Man, I love it when I write a block of text so effective, it begs for being copied and pasted until it simply no longer applies. Ahem: how voting works here at yeah write…

One thing I love about yeah write, besides its community spirit unmatched by many places on the Interwebs, is how friendly the competition is when it’s time to vote. Yes, I’ve had to ask a few enthusiasts to calm it down here or there, and they were either cool about it and said okay, or they figured out we’re not the group for them. We’re not for everybody, you know.

We’re for us: writers who blog or bloggers who write while trying to make our way through the Internet without too much hassle or excitement. Maybe that’s just me, but I think it’s you, too.

So how voting at yeah write works is a little different than other Internet competitions you may love/hate/avoid/embrace. Here’s how it will go over the next three weeks, which won’t be much different from usual, except for that five-vote thing (quick note for the virgins: the yeah write grid is usually limited to 50 blogs; this unlimited thing is only until yeah write #51. And we all usually get three votes, not five).

How yeah write popular voting works

Everybody gets five votes before voting ends Thursday at 9:00 p.m. US EDT [-4 GMT].

Unless there is a glitch somewhere or you’re driving from McDonald’s to McDonald’s borrowing new IP addresses, voting for your own post should be disabled.

Depending on your browser, there will be a yellow star either below or above each thumbnail on the grid. Click the thumbnail to read the post before voting, click the star to vote for that post after reading.

After you click a yellow star, the page will refresh, and you’ll have to make your way back down to the grid to vote again by clicking another yellow star. After you’ve clicked five yellow stars, you’re done voting, and you’re free to campaign for your own post and for any other posts you enjoyed. Such good karma when you ask the universe for votes on behalf of someone else.

Please do not vote-bomb the competition. Meaning: when you post on Facebook that you’re in this cool contest and you need votes votes votes, please let everyone in your social media army know they can vote for you only once. The Inlinkz app will kick out any duplicate votes, plus I validate all the votes. In your FB post or tweet or in your blog post, please ask your people to vote for you then read to vote for a few others. That spreads our spirit of community and lets people know not to sit at their laptops clicking your star over and over and over. Grandmas have such good intentions, don’t they? I love grandmas.

How yeah write editor’s choice and lurkers’ favorite voting work

Erica M the writer picking the best storyteller for editor’s choice

Flood G the photographer choosing her favorite as yeah write lurker

Q the designer choosing his favorite as yeah write lurker

The three of us have such different tastes in writing and blogging ideals, we make a very good blend with each and every blog on the grid being carefully considered, whether you blog about kids, a recurring nightmare, travel plans, a new kitchen table or looking for an auto mechanic. As you’re writing and we’re reading, what we’re looking for can be remembered in one short sentence:

[stextbox id=”yellow_star”]Just tell us a good story (Erica) of an everyday, ordinary transformation (Flood) in an inviting space you’ve prepared for your readers (Q).[/stextbox]

How yeah write comment karma works

Not necessarily the most comments during yeah write, but maybe the most witty, thoughtful, useful, whatever—I’ll know it when I read it.

Yeah write #48 is open for voting, y’all. Be good to each other out there. Mainly by disabling captcha, word verification and comment moderation until voting ends on Thursday.