We caught a virgin

It was a quiet week here at yeah write, but we still managed to snag a challenge grid virgin. Welcome! The grid may have been petite, but we gave y’all three votes to cast anyway. Let’s see what you did with them.

Crowd favorite

“Where We Take Our Smoke Breaks” by Natalie D of The Cat Lady Sings

Crowd favorite this week goes to contributing editor Natalie D for her post “Where We Take Our Smoke Breaks.” It’s a powerful story about smoking, recovery, and the attempt to fill the void and occupy one’s hands. In the words of commenter Meg G, “It has the tired, strung-out resignation that comes with admitting addiction but also the desperate clinging to find something, anything to take away the pain.” Congratulations Natalie! You’ve earned that crowd favorite badge in the sidebar.

Congratulations also to the rest of the top row!  Meg G and Bill, you get badges too! The ones that say “top row?” They’re all yours.

The kiwi award

“The Best Medicine” by Bill Dameron of The Authentic Life

Is the grid below 30 posts? Then we’ve got an editor’s kiwi award to hand out. Submissions editor Rowan G searched the grid for that post with a little something extra and she found it in “The Best Medicine” by Bill Dameron of The Authentic Life. Bill easily moves between the lighthearted and the poignant, contemplating growing older along with the love of his life. Congratulations Bill! You’ve earned the coveted Kevin the Kiwi badge.

Who does Comment Bob love this week?

It’s Katy at katy brandes writes! Katy posted over at the speakeasy, but she made time to visit the challenge grid posts as well, supporting everyone with substantive remarks. Congratulations Katy! You get a Bob badge! He’s waving his pompoms just for you in the sidebar.

Weekend moonshine grid opens today at 6 p.m. eastern time

It’s the weekend, and Natalie D will shortly be setting up the moonshine grid and bathtub gin just for you. This weekend is all about fall crafts, so bring your gourds and your Indian corn and prepare to go nuts. Oh, and there’s still a case of pumpkin spice gin from last weekend (it didn’t go over as well as expected). The moonshine grid is the flip side of our weekly challenges: a no-stress link-up where we accept anything except commercial or sponsored posts. Show us the other facets of your blog – those posts that might not meet the challenge grid submission guidelines. Closing time is midnight on Monday.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Change typically gives me hives, but not when it’s change for the better. And would yeah write change for the worse? No. No, we would not. Starting September 14 with yeah write #179, we’ll be moderating all three competitive grids — the challenge grid, the speakeasy, and the gargleblaster. (But not the weekend moonshine grid. That’s where we chillax.)

What does moderation mean? We’ll be reading your submissions carefully and only letting the best onto the grid. This is a good thing. Our goal at yeah write is to build strong writers, so if your post doesn’t make the cut, we don’t cut you off. Submissions editor Rowan G will send you a love letter with clear advice, highlighting what you did well and gently pointing out things that didn’t work, helping guide you back onto the next grid. We hope you walk away from the experience feeling like we appreciated the time and effort you put into your submission, because really, we do.

We’re switching up the weekly schedule a bit too. We don’t want you to miss a deadline, so make sure you read the kickoff post closely and that you’re subscribed to our weekly e-mail blast. Fill out the form in the left-hand sidebar.

Looking for more practice writing stories?

Yes? Join me for my fall course, “Storytelling for Bloggers | A 60 Day Online Writing Experience.” You’ll start with a 1000-word story written to a prompt and we’ll whip it into a tightly written 600 word gem. Plus, I’m offering y’all a 20% discount because I love each and every one of you THAT MUCH. The syllabus and schedule can be found at cindyreed.me, but if you want the discount, be sure to use the links below. Hope you’ll join me!

The Online Class  Regularly $499  |  $399 for yeah writers

The Online Class + Live Coaching  Regularly $599  |  $479 for yeah writers

Win-win

The thumbnails are now sorted in the grid from most votes to the least. In the case of a tie, the thumbnails are additionally sorted by page views. Do not be discouraged if your blog has landed near the bottom of the grid; especially if it was a tight race. The fun lies in getting better exposure for your blog and, in the spirit of competition, an incentive to improve your writing and blogging skills. It’s a win-win for everybody involved. Thanks again, everybody, for submitting, for reading, and for accepting the weekly writing challenge. And for making yeah write the most welcoming spot on the Interwebs for writers who blog and bloggers who write.

Before you go

Take a moment to congratulate this week’s winners in the comments, and give a shout-out to your favorites on the grid. Come back next week and spin another yarn for us in about 600 words.

Yeah write #179 opens with the kickoff post on Sunday, the gargleblaster on Monday, and the challenge grid and speakeasy fiction jam on Tuesday. Be sure you’ve subscribed to our email list to get notice when prompts are posted, grids open, and voting begins. It’s easy to do! Just sign up right here. And then come back and bring your best writing to the best writing community around! See you next week.

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