Dog days of summer
Hello, everyone! Christine speaking. Rowan is away on a well-deserved vacation, and that means I have the privilege of announcing this week’s winners! But first, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate all of you – not just the winners, or even just the people who joined the grids this week. All YeahWriters.
I see you, working a full-time job and coming home to a full-time family, and still managing to put a few words down on paper (or the screen).
I see you, students, who have too much on your plate already, but rather than letting your Political Science class fade into the background, pulling from those readings to create new worlds.
I see you, the newly-divorced, recently-married, new parents and sudden orphans, those of you who have been hurt and aren’t done hurting, those of you finding joy in the smallest of things.
You’re all putting your hearts out there for everyone to see, whether it’s a personal essay, a poem, or a carefully crafted short story. It’s brave and amazing, and it’s our collective privilege to experience your stories. Thanks for including us in your creative journeys.
I won’t be so trite as to say you’re all winners here, though; we do have a vote for a reason! it’s not all about the popular vote at YeahWrite, of course. 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 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!
YeahWrite #382 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Nonfiction
Questions without Answers by Melony Boseley
It’s very unusual that the same person wins an editors’ pick on the same grid two weeks in a row, but Melony’s piece this week is every bit as deserving as her winning essay from last week. It’s clear that she put a great deal of thought and careful planning into the framing of her story. Once again, she uses strong verb choices and shows, not tells, the reader her story by including just enough detail. Her language is appropriate for her little-girl self, and she never slips out of voice. She even makes us laugh with an in-joke meant strictly for the adult readers (Debbie Does Dallas, anyone?). As one commenter pointed out, inserting a bit of humor into an otherwise tense piece gives the reader a chance to breathe rather than being weighted down by the gravity of the story. Little Melony feels the awkwardness, of course, but doesn’t know what it’s all about; we, as adults, can read between the lines to find the story behind the story.
YeahWrite #382 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
Spin by Margaret Shafer
Diminishing verse is harder than it looks. What seems like a simple act of finding ever smaller words, like a Matryoshka doll, is actually more complex. It’s more than just whittling letters and placing the result at the end of the shelf (okay, I’m taking the metaphor too far!), or line in this case. The lines also need to work together to reveal a story. Speaking of metaphors, in Spin, Margaret from Unfolding from the Fog cleverly deconstructs the word carousel to evoke the sense of chaos and whirling of an ending relationship. This carefully built poem reinforces the metaphor of the carousel both in the relationship, and in the name. The reader is left with the impression of being whirled around until we come to an abrupt stop at the end of the relationship, the end of the ride, and the end of the word.
Footbeats in the Open by Katie Entner
In her story Footbeats in the Open, Katie combines both excellent world building and solid plot development to bring us an utterly charming alternate reality: a possible future where language and even names are affected by sightlessness. Her descriptions rely entirely on the other four senses, and she is so consistent in her details, from her naming conventions to her verbs, that the reader hardly notices anything is missing. By including comfortable, relatable elements – household pets, the mantra of children’s circle time – she creates a connection to the here-and-now that balances the more unexpected elements, such as feeling through one’s feet/tiles and the entire concept of the tether. The story of children testing boundaries is one we’ve all read, but the setting makes it feel fresh and new.
Rowan’s Roundup (today with 100% more Christine!): YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #382
One of the great things about YeahWrite is that it’s the perfect playground for trying out new styles and voices. That being said, be careful not to get so lost in style that you lose your connection to the reader. Consider how the voice supports – or undermines – the subject matter of your essay. We’re all tempted to use purple prose and add flourish to our writing, but sometimes it’s the simple constructions that convey the most information in the clearest way. Trust yourself to write simple, clear sentences, and trust that the reader will appreciate the clarity. And if you’re trying something new, consider attaching the “constructive criticism” badge (right there in your sidebar!) to get some feedback on how well it worked.
We can’t stress enough how important it is to proofread your work – or even better, to have another person proofread. Some common culprits are homonyms (here vs hear), punctuation errors (misplaced apostrophes, for example), verb tense mis-matches or switching, and plain old misspellings. If you aren’t confident that your beta readers are paying attention to these details, try this: read your piece from the bottom up. When you take the sentences out of context, it’s easier to spot these simple little errors that trip us up. And once you’ve done that, read your piece out loud, even if it’s just to yourself. Your ears will pick up things that your eyes might skim over. If you need a refresher on proofreading, read through the Structural/Technical Issues in our writing help post on constructive criticism.
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 #382
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:
Christine Hanolsy is a (primarily) science fiction and fantasy writer who simply cannot resist a love story. She joined the YeahWrite team in 2014 as the microstory editor and stepped into the role of Editor-In-Chief in 2020. Christine was a 2015 BlogHer Voices of the Year award recipient and Community Keynote speaker for her YeahWrite essay, “Rights and Privileges.” Her short fiction has been published in a number of anthologies and periodicals and her creative nonfiction at Dead Housekeeping and in the Timberline Review. Outside of YeahWrite, Christine’s past roles have included Russian language scholar, composer, interpreter, and general cat herder. Find her online at christinehanolsy.com.
