Open submissions on the challenge grid

It’s Memorial Day weekend here in the US. This is a time where Americans pay tribute to those who lost their lives in service to the country. It’s also a time for taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. We all have people in our lives who have made sacrifices, big and small, out of love, loyalty, duty and a whole host of other reasons. Take a moment to remember those people. If you’re inspired to write about them, all the better. We’d love to read those stories. But no matter what subject you choose, we’ve decided to give everyone a little holiday from the moderation queue this week. That’s right – this week is open submissions on the challenge grid.

Before you get all giddy, please remember that we still expect your personal essays and traditional blog anecdotes to adhere to the yeah write guidelines. Give us a so what. Make us care. Proofread. Don’t forget your badge. In addition, our new submissions editor, Rowan G., will fill you in on her expectations and editing approach in the opening post tomorrow. Have fun, and get writing!

Challenge winners round-up

In case you missed them, here’s a summary of all the #162 winners. Take a few minutes to check out the best of all the grids right here.

Challenge grid

• Crowd favorite: Christine for Rights and Privileges
• Top row: Cindy for The Ocean and Erica for 27 phones in the name of science
• Kevin the Kiwi: Nate for Drilled from Diapers
• Comment Bob:  Shailaja at Diary of a Doting Mom

Speakeasy

• Crowd favorites: #1 Ted Strutz for Of Course Not, Silly; #2 MamaMickTerry for Grow Shit, Write Shit; #3 Susan for Dead Dolly; and #4 James Bulls for Yard-Sale Promises
• Editors’ pick: Meg for Losing My Religion

Gargleblaster

• Crowd favorite: Angie for I Wade Through
• Editors’ pick: Meg for her untitled gargleblaster
• Top row seven: Meg, Forty c’est fantastique for Which Way to Go?, Christine for The Only Way Out, Jennifer for One Way, Nate for Crossing St. Clair, Zeudy Tiger for Which Way to Go?, and Archita for On Fire.

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.

The ultimate question

My week culminated in a spectacular bicycle crash of the yard-sale variety: I skidded one way, the bike another, lights and other small items flew in every direction. As I peeled myself up off the pavement*, this week’s ultimate question popped into my head:

Where does it hurt?

Give us your answer in 42 words. Here are a couple of 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.

You don’t need to include the question in your 42-word response. Do 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 – the current gargleblaster badge is below.

* I’m okay. Bumped, bruised, and stiff, but okay. If you ever thought bike helmets were dumb, well, I’m here to smack you upside the head because seriously — you would have been down one editor if I hadn’t been wearing one, very possibly for good. And if you want a personal helmet brand recommendation, shoot me an e-mail.

Challenge schedule

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

• 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!

Get your badges!

Below you’ll find the badges for yeah write challenge #162 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/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/challenge163.png"> <img src="https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/challenge163.png"> </a>

<a href="https://yeahwrite.me/gargleblaster-163/"> <img src="https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/gargle163.png"> </a>

New to yeah write?

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