[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I’ve spent the last six days on two separate mountains, and I’m not sure which I love more.

The first three days I spent on Mount Hood with my writing partner, sequestered in a cabin and putting in 17-hour days editing our novel. We ate amazing food, sat in the hot tub to work on plot points, and generally broke our brains trying to rearrange a particular sequence of events to preserve two important plot points but delete a whole bunch of unnecessary chitchat.

The next three days I spent on Gearhart Mountain, which is pretty much as far from Hood as you can get. My dad and I backpacked in, discovered waterfalls and meadows not marked on any map, and didn’t see a single manmade object or even a view of a worked field or power line the entire time. We also had to go around about a million downed trees across the trail, which was less fun.

Both of these trips are probably pretty good metaphors for my writing process, but you’re more interested in this week’s popular vote winners, right? But yeah write’s not just 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 we don’t give out a staff pick on a grid one week, it means nothing really stood out for us. Maybe the best stories had a bunch of typos or the grammatically perfect ones didn’t have much there there. You’ve really got to nail both elements – structure and storytelling – to earn a staff pick.

If there isn’t a staff pick one week, check out Rowan’s Roundup (man, it’s weird to refer to myself in the third person). Probably there’s a clue in there why that post you liked didn’t make the cut. Then keep scrolling down to check out who won the popular vote on both 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? Our challenges share 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]

Rowan’s roundup: yeah write weekly writing challenge #271

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_single_image image=”19872″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle_2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

nonfiction

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Impact. It’s a thing.

If you’ve decided not to murder a particular darling, if you’re proud of a turn of phrase or image, show it off. How do you do that? By not making the whole rest of the post look exactly the same as the sentence you want to showcase. Vary your sentence and paragraph length and structure. Don’t use a thousand adjectives; you’ll hide the five that matter. Don’t use a million punchy short sentences; your reader will feel like they’re getting slapped in the face repeatedly. And don’t stick to the rule of threes. Even though I just did.

See what I did there, though, breaking up that semicolon string with two short sentences? It made you sit up and pay attention. Try that in your own writing, varying the pace and structure to deliberately draw attention to a moment or image.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”29344″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

fiction|poetry

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

With all the variety on the fiction|poetry grid this week, it’s hard to pick out a theme or something we all need to work on, so I’m going back to an old standard: How do you come up with an idea when you’re pressed for time, without sounding like a one-trick pony?

The short answer is you don’t have to. It’s perfectly fine to have a thing that you do well and to do it often, whether that’s a short story subject, a poetry form, or a particular metric scheme. Just remember that you’re supposed to be moving forward. You can do that by taking risks with new forms and subjects and styles, and then returning to your old favorites and applying the lessons you learned, the things that worked well.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”29345″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text]That’s it for 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 didn’t get a pick this week, read back through the roundup to see if you can use some of this week’s tips and tricks.

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, and don’t forget, our weekend grid opens tonight at 6pm Eastern US Time![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Congratulations to the crowd favorites at yeah write #271

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]