We’re here, we’re full of cheer…
We’re the YeahWrite … editeers? Yeah, that’s not working for me either. You know what is? That day off we’re having in the USA. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I think we can agree that a day off work is something to give cheer about. (My condolences to the service workers in this, their time of need. I’m not having a day off either. I have to write something perky, ok? It’s the prompt.)
Ok, maybe that didn’t work, but here’s something we can REALLY all cheer about:
The judges’ results are in and tallied and we’re ready to announce the winners of our Super Challenge! Winners, you’ll also get an email confirming your details so that we can send your prizes to you. But whether you won or ran-up (is that a word?) or didn’t place this round, you made it this far, which means you’re at least a pretty decent writer and you should consider taking your feedback and finding a great home for your story where the world can read it—even if that’s just on your blog (shoot us a link or post it in the coffeehouse on Facebook or Discord, we’d love to give other YeahWriters a chance to see!). And don’t forget your Round One story! You’ve had professional editorial feedback on both, from people who make the actual decisions about what gets into some of your favorite publications (ok, some of our favorite publications), so you might as well take the opportunity to at least think about what they’re saying and what it means for your writing—and the writing your writing could sound like.
We hope you had as much fun writing as we had coming up with this prompt set. There are only so many genres in the world, but combining them can really give a fresh take on each. It’s always a challenge to come up with ideas flexible enough to give you the room to express yourself creatively but tight enough to challenge and inspire you. Let us know how we’re doing!
Once again, anything that went right is entirely due to our admin team’s untiring work behind the scenes, and anything you hate is probably my fault. Yes mine, specifically. Unless it’s your feedback, because hating feedback for a month or two and then sighing and working with it is every writer’s prerogative and destiny.
But speaking of only one winner….
I’ll quit chattering. I know why you’re here. So with no further ado, here we go:
First Place
$275
Jennie Brass
Loaner
Second Place
$225
Gail A. Webber
Can’t Dance and Too Drunk to Sing
Third Place
$175
Kate Goodheart
Disconnect
Honorable Mention:
- Kristen Ray – Project Westie
- C.A. Raine – Breaking the Ice
Runners-up:
(in alphabetical order)
- Amanda Clear
- Katie Battaglia Delay
- Katelyn Foster
- Corrie Haldane
- Bridget Haug
- Karen Mitani
- MM Schreier
Congratulations again to everyone who entered. Hopefully you’re finding your feedback useful and relevant! If you’re mad at your feedback right now, try walking away from it. Everything about your story is fresh and feels personal, and that’s a hard time to hear feedback. Be gentle with yourself: you had 48 hours to write. Nobody writes the story in 48 hours that they could write in a week, or a month, or a year. Set a reminder and look at your story again in a month or so, or get a trusted reader to help you make the connections or see if your feedback is fair, even if you don’t like it or disagree with a decision or suggestion. In the meantime…
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 on Wednesday.
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 venues.
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.
