Let’s do some mathin’

Real quickly, let’s put your editor scores into perspective. There were five scoring editors this week. So if you take your total score beneath your thumbnail and divide it by five, you’ll get an idea of where you landed in the yeah write criteria. Lemme help.

[check_list]

• 12         The author meets all of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission
• 10-11   The author meets most of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission
• 7-9       The author meets more than half of the criteria for a yeah write submission
•   6         The author meets half of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission
•  3-5      The author meets few of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission
• 0-2       The author does not meet the criteria for a winning yeah write submission

[/check_list]

Alisa at Ice Scream Mama earned 49 points. Rounding up to 50 because my phone/calculator is way across the room charging, then dividing by 5, she earned a 10 on the editors’ scale: the author met most of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission.

Rounding down for Lisa at Empty the Well and for Courtenay at IA Soup Mama, they each earned a 9, meeting more than half of the criteria. This week, it’s good enough for a top three finish. 

Central conflict, where art thou?

Those with the lowest scores this week met few of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission, likely due to a weak or missing central conflict. Yeah write #75 seemed to be the week the strong central conflict was on a cigarette break outside the building huddled together with the other smokers around the ashcan. We lied and told the project manager it was out with a client, but we can’t keep covering for it, so next week, maybe, it’ll stay put in its cubicle where it belongs, holding the story together.

[divider_header_h3]managing editor’s pick[/divider_header_h3]

[image width=”125″ height=”130″ align=”left” lightbox=”true” caption=”” title=””]https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Erica_profile.jpg[/image]

managing editor’s pick by Erica M

The Ugly Side of Apple Pie and White Picket Fences by Kathy Kramer at Little Cheese Head on the Prairie

Inspired by current events, Kathy shares with her readers the memory of a young co-worker trying to blow off the ugly slurs thrown at him by a warehouse customer. Yes, there were paragraphs I would have moved around if I’d been the writer of this story; I believe when we have fewer than 1,000 words to work with, the introduction needs to carry the crux of the post. Meandering beginnings are the luxury we cannot afford, but I chose this post because the narrative succeeded emotionally. The characters were sympathetic and the conflict clear. The author showed passion for her subject and stayed above the sanctimonious threshold so many of us find ourselves below when writing of the day we helped someone carry his burden. Some phrases could have been removed entirely in the interest of show, don’t tell (“Motherly instinct took over…”) but overall, it was a compelling entry. Congrats, Kathy, on the win.

Editors’ mean average: 8.8

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[divider_header_h3]contributing editors picks[/divider_header_h3]

[image width=”125″ height=”130″ align=”left” lightbox=”true” caption=”” title=””]https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Kristin_profile.jpg[/image]

editor’s pick by Kristin W

Teeth by Jessie Powell at Jester Queen

Editors’ mean average: 8.6

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[image width=”125″ height=”130″ align=”left” lightbox=”true” caption=”” title=””]https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Reedster_profile.jpg[/image]

editor’s pick by Cindy R

Teeth by Jessie Powell at Jester Queen

I thought long and hard about choosing The Jester Queen for my editor’s pick this week not because Kristin also selected it, but because I chose Jessie’s post last week, too. I didn’t want our yeah write community to think Jessie had bribed me with the Spanx I suggested on Twitter would buy my vote. But she won me over again this week with her post “Teeth”, a spot-on visit to the dentist that does what good flash-nonfiction should do: Set a detailed scene, create realistic characters (four of them!), and effortlessly toss up memorable dialogue while moving our narrator from Point A to Point B emotionally. I found two typos, but I’ll let Jessie go back through to search for those. It’s one of writing’s hardest tasks to take a snapshot of the ordinary and whip it into words. To do that while relating a laugh out loud funny story that is a true slice of life? The Queen has done it again.  

Editors’ mean average: 8.6

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Jury prize winner

Hineni – “Here I am” by Alisa at Ice Scream Mama

This is another narrative for which the editors would have moved around a few paragraphs, added a stronger intro and, you know, done some other stuff, but the overall narrative scored enough points to win this week’s jury prize with strong writing and the just the right amount of humor and sentimentality. Please go have a read; you’ll really enjoy it. Congrats, Alisa, on the win.

click to embiggen then download

Did you leave a thoughtful comment on all 25 posts? This badge is for you.

[image width=”250″ height=”268″ align=”left” lightbox=”true” caption=”” title=”yeah write #75 comment karma”]https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/karma_250.png[/image] 

Thank you thank you to those of you who braved work hours, firewalls, CAPTCHA and comment moderation to comment on every single one of the 25 posts on the grid.

Please grab that green badge out of the sidebar and display it proudly. You are one of the best parts of yeah write and our community thrives on your enthusiasm.

I made a different comment karma badge for those of you who left a comment on Alisa’s Hineni post. Each one of the commenters had a pretty good story of his or her own to share and share everyone did. The thread gave me the warm yeah write fuzzies. Grab the orange one right up there.

Honorable mentions

In no particular order, these bloggers were mentioned in the editors’ notes as close runners-up:

[check_list]

• Michelle Longo
• Samantha Brinn Merel
• Lisa Marie Harvey
• Eric Sipple
• Chris Bird
• Kianwi

[/check_list] 

Win-Win

The thumbnails are now sorted in the grid from most editor points awarded to the least. The top row five badges will return the first challenge week we fill the grid with 50 bloggers. For this week, because the grid had 25 entries, the array highlights the top row three. Oh and don’t forget, the week we return to 50 bloggers will begin a four-week challenge to earn a $100 Amazon gift card for writing materials and inspiration. 

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; it is always a tight race. The fun lies in getting better exposure for your blog and in the spirit of competition as incentive to improve your writing and blogging skills. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.

Thanks again, everybody, for linking up, for reading, for accepting the weekly challenge. And for making yeah write the most welcoming spot on the Interwebs for writers who blog and bloggers who write.

Yeah write #76 opens Tuesday. Bring your best stuff. Until then, please stop by Flood’s speakeasy for even more posts to read and enjoy.

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