Yeah write virgins!

There were three virgins on the grid this week! Thank you to everyone who’s been spreading the good word of yeah write and thanks to the virgins for working your way around the grid. Please join us again next week. 

Reader votes

Two writers from the challenge grid and one reader (not on this week’s grid) submitted complete yeah write vote-o-rama tracking spreadsheets. Their votes, along with three yeah write editors, combined for this week’s jury panel prize. Thanks, guys, for your hard work.

Liner notes

Whoever completes the vote tracker takes notes on the entries, which we call liner notes. For the jury prize winner, those liner notes will replace the summaries written on the picks by our contributing editors so you can get a better feel for our thought processes. There will be no managing editor pick this week.

 [divider_header_h3]Jury prize winner[/divider_header_h3]

[image width=”175″ height=”175″ align=”left” lightbox=”true” caption=”” title=””]https://yeahwrite.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/87jury.png[/image]

The Green Bag

Stacie at Snaps and Bits

Editor 1 liner notes: Really well-told story from Stacie. She never digresses, never tells vs shows.

Editor 2 liner notes: Nailed the intro. Kept the pace consistent without drawing out the details (supercuts, pony tail), and she managed to come across as pensive instead of self-pitying. A few bumps with diction, but very well told.

Editor 3 liner notes: From the comments: “I just fell in love with you.” Reader connection is always important.

[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

The Green Bag by Stacie at Snaps and Bits

I chose “The Green Bag” from Stacie of Snaps & Bits this week.  The introduction is perfect in this story – it piques our interest and leads us into more detail without becoming frustrating. When we finally get to “see” what’s inside, it feels like we had been slowly opening the bag on our own, discovering what has been lodged in the back of the sink’s cabinet.  I also appreciated the matter-of-fact tone – there is not a trace of self-pity despite sharing intimate details – that allows us to observe a sensitive moment in the hairdresser’s chair.

Some lines felt out of place. This one, “Before chemo, my hair fell in loose waves down to my traitorous breast,” seems suspended and longing for company. I think that could be snipped and saved, perhaps to become a line for a poem. And while I thought that the scene in the Supercuts chair was strong and effective, taking a look at how to describe the “I thought she was going to cry. I thought I might too” would really deepen the emotion. HOW did she look as thought she might cry? HOW did you feel? A catch in your throat? Uncontrollable twitching around the corners of your mouth? An almost undetectable cold sweat breaking out at your temples? Do show!

Over all, however, the post is perfectly balanced between storytelling and emotion – it allows for imagination, and it demands attention. Well done, Stacie!

[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

My Son’s Best Friend is a Lamp by Dawn Beronilla at Happiness Cubed

When you want to take an opening paragraph and create an ironic inspirational poster out of it, you know you are hooked on a blog post. Dawn from Happiness Cubed’s post My Son’s Best Friend is a Lamp started with a serenity prayer we all can get behind: “God grant me the Zoloft to accept the things I cannot change, the coffee to change the things I can, and the wisdom not to punch any chicks in the face. And-men.”

 She kept up the hilarity and the pace throughout, in a tale that never sunk to self-pity over the difficulties of being a mom to a son with autism while adding a puppy that requires immediate surgery to the mix. Line after line had me laughing – from “I stroked Vito’s back and willed $100 bills to shout out of his ass” to “I brought Vito home to enjoy the last night with his testicles.” But the post never devolved into a list of one-liners – Dawn retained story structure, character, and well-written details to the end. With a rollicking pace and a frenzied feel, Dawn took us into a week at the crazy house. It was a post that made you want to share it with your friends. That’s a winner in my book.

Win-Win

The thumbnails are now sorted in the grid from most editor points awarded to the least. Made it to the Top Row Three? Congrats! Grab your badge from the sidebar.

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; just getting on the grid is an accomplishment these days. 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 #88 is open submissions, no grid moderation

Yeah write #88 opens Tuesday. The remaining 2012 grids will all be open submissions. No moderation, no editor picks, winner-take-all crowd favorite. Tell your friends, bring your best stuff. Don’t forget: please stop by Flood’s speakeasy for fiction and poetry to read and discover.

[line_divider_thick]