[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]I never win. Why do I even bother writing?
Does that thought run through your head sometimes? Yeah, mine too. But there are good reasons to stick with it. Writing, even when it doesn’t “win,” communicates. No-one has your ideas and lived experiences but you. Once upon a time, we were unable to communicate our thoughts and experiences outside a very small community circle; now that we have the chance to share more widely, it’s both an exciting opportunity to share, and a valuable chance to learn, from the lived experience of others. Stick with it. You’re worth reading.
And now, shoving my happy editing unicorn back in her little box… sometimes you’re harder to read than you need to be. Remember when you’re communicating you want to keep in mind why it’s important to share what you’re sharing. Even if the “so what” is “this made me laugh and I think it’ll make you laugh too,” maintaining a focus on that so what will bring clarity and readability to your writing.
Speaking of writing, communicating, and winning, though, I’ve got the results on all three of our grids – nonfiction, fiction|poetry, and microfiction – right here!
But it’s not all about the popular vote, folks. Every week our editors comb through your submissions looking for their favorites. Yes, even on unmoderated weeks. Editorial staff picks are based on writing quality, how successful the author is in conveying information, and just plain style. If you got a staff pick this week, grab your badge from the sidebar and wear it with pride!
Once you’re done reading through the staff picks (and congratulating the winners in the comments), keep scrolling down to check out who won the popular vote on all three grids. If you earned the highest number of votes in any challenge, you are this week’s crowd favorite! If you came in first, second or third, you get “top three” honors. Grab your badge from our sidebar!
Looking for your badge? The fiction|poetry, nonfiction and microstories challenges all have the same winner, staff pick, and top three badges. It doesn’t clutter up our sidebar, and they’ll still look pretty on yours![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Yeah write #215 weekly writing challenge staff picks: nonfiction
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i take in strays by pandahaus
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It’s too easy, sometimes, to write a poor-me-i-got-taken-advantage-of post. To write about our kindnesses and how they’re repaid with theft, insult, or abuse. This isn’t that post. Instead, pandahaus tells us simply and plainly “I take in strays.” With that shorthand, she links the post irrevocably to the reader’s own experiences, because who hasn’t taken in a stray? By framing her experiences through our own impulses, she avoids pleading for sympathy when the strays leave her. The feeling of inevitability in this post, from the moment you know she is taking in another stray, until her relationship with that (human or feline) stray draws to its close, keeps the reader engaged and sympathetic. Never once does this essay tell you “I was sad” or “I was frightened” or “I felt loved;” instead it draws those feelings from the reader’s own experience, creating emotion in the spaces between reader and writer.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”19872″ style=”vc_box_circle” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” title=”rowan” img_link_large=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_separator color=”grey”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
the girl in apartment 5 by katy
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Katy skillfully navigates the waters between anonymity and love this week in her essay about the girl next door. In fact, this is almost two essays in one: a calm and humorous description of the girl who lives next door to her, and a breathlessly in-love paean to the girl of her dreams. The girl next door has a name, but like Katy we don’t know it. Instead, we speculate about Stacey (just Stacey) with her, building a person from the bits of knowledge that we glean about our neighbors almost by osmosis. Katy never says – or even implies – that meeting her neighbor would be a disappointment, even while acknowledging the fundamental differences between the physicist lecturing in her dreams and the Cards Against Humanity game that was actually taking place. This dichotomy doesn’t need a resolution; like Katy we are content for the moment to hover on the brink of discovery.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”22659″ style=”vc_box_circle” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” title=”arden” img_link_large=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_separator color=”grey” align=”align_center”][vc_column_text]
That’s it for our staff picks this week! Remember, we don’t always give out a pick on every grid; if we were impressed by several posts on one grid, we’ll give them all picks, and if nothing really stood out for us on another grid, we’ll hold off.
If you’re lost in the middle of the grid and wondering how you can get a little more feedback on your posts, check out our membership perks!
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
As long as we all have hovercars now, why not fly yours down to the moonshine grid when it opens at 6:00? You can stay all weekend! Natalie is serving pangalactic gargleblasters behind the cosiest little bar that never existed. Heck, even Mike Callahan’s been known to drop by now and then. Bring your rocket skates and your jetpack, but leave your commercial posts at home.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
Congratulations to the crowd favorites at yeah write #215
The thumbnails are now sorted in order of most votes to fewest. Ties in the overall number of votes are broken by number of editor votes.
Congratulations if you’re at or near the top! Writing well is hard work, and we’re honored you’ve chosen us this week to showcase your entry.
If you’re at or near the bottom, don’t be discouraged. You’re in the right community for learning and growing as a writer, and we are always available with resources for those who ask nicely.
To our readers and voters: thank you! See you next week.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
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