I can’t remember the last time I’ve written anything other than a yeah write post in this space.
Two months? Three? It’s been awhile. But I’ve missed participating in Stasha’s Monday Listicle feature and today is a good time for me to pause and give thanks to those who keep yeah write such a fun place to be.
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Those who read the Charlie Brown teacher talking stuff before and after the submission grid. Thanks!
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Everyone who immediately understood why we needed to take a step back from staying up until midnight and setting alarms to snag a spot on the grid. Even with all the upcoming changes to the challenge grid, Mayor Gia will always get there first. The rest of you guys: get some sleep.
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The people who are themselves week after week while getting better and better at this competitive writing thing. Those who arrived funny that are even funnier now. Those who use their writing as therapy, yet don’t trigger anyone else’s depression with superfluous pathos. Always bringing their best stuff.
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The bloggers who linked up week after week when we were calling ourselves lovelinkers. When yeah write finally took off from six submissions to twelve to fifty to splitting into separate grids, those bloggers still cheered on the project from the sidelines. Thanks, Stasha, Julie, Alison, Jamie, Jacqui and Ado (who is still submitting faithfully).
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The email I get. Not the yelly ones. But the ones that ask genuine questions. The ones that make me feel good about spending most of my week and weekend hours on this project bringing blogging writers together in one spot. Even the ones who disagree, but disagree respectfully, with something I said or did.
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Twitter! Half the time, I’m at a kid-appointment when I’m running this thing, and Twitter keeps me occupied between destinations. I have sometimes cried in Twitter, I can’t lie. From frustration, from happiness. Embarrassing and true. Thanks for keeping me company there.
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The talent found on the grid. WordPress expertise, graphic design, professional writing, special needs parenting (yeah, that’s a talent. I said it). It’s overwhelming and so very encouraging when someone offers his or her talent to this project without expecting anything in return. Then they get all weird when I get all weird trying to give them something anyway. It’s hard for me to accept stuff outright. Here, have a treat from my magic box of giveaways.
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Grid sponsors! And I don’t mean the sleazy kind. I mean the ones that send books just because they think it’s cool there is a place online that celebrates writing found in everyday spaces. And a place online that encourages people to read. Once the challenge grid returns, I have a book just for you from W.W. Norton called Microstyle.
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My poor husband Q. You know that Klondike bar commercial where the husband struggles to listen to his wife for an entire five seconds as though he’s on Fear Factor eating a live scorpion? That’s Q listening to the yeah write drama (I call it yeah write excitement!) of the day.
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Flood, Jen and Kristin whom, I’m sure, had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they first volunteered to help judge this thing every week. I am an idea bouncer. I bounce ideas off people when I love them more than pockets. I love Flood, Jen and Kristin more than pockets, so they probably are thinking of changing phone numbers without telling me before the year is out.
Thanks to Robbie and Jen (the other Jen) for encouraging me to write this post. Yes, I took it to Twitter. Shut it.Â
Thanks for all that you do for this wonderful community that I’m proud to be a part of, Erica.
Thanks for stopping by my blog Erica! I was not familiar with yeahwrite and it looks fun and helpful and and and. Maybe I’ll jump off the cliff. Everyone knows I need even more things to engage me on line….
I loved your post on the chewed books, so I had to leave a comment. Thanks for subscribing to the weekly email blasts and don’t be afraid to jump right in. We love our yeah write virgins.
I’m blown away by all you do to bring us bloggers together. I’ve only participated in YeahWrite for the past two weeks and I’m grateful for the great advice and the incredibly supportive community. Thank you for all you do!
Aw, thanks, Mary! What a nice comment. I’m glad you stumbled over us
I’m a newbie too, on Yeah Write and as a blogger, and I love reading all the other posts and giving and receiving feedback. It’s so helpful. I still have a lot to learn, I know, but I am extremely excited to have found such a warm, supportive and talented group of writers.
A huge thank you to you, Erica, and the whole team!
You fit right in, Kathleen. Thanks for finding us!
How come when I come here all I see are blank pages?!?
Eat your Klondike bar, sweetie.
This is a great list. I’ve told you a zillion times already and I’ll say it a zillion more, Yeah Write is one of my favorite places to be. I also don’t remember how I found it (I think it was Ellen and Erin of the Sisterhood who followed me on Twitter, I read one of their posts and found my way through. I felt like I was breaking into a clique and it was scary as hell to link that first post (which when I read now I cringe that I loved it so much at the time) but it has been a 99% positive experience.
