cough cough IS THIS THING ON?
When I went to Outdoor Ed in whatever grade that was, the counselors had a little song they’d sing in the morning at breakfast to shut all the kids up. The theory was that if we all sang along we’d be quiet for thirty seconds when the song was over and they’d get a chance to talk before general babble broke out. So sing with me for a second.
A terrible death to die, a terrible death to die, a terrible death to talk to death, a terrible death to die!
First off, it’s the first (see what I did there) round of the YeahWrite Super Challenge. Competing nonfictioneers, you should have in your inboxes your group assignments and a link to a post that goes live at 10pm Eastern tonight. Let us know if you didn’t get that, and we’ll send you your group number.
Second, we love you. And you love us. And some of you love some of us a lot. But some of us are on vacation. This is your reminder that if you want to reach the crew to get a post on the grid, answer a badge question, or figure something out, please use the editors@yeahwrite.me email. Super Challenge folks, same thing: use the superchallenge@yeahwrite.me email for your Super Challenge questions. Using the general inbox ensures that your email won’t go to someone who’s on vacation, so that you can get the answers you need, when you need them! (Also, anonymity, folks. You can’t contact potential judges directly about your story, remember?)
With those announcements out of the way, let’s move on to the announcement you care about: the popular vote winners. Besides the popular vote, we also have the option of handing out an editorial staff pick to any post on our grids. Our editors comb the grids to find, not just the best writing on this grid this week, but what we think is pretty darn great writing anywhere anytime. Picks are based on writing quality, how successful the author is in conveying information, and just plain style. 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- and we’d love to, so keep that great work coming!
On weeks when we don’t award a staff pick, keep an extra close eye on the Roundup. That’s our rundown of trends we see from week to 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 Roundup, 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, Editorial Staff Pick, and Top Three badges. It doesn’t clutter up our sidebar, and they’ll still look pretty on yours!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #300
I was making meringue the other day because, well, reasons, and I kept remembering the time I was super young and making meringue and thought that more beating the eggs was better. Eventually, no more air will go in and the whole thing collapses into a flat mess. If you over-whip cream, you just end up with butter and whey. Similarly, there’s a point where you have to stop processing your writing before you process all the voice and sentiment out of it. If an essay you think you should have connected with this week left you feeling a little, well, flat? This is probably why.
This week was all about the dialogue, wasn’t it? There are two major challenges to dialogue (which I spell dialogue but which you can go ahead and spell dialog, I don’t care, they’re both right but mine’s prettier): getting it into the text, and moving between it and expository text. For this week’s roundup we’re going to jump into the wayback machine with this post from editor Courtenay waaaay back in YeahWrite #173, just shortly after I came on the crew. Go check out Courtenay’s tips and tricks for jazzing up your dialogue and making it really pop in your post.
That’s it for this week! 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! If you’re more the self-help type, remember to scroll through our writing help section for tips and tricks. Even if a post isn’t directed at your favorite grid, there’s probably a handy hint for you in there anyway!
Everybody: before you go, please take some time to leave your favorites a little love in the comments, and don’t forget, the Weekend Writing Showcase opens tonight at 6pm Eastern US Time!
Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #326
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.
Loading InLinkz ... Loading InLinkz ...About the author:
Rowan submitted exactly one piece of microfiction to YeahWrite before being consumed by the editorial darkside. She spent some time working hard as our Submissions Editor before becoming YeahWrite’s Managing Editor in 2016. She was a BlogHer Voice of the Year in 2017 for her work on intersectional feminism, but she suggests you find and follow WOC instead. In real life she’s been at various times an attorney, aerialist, professional knitter, artist, graphic designer (yes, they’re different things), editor, secretary, tailor, and martial artist. It bothers her vaguely that the preceding list isn’t alphabetized, but the Oxford comma makes up for it. She lives in Portlandia with a menagerie which includes at least one other human. She tells lies at textwall and uncomfortable truths at CrossKnit.
