for writers who blog and bloggers who write
Oh, is that where I left it?
Late last year, I stopped writing. Wait, that’s not entirely true. My day job requires some writing but it’s mostly about insurance so let’s file that under “Doesn’t Count.” What I mean is that I stopped writing creatively. No stories. No memoir. No nonfiction or fiction or poetry or micros. I didn’t even write about writing. The thing about writing creatively is it sparks more creative writing. The opposite is true: the less you write, THE LESS YOU WRITE. Coming back to a weekly post here has led me to have creative ideas on blog posts, a novel-ish type thing I’m developing, and maybe more blogging. Yeah write, it turns out, was holding onto my creativity for me. How about you? Where’s your inspiration?
Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
If you have been here the past few weeks, then you already know about the big changes we announced. if you missed it, go click that link. We’ll wait here while you catch up.
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: writing without crutches
Writing about the most difficult – and exhilarating – times can be cathartic. Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in the emotion of it all and we “tell, don’t show” or rely on crutches to convey our feelings. It’s those times when we don’t do that when our work stands out. This month, Rowan offers up some advice on avoiding those crutches and really showing the reader how you feel. Fictioneers, there’s some good stuff in here for you, too, so don’t miss this one!
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 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.
Lisa reminded us of the importance of not jumping to conclusions in her post, Suspicious Activity Near Schools. This week’s Prompt Up is: He looked overworked at only half past noon.
May poetry slam: the rondeau
We don’t usually do two similar forms back-to-back, but this month we’re building on the bop with another “song” poem, the rondeau. There’s a few more rules to the rondeau, some rhyming and some scanning you’ll have to do, but it’s a lovely and lyrical form that uses skills you already have and then shakes them up in fifteen lines and a refrain. Give it a try! If you’ve been feeling intimidated by the poetry slams, this is a perfect time to get your feet wet and get some feedback with the unmoderated grid.
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.