[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Your word for today is “bokeh.”

Bokeh (or boke, but when writing for native English speakers I find bokeh gives a more intuitive grasp of the correct pronunciation)  is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.” Importantly, bokeh “is not how far something is out-of-focus, bokeh is the character of whatever blur is there.”

In your writing, you will find yourself playing with the rules of grammar. Maybe you need to use a sentence fragment as a stand-alone paragraph to draw emphasis to it. Maybe a character (or real person) doesn’t speak with “correct” diction and you need to capture the quality of their voice. But like good bokeh, good unconventional grammar isn’t just “broken,” it’s got a careful deliberate quality to it, and often a contrast with the “in-focus” parts of your writing.

As you read through this week’s entries, did you notice this “in-and-out” grammar in anyone’s writing? Did it add or take away from the piece? And (most importantly for today’s post) how did it affect their results in the popular vote? Because I know you want that answer, I’m going to give you the results on all three of our grids – nonfiction, fiction|poetry, and microfiction – right here!

If you earned the highest number of votes in any challenge, you are this week’s crowd favorite! If you came in first, second or third, you get “top three” honors. Grab your badge from our sidebar!

But it’s not all about the popular vote, folks. Most weeks, we also have our editorial staff picks to hand out. Every week our editors comb through your submissions looking for their favorites. Picks are based on writing quality, how successful the author is in conveying information, and just plain style. Here’s the thing, though – we won’t give out a staff pick just to be awarding someone something. If we weren’t blown away by anything on a grid, we just won’t give the award. I know, right? Honestly we’d love to be giving staff picks to three and four pieces on every grid, every week. And if we’re impressed by that many pieces, we will. My dream is to someday have a grid where every single piece gets a staff pick. That’s all I want for Christmas, y’all. Let’s see if we can do it.*

Looking for your badge? The fiction|poetry, nonfiction and microstories challenges all have the same winner, staff pick, and top three badges. It doesn’t clutter up our sidebar, and they’ll still look pretty on yours![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you’re lost in the middle of the grid and wondering how you can get a little more feedback on your posts, check out our membership perks!

Everybody: before you go, please take some time to leave your favorites a little love in the comments.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

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

I’m declaring eggnog season in full swing. What’s your favorite recipe? Whiskey in the jar? Just nutmeg, and egg, and some brandy? The kind in the carton from the store? Or that Soy Nog (guys, no offense, but I was vegan for years and I still wouldn’t drink that shit; it’s an abomination and a blight and I’m sorry if you can’t have dairy but, like, don’t do that to yourself)? Whatever your favorite is, grab a glass and head down to the eggnog potluck on our moonshine grid when it opens at 6:00 today. Natalie’s got the mini-fridge under the bar stocked, and she’ll take good care of you. Or she’ll lie under the bar and try to recover from finals week. One of those things. As usual, commercial posts can stay home. There’s enough ads in the real world; we’re trying to escape![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

* I’d settle for not having to send love letters to perfectly good stories just because the writers need a refresher on the rules of punctuating around quotes, though. Or a week in which people didn’t hit enter randomly in the middle of sentences on the microfiction grid hoping I’d think that their story was a poem so they didn’t have to make sense.

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Congratulations to the crowd favorites at yeah write #243

The thumbnails are now sorted in order of most votes to fewest. Ties in the overall number of votes are broken by number of editor votes.

Congratulations if you’re at or near the top! Writing well is hard work, and we’re honored you’ve chosen us this week to showcase your entry.

If you’re at or near the bottom, don’t be discouraged. You’re in the right community for learning and growing as a writer, and we are always available with resources for those who ask nicely.

To our readers and voters: thank you! See you next week.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

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