Form of the Irish With the world's eyes on Ireland and #repealthe8th lately, it seemed timely to explore an Irish poerty form for this month's slam. Of course, when you're working with a poetic form not originally intended for English, the syllable and...
Writing About Writing – Part II
Ready, set.... read. Last month, we added some basic writer's vocabulary to our Technique Toolbox. You know that as you read a story or essay you've been asked to critique, you should be prepared to ask the three big questions: What was the writer trying...
Re-Member When?
YeahWrite has been a community, first and foremost, since its inception. It's been a place in one little corner of the internet where new and emerging writers could gather to read and be read, give and receive feedback, learn and grow. More established...
I Ode U
I'm still skipping sonnets But it's spring here in the Pacific Northwest, and I've been reminded that it's time to explore another classic form: the ode. Odes were once so numerous that their name became a synonym for "poem." And who hasn't heard an...
Writing About Writing
So you're ready to be a writer, eh? You've got your drafts, you've met a beta reader or two, and you're ready to hear criticism. You've found a writing group, online or off, and you think they're a great fit for you. Now it's your big day: you've traded...
Well what do you know?
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!?! With YeahWrite's seventh (!!!?!!?) birthday happening this month, editor Michelle and I spent some time sitting around brainstorming seven-themed ideas for tips and tricks. This quickly devolved into the two of us yelling WHAT'S IN...
Seventh Line’s the Charm
In honor of YeahWrite's seventh birthday this month, our poetry slam's focused on sevens too: the seven lines of a rime royal. Or rhyme royal. Rhyme royale. Look, spelling wasn't standardized yet when this form was developed. In fact, it's a form so old...
One Across – One Down
This month's poetry slam is for the spellers out there. We've rhymed this year, we've scanned, but have we used spellcheck? We have not. So let's start. (Fun fact: I once tried to talk my parents into moving because our home state didn't participate in the...
Ready, set… submit!
“That’s great, honey. Where can I read it?” If those words from my mom make you cringe too, this month’s Technique Toolbox is for you. We’re going to talk about putting your words where my mom – or anybody’s mom – can get her hands on them. Whether you’ve...
Fun With Words – Complete
If you've been hanging around YeahWrite for a while, you've probably picked up on the fact that I dig poetry. I started writing poems in elementary school after devouring my first Shel Silverstein book. I loved the playfulness and creativity I discovered in every line...
Not a Sonnet Pun
I know it's February but... Blah blah Valentine's Day blah love blah sweetest poetry form blah. I'm already feeling nauseated. Hey, gang, what do you say we give the traditional sonnets a break this year, and try something else for February? As a nod to...
Technique Toolbox: How to Make Friends and Influence People (or at least not drive them away)
Writing is its own reward. Henry Miller said that, and while I think it's lovely, I'm not sure it's true. Certainly one of my own favorite parts of writing - why I have a blog in the first place - is knowing that people read it. But how do you get people...