Low Fidelity
If you weren’t a music nerd back in the day, the high fidelity / low fidelity (hifi) split probably doesn’t ring any bells. On the other hand, it might in your writing. Are you a high fidelity writer, focused on one piece at a time, polishing and perfecting? Or a low fi writer, jumping from competition to competition and literary device to literary device, trying them all on? I’m a low fi writer, and boy are there weeks when it shows. On the other hand, that’s given me the tools to bang out a 30 minute essay any time I need to, on almost any subject. It’ll just be, you know. A 30 minute essay.
Whichever your writing style, I challenge you to take what’s left of the summer and try the other one. If you jump from style to style, settle down and really work on getting good at one. If you’re a slow, focused writer, let go a little and write something that maybe isn’t going to be “the best thing ever in your usual idiom” but which will stretch you as a writer and give you more tools to work with. The combination of those two abilities (trying something new so you learn what could work really well instead of what’s already working ok, plus the focus to hone a piece to perfection) won’t just get you to the top of the popular vote; it might land you an editorial staff pick. Our editors comb the grids every week 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 #378
“Start at the beginning. And when you come to the end, stop.” That’s advice given to Alice (yes, in Wonderland) but it applies to essayists, too. Whenever you’re telling a story about your life, as Alice had just been asked to, it’s important to figure out what the beginning and end are, and which details in the middle are important to get you from one to the other. Otherwise you can end up rambling, or getting lost, no matter how short your essay is.
Nonfictioneers, if you’re not super active in the coffeehouse, this would be a great weekend to stop by and wish all the Super Challenge writers good luck as they dive into their own personal essays, starting tonight!
Voice. Narration. Character. You spend a lot of time thinking about if your voice and word choice matches your intended audience (or I hope you do), but how much time do you spend thinking about if it matches the story you’re telling? Unless you’re striving for deliberate irony of the Go the F**k to Sleep variety, think about making sure that if you’re telling a children’s story your subject matter, voice, and word choice match. The same rules apply if you’re writing porn: please, please don’t write porn with childlike word choices in the narration. It’s super skeevy. And the same rules still apply to serious writing – using a lot of onomatopoeia and words like “bouncy” breaks the tone of a sad story, right? If you’re going to break those rules, break them deliberately and for effect, and know what you’re doing.
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 #378
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
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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.
