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Vote for your favorite nonfiction, fiction and microstories here
Ah, the mysterious voting grid. It’s right here, you know. Waiting. At the bottom of this post. And now the magic happens. You wrote your post. You submitted it when the appropriate grid opened – Monday for nonfiction, Tuesday for fiction and poetry, and Wednesday for microfiction. And now you want to know how it’s all going to come out.
Here’s a tip for predicting how your post will do in the vote (and now that I’ve said it out loud, everyone’s going to vote differently just to make me look bad): could the reader connect with what you were saying?
No, that’s really pretty much it. That’s the secret to the elusive “so what,” the hidden curve of the plot arc, the difference between poetry and drivel. Did you write in a way that made the reader, just for a moment, experience what you were trying to convey? Or did readers shake their heads, say “that’s nice, but…” and move on? You’ll find out tomorrow.
All three challenges are open below for your voting pleasure. If you want to vote on a grid, please take the time to read all the entries on the grid before voting for the best three. To do that, you might have to take a step back and read the rules for each grid: for example, does that microstory really answer the ultimate question, or did it just make you laugh?
You get three votes on each separate grid. If you’d like to reveal the current vote tallies, just refresh the page after you’ve finished voting. Just a reminder: if you want to see the vote tallies, please use the device you voted from originally. Don’t double-vote just to see how your post is doing; it’s not fair to anyone and we’ll remove your votes.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
But why so many love letters?
Trust me, it’s not any more fun to write love letters than it is to get them. I know that on the other end of that letter is someone who’s hearing “my post wasn’t good enough this week.” I’m not going to say this hurts us more than it hurts you, but we do know what rejection feels like. That’s why we never tell you that you didn’t make the grid without explaining what you need to improve.
Did you break a rule? Miss too many typos? Just skip that last proofread? Remember, there are no points for being first in line. All the entries you see on the grids down there are in random order. Take the time to give your post that last bit of polish that makes the difference between “okay” and “great.” Read the rules one more time before you submit to make sure you are following all of them. Bring your best, most careful work to the grid, and it will pay off. Send me a bunch of typos and comma splices and you’re going to get a love letter. It’s that simple.
The love letters that hurt the worst – and I know, because sometimes I send a draft post to another editor (no, I don’t approve my own posts, that’s a terrible way to run a kingdom) and get this feedback – are the ones that say “There’s no so what.” Other than the general bruised-ego feeling of having received a love letter at all, you’ve just heard that the nonfiction story you shared, something about your life, didn’t make the editors care enough about it. That’s awful.
We’ll talk a little about how to avoid those letters next week, but one thing to always keep in mind is “how often has this been written, and am I bringing anything new to the table?” It’s ok to write the five-millionth post about how much you hate taxes if you have a specific reason (the tax man actually still comes to your door and he kicked your dog, which just added insult to injury) but not if you just hate taxes in the same way and for the same reason that everyone hates taxes. Nobody likes giving up money and not seeing an immediate benefit. Get over yourself. Nobody kicked your dog. If your subject has been done to death, make sure you’re writing about it from a specific, personal, relatable viewpoint to find the “so what.”
If you are reading your love letter and you think the advice conflicts with other advice you’ve received on your writing, remember that we’re not the absolute overlords of writing but we do know what’s going to improve your chances in the voting and competition here at yeah write, from structure to grammar to visual elements in your post. Take a minute to listen carefully, even though it hurts, and see how you might be able to use that advice.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Thanks to those of you who took the time to write and submit to our grids this week. Thanks also to those of you who may not have had the time or inspiration to write a new post but who dropped by to read and vote – we love you! And welcome to those who may just be showing up to our little corner of the web. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter.
Voting closes on Thursday at 10 p.m. US eastern daylight time. [-4 GMT]
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