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I don’t mean to sound alarmist, but I’m pretty sure this is the actual apocalypse. Everything that isn’t on fire is underwater, and everything else is having earthquakes. Take care of yourselves and your families out there, people. You mean something.

One way we escape the world is by reading; another is by writing. When I found YeahWrite years ago, I remembered how good both those things felt, and I hope you feel the same way. Whether it’s our regular grids, our Super Challenge, the coffeehouse, or our new classes, we’re about coming together as a community to make better writing happen in the world, from the ground up. So keep an eye on your comments as well as our tips and tricks, and you’ll get better along with us. How can you tell if you’re getting better? You’ll start nudging your way toward the top of the popular vote here, for one thing.

But it’s not all about the popular vote at YeahWrite, 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. Our editors comb the grids to find, not just the best writing on our 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. 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.

The other benefit of the editors’ pick, of course, is that unlike the popular vote we’ll tell you why we liked that post. So don’t just skip reading the blurb if it’s not about your post; you’ll pick up some handy pointers about what makes good writing great that you can apply to your own work. For more of that critical feedback, 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 Editorial Staff Picks and Roundup (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? All our 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!

YeahWrite #334 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:

Nonfiction

My first thought when reading this piece was, “Hey, what’s this micro doing on nonfic?” Once I learned that it was an intentional choice, I went back to reread. Then I read it again. Then once more. It’s fantastic. When we talk about our grids, we are usually emphasizing how every single word must do its job because there isn’t room for extra. But with a 1,000-word limit, there’s actually way more room than you’d think and that’s how many of us get lost. Writing to strict constraints can often bring out the best in us (or the worst, if you count throwing things and having fits), and never has this principle been more obvious than right here. We learn so much about the writer here and the emotion is developed and heavy without being cloying. The reader is not left wondering or confused, and that’s quite an accomplishment in 39 words. Less can often be more, and here it most definitely is.

YeahWrite #334 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:

Microprose

I love to see all the different ways our writers interpret the microprose prompt. Even more, I love to see when a writer uses it thoughtfully to create something with a consistent voice and clear story arc. This month, all the editors agree: Hema really nailed it. Not only is her story well paced, with no missing words or shortcuts, but she incorporates the prompt word seamlessly – and it isn’t an easy word to fit in, especially using the given definition. So many posts were *thisclose* to using one of the other two definitions, which wasn’t what the prompt required. But what makes this piece really stand out for me is the way Hema’s use of leviathan evokes both a sense of physical size and emotional impact. She’s not just shoving the word into her post as an awkward synonym, she’s using it to the full extent of its meaning.

Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #334

If I had a dollar for every time I’d seen a comment on a YeahWrite entry that said “does this piece really fit on this grid” and then the author came back with “well maybe it fits better somewhere else but I started it for this grid” I could quit this job because I’d have like ten bucks instead of a volunteer position as Managing Editor. Just kidding, folks, but this week’s Editor’s Pick really showed what happens when you commit to the writing instead of the idea of the writing you had when you started working on it. Sometimes a story or essay goes an unexpected direction. That’s fine! Go ahead and roll with it. But when you’re done writing and editing, don’t forget to doublecheck one last thing before submitting: does the piece still fit where you intended it to go? Or does it fit better somewhere else? In this case, the essay fit perfectly into 39 words, but 39 words didn’t fit perfectly into the micro guidelines. Instead of taking a machete to a good piece of prose, the author moved it somewhere it could be appreciated for what it was.

This advice applies “out in the real world,” too. Sometimes you start an essay planning to pitch it to a specific publication, and then the essay doesn’t come out like you’d expected. Don’t abandon the essay, but don’t be surprised if the original publication rejects it. It’s not a bad essay, it’s a bad fit. Send it somewhere it’s more in line with the submission guidelines, goals, or values of the publisher. Got an old competition piece? Brush it up for an anthology. Fit is as important as form when you’re submitting work.

[Ed‘s note: This is one of those weeks where the popular vote and the editors’ choices didn’t line up. They don’t always, because, well, reasons. That’s why we do both a vote and a curated choice. There’s often fantastic writing that doesn’t necessarily have popular appeal, or there’s a great grid but the top three or four posts have major proofreading errors that don’t keep them from being readable but fundamentally disqualify them for a pick. Just a little behind-the-scenes peek for you! /RBG]

After a spectacularly non-ranty week last week, I guess this week I come unraveled. Y’all. You are writers. You are grown adults who need to take yourselves seriously. That means fact-checking and proofreading before you enter a piece in a competition. This week we had a few stories that… well, you know who you are. And it happens every week. If it happens to you more than once, please sit your butt in front of the mirror and have this little pep talk:

Self, we are a writer and our work deserves to be taken seriously and read as though it were written by the pro we know we are. Nobody can do that if we don’t make sure all the words are there and all the information is correct in the story and that things are spelled right. Let’s do ourselves the favor of giving this story the best shot it can have to be well-received in the world.

And then go over to your computer and write your next story. It’s a good one, so give it the attention it needs in order for everyone else to know how good it is.

Not gonna lie: this was a really hard prompt this week. Hard in two senses: it’s a word that’s not in most people’s ordinary daily vocabulary, and you weren’t allowed to use it in the sense that it’s normally used even in extended vocabularies. Not gonna lie: we had originally intended to disqualify stories that used sea monsters at all because they’re one of the non-permitted definitions, and had to make a last minute decision not to do that because too many people were over the line and we try to err on the side of kindness (and then yell at you in the roundup instead). So instead, I’m going to talk about nuance.

Words have more than meaning. They have nuance and context. If you’re using a word that’s not in your daily vocabulary, it’s not enough to look it up in a dictionary, read the definition, and go to town. It’s also probably not enough to look it up in a thesaurus and see what other words have similar meanings. “Leviathan” doesn’t merely mean big. Its meaning is far closer to “brobdingnagian” than it is to “expansive” or “huge.” Go look for use cases instead of definitions. Reading the word as it’s used in context will give you a sense of its flavor. Is the word archaic? You might have to adjust the rest of your vocabulary to make it sound right. Is it slang? Learn where it came from, find other contemporary slang, or you’re gonna sound square. I mean ell-seven. You dig, Daddy-o?

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, the Weekend Writing Showcase opens tonight at 6pm Eastern US Time!

Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #334

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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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.

rowan@yeahwrite.me

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