Returning Super Challengeers, you probably noticed that Round One was handled a little differently from past Super Challenges. Instead of waiting around for that 10:00 pm email, you got your group assignment early and picked up your own prompt at 10:00. How’d that go for you? Let us know. We hope it’s more efficient and less nervewracking than wondering when the email will come through! We also hope that someday there will be enough of you that we’ll be worrying more about server load than about whether the post went live on time. 😉

Once again, anything that went right is entirely due to our admin team’s untiring work behind the scenes (shoutout to the folks filling in for vacationing editors!), and anything you hate is almost certainly my fault. Including the typo. That was all me.

Before we announce who’ll be moving on, let’s take a moment to chat about the next round of the Super Challenge.

Starting Friday, the advancing writers will be working on persuasive essays. A persuasive essay utilizes logic and reason to show that one idea or position is more legitimate than another. It attempts to persuade a reader to adopt the writer’s point of view on the topic. The argument must always use sound reasoning and solid evidence. It can do this by stating facts, giving logical reasons, using examples, and quoting experts. It can also utilize emotion effectively, but it should not depend on emotional appeal or require the reader to find the writer sympathetic in order to make its point.

Our Round Two prompts are open-ended questions. We’ll be judging these essays on how thoroughly and convincingly the author answers the question. The judges don’t have to agree with the answer, but the answer will need to be supported by more than my mom’s old standby of “because I said so.”

Congratulations to our Advancing Writers

48 hours isn’t a very long time, but folks produced some great essays. Let’s have a hand for the following writers, who will be advancing to the next round of the Super Challenge:

Margaret Shafer
Trish Tuthill
Karen Vernon
Paige Vest
Leah Vidal
Gail Webber
Krystina Whitten

Wait, wait, there’s more!

Writers, if you don’t have your feedback, please send us an email at superchallenge@yeahwrite.me, ’cause that email should have reached you about twelve hours ago.

Now that this round of the competition is over, you’re free to post your work anywhere on the Internet you like, or take our judges’ suggestions and rework your submission to send on to other competitions. We’ve also set up a special Round 1 grid on our Super Challenge page (and below!) where you can link up your essay if you’re so inclined!

Round 2 writers, keep an eye on your email Friday morning (our Friday morning) for an email with your group assignments and the link for our 10:00pm post with the prompts for your persuasive essay!

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About the author:

Rowan submitted exactly one piece of microfiction to YeahWrite before being consumed by the editorial darkside. She spent some time working hard as our Submissions Editor before becoming YeahWrite’s Managing Editor in 2016. She was a BlogHer Voice of the Year in 2017 for her work on intersectional feminism, but she suggests you find and follow WOC instead. In real life she’s been at various times an attorney, aerialist, professional knitter, artist, graphic designer (yes, they’re different things), editor, secretary, tailor, and martial artist. It bothers her vaguely that the preceding list isn’t alphabetized, but the Oxford comma makes up for it. She lives in Portlandia with a menagerie which includes at least one other human. She tells lies at textwall and uncomfortable truths at CrossKnit.

rowan@yeahwrite.me