The 1% is my own stuff – which you addressed in your comment about thinking a post was doing well and then between voting and winners post not so much. But that’s ok. It’s part of the game. And thickening my skin is another learning experience, so I appreciate it.
Always happy to be involved and participate. So so thankful to have found you all. And Erica, truly, thank you for all that you put into this. I can barely get one post out every week and you do ALL this. Same goes for the guest editors and judges and everyone else who is doing so much more than linking and reading and commenting. But thanks to them too. Ugh. This comment is too long and I’m digging a hole here.
As you found out, we’re not a clique, but a community, but I’m not gonna scream and beg for people to understand that. Those who need us, find us and stay. Those who thought we were something else entirely leave us very quickly. Don’t you wish life worked like that offline? Thanks for being such a faithful part of us, Michelle.
I love this site so much because it’s encouraging me to become a better blogger and writer and I’m learning. It’s like a great big virtual writing group! I like that you see a need and you do something about it, too.
I’m stealing 90% of your comment for my next round of yeah write marketing hoopla.
No, thank YOU! Every week, I write for Yeah Write I feel I get a little better. Yeah Write makes me stop and think about my writing technique. Blogging can easily become tangled thoughts with absolutely no filter. Thanks for the push and encouragement to become better!
Blogging can so easily become random thoughts strung together by the thinnest thread with no point whatsoever. I’m so glad the yeah write community now understands their readers deserve a plot in return for taking the time to read the post. Thanks for the thanks!
She IS a hoot to hang with…I consider myself lucky to be in her proximity! Erica, thank you for all you do. This site and community has turned me from a reader into a fledgling writer, I look forward to continuing to learn from the pros and improving my writing while enjoying the process. Thank you, thank you!
Thanks, mama! It’s so cool how we know each other now. You can feel free to send me WTF emails whenever you want. Demanding to move the voting to Tuesdays because it’s better for your schedule and some such.
Great list. And thank you for attracting the best bloggers on the interwebz for us to follow. Your quality certainly attracts quality and makes Yeah Write a cozy place to be. But not too cozy. You keep us on our toes in the best way possible. Ellen
Yes. Just ask this week’s entrants. I’ve been tough this week, but I was very excited when one writer got the infamous email, reworked her story then resubmitted. It’s try try again around here. Thanks for the compliment!
yes, God bless you for the Charlie Brown teacher talk. And for patiently pointing it out to the errant children who didn’t read it close enough. What a wonderful list.
I am sometimes not so patient. Thank you for pretending I am.
Can you say “listicle” on the floor of the Michigan State Senate?
I’m a woman, so probably not.
Take it from the relative newbie (1 hangout, 2 challenge grids and 2 summer series grids), that everything about Yeah Write is amazing. Open, honest, truthful, well-organized, FUN (esp Twitter!), but serious about getting down and dirty with the art of our art. I feel the improvement, in the struggle to push more and be brave enough to put it out there. But the best is the community who embraces everyone equally. There’s so much love here. It rocks my face. Thank you for all you do. For all your team does. And for giving us a comfy place to grow.
Here’s where I think it can feel weird: the stronger writers teach the beginning writers by example. No one makes the beginning writer feel uncomfortable and, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Encouraging comments, tweets, and all that. Then when voting day comes, the numbers start telling a separate story. And the editors’ favorites tell another one after that. So the struggle then becomes internal: what happened between all those nice comments I was getting and these low votes and this no recognition in the winners’ post? It’s a testament to those who ask those questions and set out to get them answered. By reading, learning, practicing, trying again every week, getting better. It’s for those writers we exist.
Yes, you hit something I fully admit I felt my third week. I think it speaks volumes that you recognize that internal struggle. But the positive of that is this: it weeds out those that believe writing is easy and requires no work. They’ll be gone after that first “bad” week. (I’m sure I’m not saying anything you don’t already know.) Personally, the feedback you and the panel give about the winners- the WHY they won, what you saw, what did it for you – I like that awards aren’t just given and everyone moves on. The reasons help, for me at least.
I know I’ve still got my training wheels on. But I also know tenacity wins. 🙂
Erica, that was the most helpful response I’ve ever* seen. Sometimes calling something out (and I’ve felt that discrepancy too!) clears the air. Comments are often about emotion, votes are about comparison, editors’ favorites are about skill (in a variety of areas), and it’s all subjective.
