Visual Art
Deadline
Mirage
You’ve wandered off-trail on a hike out into the desert and lost your way. Up ahead, in the baking heat, it’s surely a mirage, but … Create the shimmering, heavenlike oasis you would like to come upon.
YWP's Weekly Challenges: September 2023-June 2024
Need inspiration? YWP has a wide range of writing and visual art challenges for you every week during the school year. You can respond to any of the challenges any time, but to be considered for publication with our Vermont media partners, you'll want to meet the Friday deadlines posted on each challenge. All writing and visual art posted on the site this year – both responses to these challenges and general "Create" posts – will also be considered for publication in our monthly magazine, The Voice, and our annual anthology. Find out more in Publications.
Visual Art
Deadline
You’ve wandered off-trail on a hike out into the desert and lost your way. Up ahead, in the baking heat, it’s surely a mirage, but … Create the shimmering, heavenlike oasis you would like to come upon.
Writing
Deadline
Write about someone – passenger or driver – stuck in an hours-long traffic jam. Where are they? Do they get up, get out, explore? Get into trouble?
Writing
Deadline
Write an opinion piece based on a current news story. Take a side and make a persuasive argument. Try to keep it tight, writing only 3-4 paragraphs.
Visual Art
Deadline
Venture outside with paper and a pencil and find some flowers or greenery that catch your eye. Hold them up to the light with one hand, and outline the shape with the other. Finish the basic silhouette in your own style.
Writing
Deadline
What is something you have always considered downright absurd, that either cracks you up on a day-to-day basis or makes you so frustrated, all you can do is throw your hands up in the air?
Writing
Deadline
Write a short fiction piece from the point of view of a “sidekick,” wingman, or meek best friend of a more gregarious social butterfly, finally coming into their own.
Visual Art
Deadline
Choose your favorite face card from a deck of standard playing cards (that is, the jack, queen, or king of spades, diamonds, hearts, or clubs) and recreate it in your own style.
Writing
Deadline
Imagine you are a parent or caregiver struggling with “Empty Nest Syndrome” after your child has left the family home for a college dorm, apartment, etc. Reflect on their youth through the memories surrounding you.
Writing
Deadline
In the days before GPS – and MapQuest, even! – there were only… foldout roadmaps. Write a poem or short story about someone who must decipher an outdated auto map to “find their way back.”
Visual Art
Deadline
You are at a crossroads in life. A decision must be made, but which path do you follow? Give us the visual representation of the fork in the road as you see it in your mind.
Writing
Deadline
Set a poem or story in a silent house by the sea. Include atmospheric details such as the weather, the tide, etc., that correspond to your character’s own emotions (cheery, broody, etc.).
Writing
Deadline
What are you looking forward to most this summer (or beyond)? Travel plans, camp, sleeping in? Do you plan to set any goals for yourself? Whatever is in store for you, we want to hear all about it!