What rhymes with peri-menopause?
faux pas, Santa Claus, probable cause?
A few months ago I found this writing challenge online in my social media feed. The algorithm in my socials has completely changed after I published The Tiny Slimy Pilgrim. You can guess that I get ads for publishing, writing workshops, etc. and this one particularly caught my eye. The NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge. Its seemed simple, yes? Write a story that rhymes.
The challenge has three rounds, and for each round we are assigned a genre, theme and emotion, and a time limit. Each round is judged by professional writers and those in the publishing industry, and each round the time and word limit decreases. The result from the judging will inform if a storyteller moves on to the next round.
To cut to the chase, I joined this challenge. Registered in August I was so excited and pumped for the first round which was from September 20-29, to submit rhyming story of 600 words based on this genre: action/adventure, theme: no turning back, emotion: reluctant. The first round was about 800+ storytellers who were challenged to 60 different genre, theme and emotion. Results were released on the 14th November, with feedback from three judges.
I joined the challenge for fun, and purely to practice my writing. After The Tiny Slimy Pilgrim, I got into the rhyming groove and indeed it was a fun exercise. I wrote several drafts and after about 200+ words I was happy and submitted. Suffice it to say, my entry did not make the second round, but the I love the feedback from the judges.
“This was an engaging and amusing story. I liked the sense of mystery as we wondered what was causing Anna's issues. I laughed at her description of her symptoms, especially at "I’m confused and delirious and now also hungry.” The ending was too funny! I liked the final line - at least Anna found one silver lining. Cute!”
“I like the more casual tone of this story, representing a woman going into menopause with some light comedic touches and interesting images. Mrs. Perry as a symbol of menopause was unexpected and funny, and the bits with Dr. Ravi were great. It's a good sign when I can imagine a character clearly without the author needing to explain what they look or sound like.”
I’ve been so excited to share my rhyming story but the organisers strictly request to share in our individual social channels only 10 days after the release of the results.
I mentioned in a few posts back, I became a Lola (grandmother in Filipino/Tagalog) and it’s easy to guess (my age!) and that I have reached the inevitable stage of peri-menopause. A stage I find that has limited information around and all generic. So this was my focus when I wrote my entry. Peri-menopause. I laughed out loud when I first thought about the story I’ll write, because everything was happening all around. I just had my GP appointment that week, all those emotions coming up, hormones out of whack, and suddenly so many peri-posts in my social media feed. There goes my algorithm. In coming up with my rhyming story, I only needed to ensure it follows my assigned:
Genre: action/adventure – I believe this episode in all women’s lives is action packed
Theme: no turning back – Need I say more?
Emotion: reluctant – I’m sure this is a consensus with all women!
And so, ladies and gentlemen below is my submission to the NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge!
Mrs Perry Can You Pause
Mrs Perry came around, but I wasn't ready.
The heat came in waves, and boy was I cranky.
I asked some friends and posed questions online.
Is this something that's taboo, they all said it's just fine.
What age does it come around? It seems to vary.
I devoured information, from podcasts to the library.
“Can I run from this? Is there a way to delay it?”
“It's inevitable Anna”, my doctor said. “Now watch what you eat!
And you'll need to exercise, and try to avoid stress,
Your mental health is important, so get a hobby. What are your interests?”
“Tell me what's actually happening, Dr Ravi tell me more.”
“Your periods are now irregular and your breasts are probably sore.
Possibly brain fog and sweats at odd times of the night.
And you'll also gain weight without giving a fight.
It's a lot to take in, but don't worry you're not alone.
Menopause is coming, the rise and fall of your hormone.
Every woman reaches this episode so stop scrolling, and keep calm.
Take healthy life choices and laugh as often as you can.”
“I’m laughing, I’m crying, I’m nervous and angry.
I’m confused and delirious and now also hungry.”
So I went for a long walk, and inhaled and exhaled.
The trees, the sun and the sky’s energy were unveiled.
There’s no turning back from here, best to move on.
Look at the bright side, there’s no need for a tampon.
I didn’t use the full 600 word count limit because, as I said I was happy with the flow and it is just for fun, but I appreciate this feedback from one of the judges too:
“A simple, well-rendered story can be more powerful than a longer, more muddled one, so I'm not docking points just because the author only used a fraction of the word count available to them. However, I did feel like there were parts of the story that could've been expanded upon. Maybe we could've heard more about what the speaker reads online, or where she's at in her personal life to add more depth to what menopause means for her. There were different routes the author could've gone down to add more colour, humour, or character to this piece, which I would've been interested to see.”
Let me know what you think! Do you like joining writing challenges too? This was a fun one and I hope to join again next year! They do have several different challenges through out the year if any of the Substackers here are keen.
And if you’re in this peri era, share some tips on how you’re navigating this phenomenon! We need to have more conversations to normalise it, because truth be told, medicine and scientists have yet to unravel the mystery that is menopause.
What a fun story! And it’s great they provided feedback!