[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Some idiot is building four houses across the road from me. In March, in Oregon. Yeah it’s been raining into those houses since they dug the foundation. I have no idea how or why they would think that’s not a recipe for a moldy disaster, but they’ve got the roof and siding on each house now, and they sure do look pretty all lined up in a row. Still, I feel bad for whoever buys one.

Obviously, I’m working on a metaphor for your writing here. Do you have a moldy foundation that you’re trying to cover up with pretty words? It can work for a while, but ultimately it’ll betray you. Or does your “house” have “great bones” but they’re disguised by rotting grammar and falling-apart punctuation, rendering it utterly without “curb appeal?”

You can be a good writer and make either of these mistakes. But great writing balances fine language with excellent structure. I don’t think any writer is a great writer all the time, but boy does it feel good when you nail down a piece and know it’s great from the foundation to the weathervane.

Speaking of great pieces, we saw some on the grid this week, and now  I’m going to give you the popular vote 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 #256 weekly writing challenge staff picks: nonfiction

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seeking lalochezia by that cynking feeling

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When you work with someone you like, an abiding camaraderie becomes your refuge, your safe zone. In Cyn’s essay this week, “Seeking Lalochezia,” we are welcomed into that refuge through a shared language—in this case, a stream of “fucks” and Cyn’s resolve to curb her foul language just as her co-worker, Ann, finds this goal laughably impossible. The rapport between Ann and Cyn—symbolized, for example, by Cyn’s promise to write a poem about the word “lalochezia”—is convincingly charming. So much so that when I reached the last few paragraphs, the ones in which we learn about Ann’s death, I felt a punch to the stomach. In an essay that begins celebrating words and ends in wordless grief, she left me speechless.[/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 #256 weekly writing challenge staff picks: fiction|poetry

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the coming of allergies by michael

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]What I love about poetry is that it doesn’t have to be pretty; through the difficulty of mastering the rules, you can also manipulate them to say what you want in your own voice. Michael’s “The Coming of Allergies” is a perfect example because it does just that. It follows all the conventions of haiku, referring to a specific season and everything, but the speaker’s unique voice is preserved in a way that makes it surprising, subverting what we’ve come to expect from haiku. This toppling of expectations is what makes the poem funny–we expect flowers to bloom, not sinuses. We don’t expect to encounter snot in a poem about nature. It also helps that as a sufferer of chronic allergies, I laughed and nodded along in solidarity as I read.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”22651″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” title=”natalie”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

lesson by theinnerzone

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]I can’t get enough of the haiku this month. I love how many people are giving it a shot, and I love seeing it well-done. For me, this post is an absolutely perfect haiku. The phrase and fragment break naturally but still fit together in the space of a breath; sunlight anchors us in time and “a Morse code of impermanence” is just… I can’t think of a better way to describe the stuttering, slowing rhythm of a swinging door and summery air. Maybe it’s just the lingering winter here that makes this poem so enticing, but I don’t think so![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”28614″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” title=”arden”][/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

Grab a hammer and nails and come on down to the moonshine grid, where Natalie’s making some repairs this weekend. Got a fixer-upper or a project post? Working on an idea and need more eyes on it? Stuff it in your tool belt and come join us! Just leave the commercial posts at home. This is a blue-collar bar.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

shameless plug

Y’all, have you heard about The Only Living Boy? If you haven’t, I’m deeply concerned that you haven’t read any of our posts this week. Follow the bouncing ball, here: last fall, yeah write went to Long Beach Comic Con. We ran an awesome microstory competition, and the fabulous Steve Ellis took the winning stories and transformed them into something visually amazing. Steve and his co-conspirator David Gallaher just dropped their new graphic novel, The Only Living Boy, in bookstores this week. That’s right. More amazing writing and more amazing art – and we think you should drop them a line to say thanks for hanging out with yeah write. Check them out on Facebook and Twitter; you might even considering buying the book. (Hint: Buying through our affiliate link will put a few pennies in yeah write’s pockets, which means we can bring you even more cool stuff like this. It’s a win-win-win!)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Congratulations to the crowd favorites at yeah write #256

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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