* Yes, it’s hyperbole. But not by much.
You should use that in a post sometime. That sounds absolutely correct.
Yes times 10! You’ve created quite a wonderful little place here Erica, and I’ve forever thankful. This community has made me laugh, cry, and remember why I write.
Thank you and by the way, I like reading you too!
Thank you thank you! I can’t wait to see what you do with Robbie’s birthday prompt in next week’s Monday Listicles!
Love you. xo
*mwah*
I love your list and I’d say that even if you hadn’t given me a shout out. I honestly can’t remember how I found Yeahwrite or exactly when I did. My first few months of the blogosphere are like college…tons of fun, but I don’t remember how I got here & I often run into the same people but I can’t remember how we met. What I do remember is being amazed by the way everyone supported each other. I have discovered some of my favorite people here and I thank you for that.
I love love love when bloggers become the best of friends through yeah write and it cracks me up when they can’t remember how they met. I wanna scream: Me! You met through me! Haha…thanks for the constant support, Robbie.
I love your list. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside for Yeah Write. I love this place. And the summer series has made me a lot more critical of my writing. I didn’t link up last week because I couldn’t get my submission to work out the right way. It wasn’t good enough. But I read every submission even if I don’t link because they are always amazing.
And you’re fun on twitter. I pink puffy heart you.
I think Twitter was made for me. I watched it in its beta stage, but didn’t know how to get an invite. Could you imagine me with an @em Twitter name? I’d be unstoppable!
Thank you Erica. LoveLinks from the day I found it represented everything blogging was about to me. It has grown into so much and I love reading and voting every week. I just do, for no other reason but because it is awesome. Just like you and Flood and everyone curating. And Q and the dog next door. Do your neighbors have a dog? They should.
I heart you.
It’s awesome that you’ve been reading and voting for more than 60 weeks now. My fateful comment left on Citizen of the Month where you found me has launched an entire community between your blog and mine. I love how the Internets work.
I can’t get enough of this place and it was just the space I needed in order to grow and get better. I knew what I did wrong last week (journaling) and changed it this week. I love LEARNING. It’s what makes me come back even while I’ve been crying all damn week from a freakin infection!
So thank you and thanks to the judges for taking time to teach us how to do a little more, a little better!
I noticed the difference between your submission last week and this one. Well done. And thank you.
Awww, you thanked ME?? Well, I think yeah write is a pretty darn cool place, even though I’ve become pretty intimidated by the challenge grid. But the hangout grid is awesome! 🙂
You’re always here, Jen, even if it’s in spirit, not in body, and I appreciate it
You had me at “list”. And then right after that you had me at “icle” which made me long for a popsicle, natch. And so, I’m writing this with one hand on the keyboard and one hand wrapped around a fudgesicle and I just want to say THANK YOU. This has been a hugely fun way to lose copious amounts of productivity in my day job.*
*Disclaimer: It’s not very authentic of me to use the word “copious”, really. Seriously though, you and your team are so rad. Phew. That’s better.
You’re eating a fudgesicle at work? Can I get you fired? I’d love that job.
Comengetit, girl! You TOO can work until 3am and have fudgesicles for lunch! It’s just one of the bennies. Totes not a big deal. Did I mention I work from home in my pjs and L-O-V-E my job with all caps and en dashes? Oh it’s big time.
I really want that job. Should I learn how to make bras out of button badges first?
Shhhhhhhh! I’m billing that as my “pro bono” work this week. Keep it on the DL.
Wonderful Listicle–thanks to you for all the work you do on Yeah Write:)
Thank you! And thanks for being such a faithful part of it!
I love this listicle! I know I’m a more recent hanger-on, but I have learned so darn much from this site — both from the hints and tips you post and from reading all of the blogs on the grids. Thank you, dear moderators, for going above and beyond to bring this to us!
Comments like yours make it all worthwhile, thank you!
Lists are quite nice sometimes, aren’t they? Thanks for the shout-out!
I like lists when my thoughts need organizing. That was more than a shout out. That was a thanks for saving my sanity! Thanks for saving my sanity.
You’re such a fun person. I want to drink a beer with you one day. Then I can blog about it.
That would be awesome! Where are you again? If you’re in Texas, it’s on.
I’m in Tennessee, girl. I’ve been to Texas twice. Scariest lightning I’ve ever seen in my life. Still, you aren’t that far. I could make it there for a beer and be back home in around 14 hours. Totally worth it.
Totally. Let’s do it.