[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I know it doesn’t feel like it, but October’s drawing to a close.

The end of the month means a lot of things to me. Mostly it means Hallowe’en, my very favorite holiday in the entire universe of potential and actual holidays. Right now it means making sure the super challenge prompts are ready to go for tonight (stay tuned at 10 pm Eastern and GOOD LUCK, WRITERS!), making packing checklists for my trip to Toronto next week, and prepping the next round of nonfiction knowhow posts and poetry slam tutorials.

In the meantime, we’ve still got ten days left in the month, which is enough time to sneak in this popular vote and the next one. But it’s not all about the popular vote at yeah write, folks. We also have our editorial staff picks to hand out. See, while there’s a popular vote winner every week, we don’t always give out a staff pick. 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!  The great part is that we don’t have a finite number of picks to hand out. That means that if two, three, five, or even all the works on one grid are fantastic, we can give them all kudos.

Speaking of reading the grids, keep an eye on our roundup for a quick rundown of trends we see each week. We try to highlight the good stuff and point out problems that more than one writer is struggling with. There’s probably a handy tip in there for you right now, so check it out!

Once you’re done reading through the staff picks and roundup (and congratulating the winners in the comments), 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? Both grids 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 #288 weekly writing challenge staff picks: fiction|poetry

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under glass by ruby bastille

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]I know I’ve said it before but you guys, I am so excited to see so many nonets on the grid this month. It’s a form that combines some of my favorite elements of poetry and prose in a tight package. I keep promising Rowan I’ll finish the one I’ve been working on for three weeks, but it’s hard when there’s an example like Under Glass to live up to. Combining illusion and allusion, this is a deft retelling of Snow White in a mere 35 syllables, with a wicked twist at the end that gives us a self-rescuing princess instead of a tabula rasa.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”22657″ style=”vc_box_circle” title=”christine”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

sister by cobwebs and confetti

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Every time I think I know it all, I learn something new. My lesson for this week was that rhyming nonets end up sounding more like tongue twisters than poetry. In contrast, Sister‘s internal rhyme and repetition add almost a second layer of punctuation to the nonet’s already broken-up format. The title sets up a certain amount of cognitive dissonance and keeps us pick – picking at the imagery, returning to lines that wriggle away from us even as we grasp them, ending on an echo that neatly resolves the issue that most writers have with the 2 /1 pairing at the end of the nonet.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”22650″ style=”vc_box_circle” title=”nate”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Rowan’s roundup: yeah write weekly writing challenge #288

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nonfiction

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]With the election news cycle churning into its final frenzy here in the USA, it seems like a lot of us have the same thing on our minds. That means it’s a great time to think about voice in our essays. No matter what you’re writing, there are two important questions to ask yourself:

1. Has this been written about before? (spoilers: the answer is almost certainly yes)
2. If so, am I writing about it in a way that only I can?

It’s that second question that really makes your personal essay yours. Everyone’s thinking about the election, but not everyone’s aunt worked with Geraldine Ferraro and had a screaming meltdown on their couch on the last night of the DNC. Write from your very own unique perspective. Don’t polish all the edges off your writing. Sure, use grammar and punctuation and spelling, but make it your essay, not an essay, about the thing.[/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]Holy crap, folks, when I told Nate, Natalie and Christine (our fiction|poetry team, go meet them if you haven’t) that we were doing nonets this month, none of us had any idea how many nonets would show up on the grid. So here’s the deal: week after week I tell you what I love about your writing. This week, take a minute to leave a comment telling me what in particular drew you to this form. Was it the brevity? The lack of rhyme? No scanning? Do you just really love counting syllables? I wanna give you more of what you want from me, but that means knowing what you want. Help an editor out! (Just be aware that I already picked next month’s slam out and I think you’re gonna love that one too.)[/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 both grids; if we were impressed by several posts on one grid we’ll give them all picks, and if nothing really stood out for us 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 #288

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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