Obligatory Holiday Post

Yeah, I don’t know where 2017 is going either, but I’ll be fine when it’s gone. This year has taken pets and parents, heroes and friends and illusions. Still, I’m typing these words leaned as far back in my chair as I can to make room for my bellyful of food, which I ate within the tight circle of my family. We were never a big family, and it seems as the years pass we shrink instead of growing; relatives that can’t behave themselves peel off, grandparents pass on. My nephew will be in high school next year, he reminded me. His little sister is almost talking. That’s it for the next generation. We’re not so much a family tree as a family stick, but we hold each other up and y’all, we can cook. Ham, turkey, two kinds of stuffing (one was cornbread and gouda, and we’re keeping the recipe). Mashed celeriac, scalloped sweet potatoes (no marshmallows, you monsters), salad with pomegranate seeds. And pie, and cookies, and a cheese platter and. Y’all there is a lot of food in me, made with a lot of love. Also there’s a lot of leftovers in my fridge so if that stuffing sounded good please drop by for a wedge.

In one spirit of the holiday, I’d like to give some thanks here. But in the other, I’d like to acknowledge that this is a day of mourning for many, and to reaffirm that when we talk about the dignity of our community and our readers, we include in that reckoning the living culture and traditions of Native American and Indigenous peoples.

Um. About that thanks, though. Because they’re all sleeping off food comas or on vacation and they can’t stop me. (Heck, who even knows if this post is getting proofed? Ohhhhh the power. The phenomenal cosmic power.) Anyway, I’m just gonna go in the order of listing on the staff page, so if you haven’t met us yet, give that a peek!

I’m thankful for Michelle, our fantastic EIC, and for her wall of Post-It notes and her unwavering and kind vision of what YeahWrite is and what it could become for all our writers and editors. We’re on the same page more often than not (rimshot) and we fight like family. Also since I write the post, I get the last word, and I’m thankful for that.

I’m thankful for Stacie, our Executive Editor, and for her faith and lightness. She brings a level head and easygoing attitude to our work, and she’s always good for a bird fact or three. Also she’s got a bird feeder behind her when we have our video conferences, which occasionally leads to a much-needed squirrel break.

I’m thankful for Arden, our Social Media Manager and so much more. Seriously, if there’s something going right, as often as not Arden has done 80% of it by the time the rest of us have figured out that we even want it done. She’s singlehandledly pulled off site redesigns, spreadsheet collations, and literally everything else that’s not even in her job description, while still finding time to @ our winners.

I’m thankful for Asha (and Asha’s fictioneer alter ego), who fills in our night shift from Down Under. From fiction to microfiction to a stern motherly talking-to, she’s got us covered. When the executive board needed to bring a new editor on, our question wasn’t “who can we get” but “can we get Asha?” Luckily for us, we could.

I’m thankful for Christine in ways I can’t begin to describe. And you should be thankful for her too – Christine’s the whole reason I’m even at YeahWrite. Every time she says she can’t write something, she turns in a perfect example of the genre. It’s a challenge being her writing partner, but a good one, and I’m thankful every day for how much better she makes me. Without Christine, you wouldn’t have the microprose challenge, either, so show her you’re grateful by showing up on her grid.

I’m thankful for Jenny, who does so much more than just YeahWrite. She’s a warrior in the finest, most tender sense of the word, and if she’s ever on your side, I hope you know how lucky you are to have her. Then again, something she’s done has probably already benefitted you – you just don’t know it because she doesn’t shout about it.

I’m thankful for Natalie, who lets us be her second family. And I’m thankful that I get to see her almost often enough for her kid to make growth marks on my leg. I don’t know what we’ll do when he’s taller than I am, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. I’m thankful for her incisive analysis, and her way of summing up exactly what I’m unable to articulate about why a post is good or lacking.

I’m thankful for Nate, who brings his unicorny light to the fiction grid and who writes poetry like I wanted to be able to write back when I was in junior high and thought I’d be a poet when I grew up. I never got that good, but it’s nice to know there’s someone out there who is. If you’ve loved a prompt on our grids or in the Super Challenge, the odds are good that Nate’s the one who came up with it. He’s conscientious and consistent, but more than that, he really, really cares if you’re having a good time writing, if it’s going well, and if it feels sustainable for you. Show him some love in the coffeehouse, he’s also our Head Barista and he’d love to hear from you.

I’m also thankful to folks whose contributions have made YeahWrite what it is now, like Cindy, who I loved being part of an editorial tag team with on the nonfiction grid. And I’m deeply and unreservedly thankful to Erica, whose vision for what a writing community could be created this little spot on the net 345 weeks ago, and who built the best damn team in the world to nurture it.

Well, that’s it for the alphabet and anyway, you just want to know who won the popular vote, let’s be real. 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!

Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #345

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.

Nonfiction Challenge

Fiction|Poetry Challenge