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Vote for your favorite nonfiction, fiction and microstories here
Coffee.
Sweet elixir of life. I don’t care if you drink black coffee, lattes, chicory or butter coffee. Even the ritual of coffee is a comforting presence in our lives, five minutes that’s nothing but ours, focused on measuring, pouring, inhaling, and then finally savoring.
Uh. I guess you could substitute “tea” up there. Or whiskey, if that’s your thing.
So take a break today. Read through the grids. Pick your favorites. Take the time to savor a word or a phrase that really gets to you, whether it makes you happy or sad or angry. The best writing doesn’t just convey an idea- it makes you feel something about that idea. This is true for everything from poetry to Supreme Court opinions. On the other hand, writing that makes you feel something but doesn’t do a good job of communicating, whether that’s because of poor grammar and structure or just because you can’t read the handwriting, isn’t the best. That exquisite balance between communication and emotion is something you should strive for in your own writing, and expect from the writing you read.
You know. Like the balance of sweetness and bitterness in your perfect cup of coffee. Bet you thought I’d lost my metaphor for a minute there, though. Yeah, me too. Let’s pour another cup and get on with the voting.
If you’re new in these parts, here’s how our schedule works: our three challenges open on separate days – Monday for nonfiction, Tuesday for fiction and poetry, and Wednesday for microfiction – but instead of separate days for voting, we’ve combined them all into one big voting post every Thursday.
All three challenges are open below for your voting pleasure. If you want to vote on a grid, please take the time to read all the entries on the grid before voting for the best three. To do that, you might have to take a step back and read the rules for each grid: for example, does that microstory really answer the ultimate question, or did it just make you laugh?
You get three votes on each separate grid. If you’d like to reveal the current vote tallies, just refresh the page after you’ve finished voting. Just a reminder: if you want to see the vote tallies, please use the device you voted from originally. Don’t double-vote just to see how your post is doing; it’s not fair to anyone and we’ll remove your votes.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I got a love letter. Now what?
Trust me, it’s not any more fun to write love letters than it is to get them. I know that on the other end of that letter is someone who’s hearing “my post wasn’t good enough this week.” I’m not going to say this hurts us more than it hurts you, but we do know what rejection feels like. That’s why we never tell you that you didn’t make the grid without explaining what you need to improve. We also have a fantastic writing help section where we’ve collected the best of our summer series and the posts we think give the best advice on improving your writing on all three grids.
Did you break a rule? Miss too many typos? Just skip that last proofread? Remember, there are no points for being first in line. All the entries you see on the grids down there are in random order. Take the time to reread the submissions guidelines and to give your post that last bit of polish that makes the difference between “okay” and “great.” Read the rules one more time before you submit to make sure you are following all of them. Bring your best, most careful work to the grid, and it will pay off.
If you are reading your love letter and you think the advice conflicts with other advice you’ve received on your writing, remember that we’re not the absolute overlords of writing but we do know what’s going to improve your chances in the voting and competition here at yeah write, from structure to grammar to visual elements in your post. Take a minute to listen carefully, even though it hurts, and see how you might be able to use that advice.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Thanks to those of you who took the time to write and submit to our grids this week. Thanks also to those of you who may not have had the time or inspiration to write a new post but who dropped by to read and vote – we love you! And welcome to those who may just be showing up to our little corner of the web. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter.
Voting closes on Thursday at 10 p.m. US eastern daylight time. [-4 GMT]
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