I can’t believe April’s almost over, can you?
That means if you’ve been considering joining in on this month’s poetry slam, you’ve only got one more week to do it! Next month we’ll move on with a new form, and if scansion’s not your strong suit you’ll get a chance to stretch those mental muscles.
While it’s still April, though, and while it’s still this week and still Friday, how about I give you the popular vote winners on all three of our grids – nonfiction, fiction|poetry, and microfiction – right now?
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!
Yeah write #261 weekly writing challenge staff picks: nonfiction
unmentionables by lisa
I’m convinced that metaphors choose us; we don’t choose them. So I’m guessing that Lisa didn’t plan for her mother’s hand-me-down underwear to become a metaphor for how daughters change within themselves and in relation to their mothers over time, but there you have it. In her wryly humorous essay “Unmentionables,” Lisa finds a surprise gift of old-lady underwear in her suitcase and the choice of wearing it or nothing at all—a choice that mirrors our relationships as we age: we take it or leave it. More often than not, with parents, we take it. Throughout the essay, Lisa interjects with stories of underwear-past: at age 7, 16, and today at 47. The unconventional structure works so well as a device showing the reader her hidden self and her history with her mother, who is sweeping floors, scrubbing floors, and then today facing her husband’s death with fear that she doesn’t know how to do anything but clean. It all adds up to this: what we wear underneath, our hidden selves, emerge when we no longer have a way to hide.
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.
Weekend moonshine grid opens today at 6 p.m. eastern time
Come on down and celebrate Earth Day starting tonight at Natalie’s weekend moonshine grid, the friendliest little bar that never existed! She’s pouring shots of wheatgrass and vodka and there’s a tribute band to your favorite artist playing. We promise they’re only a little off-key. You won’t notice. Much. The only sour note you’ll hear is a commercial post, so leave those at home.
Congratulations to the crowd favorites at yeah write #262
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.
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