HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO…
Asha.
I wouldn’t tell, but she’s been pretty open about how totally cool it is that YeahWrite’s seventh birthday and her seven-times-seventh birthday fall in the same month. As a present for Asha, why not drop by the coffeehouse after you check out this week’s popular vote results, and leave her some love? Or you can spread the love in comments on this post!
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 #366
As much as I love a big grid, when I write the roundup sometimes it’s neat to have a tiny grid like this one so I can ask: did you notice the similarities between Momentary Sloth and Rick? No? Look again. Rick is built out of three Sloths. Using vignettes with a commonality can generate a fantastic essay, so why not hop on the grid next week to practice? The ability to write a precise, concise vignette to use as the building block of a longer essay is a skill everyone should develop. Remember, though, just because you’re stacking those vignettes together doesn’t let you off the hook for editing each one down to the bones. Not only will you make word count more easily, but the little flashbulb pop-pop-pop of reading those discrete moments will keep your readers engaged.
Worldbuilding, amirite? Sometimes when I’m trying to get information out of my head and onto the page it ends up reading like the old Encyclopedia Britannica: every morning and evening the change in air pressure causes tidal winds on the desert planet. These winds lift small mica and silica particles which, when viewed against the setting sun, refract light to a height of approximately three meters. Because of the speed of the wind, this three-meter span of airspace can be deadly for the creatures that would ordinarily inhabit it, and they burrow or fly higher until the twilight has passed and the winds settle down. The planet has no moon. At night, the main predator is a neutral-buoyancy air-floating hunter similar to a jellyfish. It is bioluminescent.
Cool, but boring.
Or I could just say “The wind was silent. There were no dunefires tonight, so far from the sands, and the phosphorescent medusas were all abed or left behind in the Greater Seas as the Jade Dragon passed into the Maze. Only the heavy splash of the galaxy lit the moonless sky, shadowed the landscape.”
See how choosing words like dunefire and medusa got the point across? Use your poetry kenning skills to avoid long expository passages. Or if it turns out that long expository passage is the most interesting thing about your story, consider ditching the rest of the story to focus on it instead, writing it out instead of summarizing it.
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 #366
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
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry Challenge
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.
