[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]My very large dog had surgery two days ago. She’ll be taking a variety of medications for the next fourteen days, some of which make her both needy and incontinent. What I’m saying is 2016 is off to a squishy, warm start this morning.

But let’s talk about 2015 for a minute, ok? The editors discussed doing a “best-of” roundup this week, but between the holidays and our schedules and the fact that 2015 wasn’t technically over, we decided to hold off. I’m glad we did. There were some genuinely great pieces on the grids this week. Thank you for those, and for all your hard work last year. Because as much as we pretend it’s fun and easy, writing is hard work. It takes effort, knowledge, inspiration and intuition to do well.

Now that I’ve talked up the grids, you want to know the results, right? Me too. So, even though it’s a brand new year, I’m going to give you the results on all three of our grids – nonfiction, fiction|poetry, and microfiction – right here like it was 2015. Or 2014. Or…

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 #246 weekly writing challenge staff picks: nonfiction

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

blank space by iasoupmama

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It is fitting to recognize Courtenay’s “Blank Space” essay on this first day of 2016, filling a blank space with clarity and purpose. In this short essay, fresh snow is a metaphor for the relaunching of her lost blog, Soup. Along the way, she shares a roller coaster of events, deconstructing and then rebuilding life, almost in an instant, “Until the day I realized it felt lighter.” Because life is often like that: you wake up and it’s a new day, a new year. With skillful prose, Courtenay discovers that “despite some serrated words, I am lovable.” Welcome back. We missed you.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”22653″ style=”vc_box_circle” title=”meg”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Yeah write #246 weekly writing challenge staff picks: fiction|poetry

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

pilgrimage 2 by jennifer

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]I spend a lot of time talking about how you can’t just hit enter a lot of times and pretend it turns a sentence into a poem. And then this. Each carefully placed line break becomes almost a new type of punctuation, turning what would have been a stunning little microstory anyway into a series of images caught in the camera-flash of memory. The structure of the poem sets up the balance of familiarity, nostalgia and discomfort that the content evokes so well: the powerless/powerful feeling of being an adult, returning to the place you were a child. Longing and distaste war with each other between the lines, and in the end the poem is all the more powerful because it does not tell the reader, at the end, what feeling is locked in the heart with its “petals folded over petals, tight / unrelenting”[/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” title=”rowan”][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][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

Already broken your new year’s resolution, and it hasn’t even been 24 hours? Come on down to the moonshine grid, where Natalie’s serving up weltschmerz with a side of schadenfreude. Or bring a post about your hope, joy and love. Whether you’re feeling cranky or unicorny, we’re saving you a seat! We’re not saving room for commercial posts, though. That’s so 2015.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Congratulations to the crowd favorites at yeah write #246

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]

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]