[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Happy Boxing Day—the day that everyone agrees is a proper holiday (unless you work retail, in which case I’m so very very very very sorry) but about which no-one can agree on the origins or celebration protocol.

Here at yeah write, however, it’s the day we neatly package up the winners of the popular vote on this week’s unmoderated grid. Thanks again to those of you who took time out from your holiday week to write! As a special present, even though we don’t usually do editors’ picks on unmoderated weeks, I’m giving out badges to my favorites on all three grids.

Happy Holidays, whichever ones you celebrate, whether it’s a day-off-work type of holiday or an important one for your faith. As I write this I’m sipping gingerbread liqueur I got from one of the other editors, looking at pictures of our editorial staff’s families celebrating, and taking a moment to really appreciate this little community of ours. I’m glad you’re in our corner of the web, writing family.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Yeah write #193 weekly writing challenge editor’s picks: nonfiction, fiction|poetry and microstories

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nonfiction: sometimes grateful has a bitter taste by vanessa

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This time of year we’re often reminded to be grateful for our blessings, whatever they may be. Vanessa’s brutally honest essay reminds us that the fruit of gratitude has a bitter pith, and that not all giving is kind.

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fiction: the colour white by shailaja

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This week Shailaja treated us to a lesson in the effective use of a recurring motif. Since word re-use is something a lot of us have been playing with lately in the tritina slams, I was particularly sensitive to Shailaja’s shifting “white” as metaphor. From “the whites of her eyes” to white marble, to figurative white-outs, she stuck with the theme without overusing it, just dusting enough white flakes throughout her suspenseful story to obscure the plot twist until it was too late. It’s worth noting that while white means different things in different cultures, Shailaja built this story in a way that would work in almost any context for any reader.

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microstories: the day before christmas by yeshu

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When you only have 42 words, it’s hard to pack in a plot twist. It feels like you don’t have the time to build a world and then change it. Yet that’s exactly what Yeshu did this week, showing us a hopeful world and then shattering it. Her two boxes, the present and the coffin, occupied the same place in both halves of her story, and the real and toy guns were juxtaposed in the same way as the boxes. By doubling up on metaphor, Yeshu delivered hope and heartbreak with perfect timing in her technically and emotionally precise microstory.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Congratulations to this week’s winners! If you earned the highest number of votes in either challenge, you are this week’s crowd favorite. If you came in second or third, you get top row honors along with the crowd fave. Grab your winner’s badge from our sidebar!

Looking for your badge? Now that all our writers are under one roof, we’re sharing our badges as well as our drinks. That’s right: fiction|poetry, nonfiction and microstories have the same badges. It doesn’t clutter up our sidebar, and they’ll still look pretty on yours!

Everybody: before you go, please take some time to leave your favorites a little love in the comments.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Weekend moonshine grid opens today at 6 p.m. eastern time

Tired of hanging out with your weird family? Natalie will open the doors to our safe hiding place at 6pm Eastern US time today. She’s got a crockpot full of hot cocoa and jars full of sprinkles, mints, whipped cream, and even crushed candy bars to layer on top. BYOB, but don’t BYO commercial posts.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Yeah write #193 challenge results

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9 Comments

Erica on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 1:39 pm

Rowan, thank you for everything you’ve done this week on behalf of vacationing editors. Can I have next week off, too? Oh. Too soon?
- Rowan on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 3:00 pm
  
  Well, Christine gave me presents. I’m open to editorial bribes. 🙂
Shailaja/ The Moving Quill on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 12:55 pm

Oh my gosh! SO very thrilled. My first ever Editor’s pick! Just over the moon right now.

Congrats to all the winners 🙂
Meg Galipault on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 12:42 pm

Winners…you might need to re-add your badges. They were linking to the wrong page. The code has been corrected and you can grab it from the sidebar. Sorry ’bout that!
- Rowan on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 3:56 pm
  
  This is what happens when you guys go on vacation and let me do things.
  - Christine Hanolsy on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 4:42 pm
    
    Just put down the ginger liqueur and you’ll be fine…
YeshuM on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 12:25 pm

Eeeeep! Rather incoherent right now, but thank you so much! Thank you Rowan for the lovely review! To be described so wonderfully, it’s an honour!
Jan Wilberg on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 11:50 am

Your prompt had me tied in knots for two days. A really great one. Thanks Yeah Write for doing what you do and doing it so well. And Happy New Year to all of you!
Vanessa D. on [Fri] 26 Dec 14 at 10:52 am

Thank you!