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]
Joe of Kellie’s World earned 53 points. Rounding up to 55, then dividing by 5, he earned an 11 on the editors’ scale: the author met most of the criteria for a winning yeah write submission.
Rounding down for Christie of The Outlaw Mama, Christie earned a 10 meeting, like Joe, most of the criteria. Yeah write virgin Angela of Not Appropriate for All Audiences earned a 9, meeting more than half of the criteria. This week, it’s good enough for a top three finish.
[divider_header_h3]Jury prize winner[/divider_header_h3]
I Had a Plan
Joe of Kellie’s World
Family-free month at yeah write meant many of our regulars decided to take a four-week vacation from the grid. Joe, this week’s jury prize winner, writes an entire blog centered around his life not as a former Navy submarine commander, but as husband to Kellie, the love of his life. Like the other bloggers who focus solely on their families in every post, Joe could have felt rejected or unwanted by family-free month, but he stuck around scanning other weekly winners for inspiration, downloading the scoring spreadsheet, reading tea leaves, shaking his fists, coming up with 1,000 words that didn’t include the name of wife. And his winning personal essay was the best yeah write entry since he first joined the grid in May 2012. Congrats on the win, Joe. More of you, please.
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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
No Hard Feelings, Ms. Katie Couric by Christie at The Outlaw Mama
I am choosing The Outlaw Mama’s “No Hard Feelings, Ms. Katie Couric” this week. I liked how the post captured the (not-quite-healthy) obsession too many of us share with, well, Sharing. Christie has managed to narrate a humorous and self-deprecating situation without cloying or asking for sympathy. Not really, anyway. Her admission to disappointment at not being chosen to bare her spending soul to a talk show audience is teased with her further admission at what she had been willing to do to get on-air.
Christie’s skillful narration is evident when contrasting these two sections: “I gave in to wild fantasies about how fabulous it would be to be a guest on a daytime TV show talking about my dysfunctional relationship to spending at discount stores.” And then, “For a moment, I considered grabbing the credit cards and plunging my family into real debt by buying a quarter horse or a leer jet. You want dramatic, I will go Honey Boo Boo on you! I can be good TV!” The narrator’s voice remains consistent, but it also adapts to the heightening emotions. This is skillfully done.
On an emotional level, Christie manages to convey the roller coaster of build-up and let-down that we all experience when opportunities present themselves. Throughout, I could “hear” the wry grin of poking fun at herself, but it was accompanied by sincerity in her desire to get onto that darn talk show. Well done, Christie!
Editors’ mean average: 10.2
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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
Thar She Blows by Alisa at Ice Scream Mama
Ice Scream Mama blew me away this week with her post “Thar She Blows,” which is a model for writers seeking help using a beginning-middle-end structure for their submissions. It’s a big so-what moment in life as Alisa eases us into what we think might be a humorous post, amps up the tension until the big release, then gently guides us through the denouement. The story flows perfectly as the author expertly transitions from paragraph to paragraph, from her dad before, the argument during, and her dad after.
Spare on setting and description in a just-right way, this piece is all about character development, and Alisa nails the conversations. Her dad plays three parts – the drug-addled and dreamy dad whose medication is a bit too high, the curmudgeon he’s been his whole life, and the docile accepting man who surprises us after the narrator’s cathartic eruption. He’s the foundation for the story, holding our three acts together. But the real star here is Ice Scream Mama herself and her movie-worthy monologue of expletives. The only line in the post that I found jarring was the “volcano that had eaten too many burritos” metaphor, which seemed forced and not nearly as natural as the rest of the post, the simple language of which made it easy to read but hard to forget.
Editors’ mean average: 8.6
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[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]
editor’s pick by Erica M
No Hard Feelings, Ms. Katie Couric
This is exactly the type of post I love to read over at The Outlaw Mama. So often, we forget writing for yeah write is simply writing a very good blog post: no overwrought prose, no manufactured drama, just the telling of a story with a compelling beginning, a relevant middle and an effective ending. Christie got a perfect 12 from me this week—inviting beginning, purpose clearly stated without my having to search for it, proper transitions and shifts between ideas, freedom from spelling and grammar errors (damn—I just noticed: it should be Lear jet, not leer, argh) and the “so what” we are looking for every single time we click on a post. All the important elements were there plus the intangible one of my being able to identify with the writer’s disappointment. Congrats, Christie, on the win.
Editors’ mean average: 10.2
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Honorable mentions
In no particular order, these bloggers were mentioned in the editors’ notes as close runners-up:
[check_list]
- Michelle Longo
- Ashley Austrew
- Samantha Brinn Merel
- Angela Ryan
[/check_list]
Did you leave a thoughtful comment on all 19 posts? This badge is for you.
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 19 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.
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 19 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 #77 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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