Flashback Friday
While Stacie’s getting nostalgic for the days when her grad was little, I’m getting nostalgic for the old YeahWrite summer series workshops. But unlike her kid, those workshops and more are still available over at our writing help section – did you know? I do, because I just finished cataloguing it. There’s well over a hundred posts in there (some of the old ones have made it through two or three site migrations, and it shows – yikes! Add “clean up that code” to my summer to-do list) and there’s sure to be one in there for you. Besides the poetry slams we have in-depth genre explorations for fiction, tips and tricks for not only writing a blog post but designing a site that readers will want to stick around for, and both technique and craft posts that everyone can use.
I thought I’d highlight one (okay, two, it’s a two-parter) of my favorite lessons, just in time for this weekend’s Super Challenge writers to take advantage of it. A perennial comment from the editors and judges here is “I think I liked this writing, but nothing really happened in the story.” So take a minute this afternoon in between panicking and hitting “refresh” on the prompt page, and check out ways to identify and add conflict to your writing. That goes for everyone else, too. Your plot will thank you for it!
In the meantime, let’s check out the popular vote results!
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 #369
As long as I’m reviving the corpses of old writing help posts, nonfictioneers, let’s look back at what YW veteran and occasional guest judge Cindy Reed has to say about storytelling (thank us later for raising the wordcount, ok?). First, we’ll talk about the hardest part: cutting away the extras. When we’re talking about our own lives it’s sometimes hard to distinguish between what happened and what’s part of the story. Then check out Cindy’s lesson on narrative structure, which shows you how to build a story out of what’s left once you get rid of the mess.
Fiction writers, we spend a lot of time saying “show, don’t tell” but it’s hard sometimes to point to a specific example of that. As I glance back through my last few roundups, I see a significant proportion of my text is spent on “don’t just rattle off your backstory” and “don’t jam all your worldbuilding in at the front” and “let the characters’ knowledge reveal itself to the reader as it’s relevant.” You know what’s lovely? Having an example this week to put in front of you. Go read The Misty Morning. Now ask yourself if Michelle ever says what happened to Mackenna’s mom. Or even, explicitly, what Mackenna’s living situation is. But you know, right? You know a LOT about those characters by the time you’re done reading, and she never just listed facts at you or told you something that was outside her point of view character’s field of vision or knowledge. She didn’t tell you about the depth of the water or the exact location of the story (although a little more locational cueing would have let the reader fill in a few more details about what the waterway looked like in general). That’s what we mean. That lets the plot of the story set its own pace without being jammed in at the front or back of the text, bookended by a list of character feelings or worldbuilding. As readers, for the most part we got the visual and emotional cues at the same time the characters did, instead of having the scene described and waiting for them to walk into it. We empathized with her POV character because we got his memories as they were relevant, instead of her saying “Bill thought about [thing described earlier] and felt sad.” See how well it works? Try 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 #369
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.
