[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]History feels immediate this week.
Whether you’re following the news or fighting with your relatives over a supper table, it’s impossible to ignore that at least here in the U.S. of A. we’re in the middle of stuff that’s going to end up in somebody’s history book. And history books are written by the winners, sure, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not important to record the hopes, dreams, and everyday life of ordinary people as history takes place around them. That’s what makes The Diary of Anne Frank special, in a way: it’s not about the war, and it doesn’t have an agenda. It records, on a simple, daily, human basis, what it is to live and die in the middle of history.
Never let the fact that you think you’re ordinary stop you from telling your story.
[Ed’s note: things that can stop you from telling your story or getting a post out on time include having major oral surgery on Tuesday and then somehow thinking this week was a good time to experiment with a new posting utility that was totally going to handle everything while you took some Vicodin and went back to bed. Mea culpa. /RBG]
And if you need more incentive, well, there’s our popular vote. 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. Some weeks, the editors will comb through the grids and nothing really stands 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 the details of both elements – structure and storytelling – to earn a staff pick. 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.
On weeks when the grids are unmoderated, you can check out the Roundup, where I try to identify trends and troubles that show up for more than one writer on the grid. If you’re curious why there’s no pick, there’s usually a clue in the Roundup 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 either 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 #293
[/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]When I said begin at the beginning, I didn’t mean it literally. Or rather, I did: begin at the beginning of your story, rather than laying 500 words of foundation before anything happens. Think about a movie you love. Did you know everything about each character’s history before they showed up in the movie? No? No. You found that out over the course of the story. The same thing works with your writing, and it’s all part of that “show, don’t tell” that your writing teacher keeps repeating. Don’t tell us the history of a town before your main character walks into it; talk about how you looked at the old crumbling brick of the post office that your dad said had doubled as a jail in the 20’s.[/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]Instead of giving feedback this week, I want to talk about getting it. How do you?
There’s a couple ways. One is to ask around, either in person or in a group like our coffeehouse, if there’s someone who can give you some feedback. Another way is to pay for it, either by hiring a professional editor or taking advantage of something like our membership perks (if you’re a member, you should have an email from us explaining how to do that, but if anything’s confusing please always feel free to email us with questions at getsocial@yeahwrite.me).
BUT. And this is a big but. The feedback you get is only as good as the person giving it. Learning to give and receive good feedback graciously will help you tremendously as a writer. It will even help you edit your own work. Try it with the grids this week – both grids, even if you usually only write for one. Look at the piece of writing and think about the part you liked. Why did you like it? What technique did the author use to make you feel that way? If you’re having trouble with that, well, start a discussion! Find a friend on or off line and say “Hey, I really liked the part of this story where the princess shatters the glass ball, but I’m not sure why.” Identifying writing techniques and understanding why and how they work will help you give more meaningful feedback, and may help you figure out what’s up with your own work.
Finally, of course, there’s our editors’ picks. I know, there isn’t one this week. We love to give those out, not just because it’s useful personal feedback for you, but because other folks can learn from what you did right. There’s two pieces to getting an editors’ pick, though: both the content and structure have to be excellent. So if you tell a terrific story but you still are struggling with how to put together a sentence that isn’t a comma splice, your story isn’t going to get that coveted pick. That’s where your friends can come in handy, though. Pick folks whose grammar is consistently great and ask for help. Trust me: at one time they needed help 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, so let’s move on to the popular vote results. 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 #293
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]
Loading InLinkz ...
Loading InLinkz ...
