for writers who blog and bloggers who write
Are you scared?
In just over a week, a day will arrive that strikes fear in the hearts of so many. No, not Halloween. November 1! Whether it’s NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo or some other configuration of shortened words to say you’re writing every day in November, people all over the world are committing themselves to do great things next month.
Well, everyone except me, I think. The last time I even wrote on my blog was November 30, 2015. Every year I think it will be fun and every year it is… for about a week. Writing every day is hard! Writing every day on top of all of life’s other commitments is even harder. So this year I’m letting myself off the hook because my plate is just too full. I felt guilty, but participating would take my mind off other goals I’m trying to achieve by year end. Priorities, my friends. Priorities.
So, how about you? Will you be writing daily? Tell us in comments what you’ll be working on!
Yeah write super challenge #2
The second round of super challenge #2 is currently underway! Our participants are finishing up their amazing pieces as we speak as we anxiously await their submissions. Wish them good luck in the comments! They deserve it!
Did you miss out on registration? Don’t fret! Just sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any announcements regarding future super challenges.
Who’s on fourth
This month we invite you to learn more about Ruby Bastille! The interview will publish Monday, but in the meantime, head over to her page and catch up on all of her awesomeness.
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.
Nonfiction know-how: tension
For this month’s nonfiction know-how we’re going to focus on tension. There are two basic reasons that people continue reading a thing they’ve started. One is that they’re curious about something, and the other is that they’re worried about something. Curiosity is a large part of what drives humorous writing; worry is what drives suspenseful writing. I’ll let Rowan tell you the rest.
Is fiction more your thing?
The fiction|poetry grid opens on Tuesday. Grab a mic and join our monthly poetry slam or 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. 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.
Rowan monitors the dueling messages on the signs of churches in her neighborhood in her essay, Pro-Choice. This week’s prompt up taken from the post is: The questions mounted up.
October poetry slam: nonet
This month, we’re taking it a little easy on you with the nonet. No scanning! No rhyming! Heck, you don’t even have all the content rules of haiku. Just good old syllable counting. Do you miss our microstory challenge? Then this is the poetry slam for you. Have fun!
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.