[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]It’s always a little weird to sit down and write the winners’ post on a week when I’ve had a bunch of rejections. You know the ones: you submit a story or poem, wait for just long enough to think “well, if they were going to reject the damn thing they could have done that by now, so mayyyybe?” and then there it is, in your email, first thing in the morning so that you wonder what hours other editors are working. The rejection.

Next the doubt sets in. What does this rejection actually say? Is this just form language, or did they really mean it when they said to submit again in the next round? Is the story any good? How, as our ultimate question asks, do I fix this? Is it actually just not a good fit for this particular market, or does it suck and I suck at writing and at figuring out if my writing is any good and I should never write anything again ever because obviously I’m worthless. Um. cough.

That’s the thing I like the most about yeah write’s moderated grids, which will be back right after our field trip to Long Beach. (Stay tuned for even more exciting announcements about that trip, by the way, and we hope if you live in the area or plan to attend the con you’ll stop by our table for a very special writing challenge!) During moderated weeks, if you don’t make it onto the voting grid, you’ll know exactly why. You’ll get a love letter from one of our editors (ok, usually me) telling you what you need to work on to make the cut, what we were looking for from your story, poem or essay, and how you can improve to get on the grid in the future. If you need a little more feedback than that, or want feedback in an unmoderated week, consider becoming a paid member– you can request specific editorial feedback on your work before you post, or even a quick and dirty analysis of why (why we think, but we’ve been doing this a while now) your post didn’t do as well on the grid as you thought it would.

While you’re thinking about all that, I’m going to give you 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. We also have our editorial staff picks to hand out. Every week our editors comb through your submissions looking for their favorites. 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 #227 weekly writing challenge staff picks: nonfiction

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the long game by delicatefest

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When you write about activism, particularly your own, it’s always tempting to preach. To tell the people who obviously don’t know any better that what they’re doing is bad and why. The Long Game avoids all that in favor of a simple deadpan presentation of problematic behaviors, presented without judgmental language but framed by the refrain “how do we fix this?” It’s that refrain that reminds the reader to keep their critical thinking skills active, to reframe the presented “joke” as a problem that needs to be solved, as unacceptable behavior. Framing the post in this way brings the reader into the process of problem-solving without judgment or condescension. If they don’t see the issue with one of the paragraphs, instead of being simply preached at they’re encouraged to think about what in the behavior is unacceptable and why. By having to solve the problem themselves in the post, readers may be more likely to carry that problem-solving forward into the real world — and isn’t that how activist writing is supposed to work?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”22649″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” title=”rowan” img_link_large=””][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/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

Got a post that’s homeless, a story that’s made the rounds, or a list of things that suck all the time forever? Bring it on down to the moonshine grid where I’ll be drowning my rejected sorrows starting at 6pm EDT tonight. That’s only 3pm where I am, but hey, the sun’s over the yardarm somewhere, amirite? Just leave your solicitations and commercial posts at home. Maybe if I sold a story I’d have the money to do something about it, but in the meantime they just make me more depressed.[/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 #227

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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