for writers who blog and bloggers who write
Maybe someday?
Last week we were talking about how we identify ourselves. I often hear people say they want to be a writer. (Fine. FINE. I still say it, too.) The implication is that we are not writers now. It’s just a someday. It’s just a maybe.
Get what you want
Stop saying you want to be a writer or a blogger. In the immortal words of Master Yoda, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Either you write or you don’t. It is actually that simple. Now, you can be a successful writer or a struggling one, a beginner or an experienced one. A fiction writer, a poet, an essayist. Published. Unpublished. But you’re still a writer if you’re writing.
Once you’ve established that you are an Actual Writer by stringing together some words, you can take some inventory about the writer you are and the writer you want to be. If you want to be published, you have to be good. If you want to write long form, you need to have a substantial idea. If you do it for fun or just for yourself, this matters less. But you need to know what your goal is and how to get there.
This week, tell someone you’re a writer. Don’t qualify it. See how it feels.
Yeah write super challenge!!!
The initial round of our first nonfiction super challenge kicked off Friday evening, and we are so pumped to finally have it underway! Good luck to all our participants!
Did you miss out on registration? The next super challenge coming this fall will be for all you fictioneers out there so don’t miss out on any announcements. Sign up for our mailer today! We promise not to spam you.
The basics
Yeah write gives you two competitive challenge grids — nonfiction and fiction|poetry — both of which are unmoderated. Everyone gets to the voting round on Thursday. (Remember, your post must be dated appropriately, not be offensive to our audience, and cannot be over word count.) Got a question? E-mail us, tweet us, ping us on Facebook, or visit our online community, the yeah write coffeehouse. You can learn more about yeah write in our FAQ. Please make sure you are familiar with our submission guidelines before you enter. We don’t have a lot of rules, but we do enforce them across the board. We’d hate to see anyone get disqualified by a technicality.
Bring us your personal essays and creative nonfiction!
The nonfiction challenge grid opens on Monday at midnight EST. This is the best place on the ‘net to showcase your best writing. Make us laugh, make us cry, make us think, and above all: make us care.
Is fiction more your thing?
The fiction|poetry grid opens on Tuesday. Grab a mic and check out our weekly prompt up!
Prompt up!
Prompt up is our optional weekly writing prompt for the fiction|poetry challenge! Here’s how it works: we choose a sentence prompt from last week’s winning nonfiction post and announce it in the kickoff. It’s your job to use that prompt as the first sentence in your poem or story and then run with it. The prompt is just a springboard, though: feel free to keep it as your first sentence, move it, change it, or float down it to other territories.
Nancy ruminated on the importance of everyday objects in Ordinary Things Matter. The prompt up taken from her post is: I was looking for something ordinary.
Wait! Where’s the nonfiction know-how and poetry slam?
For the next two months, we’re taking some time off from our nonfiction know-how and poetry slams to focus on the super challenge. However, you can always check out our archives if you’re needing a little more inspiration this week. Happy writing!
Winners’ round-up
In case you missed them, you can find last week’s yeah write staff picks and crowd favorites all laid out for you on Friday’s winners’ post. Leave the winners some love in the comments. They will love you right back, we guarantee it.
Weekend writing showcase
The weekend’s not over: the moonshine grid is still open. Have something to add? Old posts and new are welcome. No moderation, no voting. It’s a laid-back relaxed kind of place. Just leave your commercial or sponsored posts at home. Drop by, share your work, and while you’re there, visit your fellow yeah writers.