Ugh, deadlines.
If you’re like me, you don’t start writing until, well, the day the new Technique Toolbox is due. Or two hours before the grids close. I like to joke that I do some of my best writing on a tight deadline… but I’m lying. I do my most inspired writing on a tight deadline. That’s why I love flash fiction competitions and the weekly grids so much: they force me to write. But is it my best writing? It’s often not. And right now I’m working on a long-haul project for a client, a massive, multi-month comprehensive you get the picture and anyway it’s only an hour and a half until this post goes live so I might as well wrap up. My point is that even huge projects can be managed like they have tight deadlines: set internal benchmarks. So for example, pretend the grids close Tuesday instead of Wednesday (especially next week, when you’ll want to save Wednesday for microprose). Then you have a tight deadline and a full day to edit, making your writing inspired, yes, but also polished enough to catapult you to the top of the popular vote.
Besides the popular vote, we also have the option of handing out an editorial staff pick to any post on our grids – and I can just about guarantee you it’s not going to first-draft writing. 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 #385
Huh. Um. It’s always awkward to write these things in weeks where I win the popular vote. So let’s talk about that. If you’re consistently coming in at or near the top of the grid, a weird kind of almost-shyness comes into play, doesn’t it? “Am I making sure everyone has fun? Am I dominating this conversation?” The answer is, continue to rock it, and get active in encouraging everyone else to be your competition. Offer to beta read. Reach out to a writer who consistently lands lower than you and ask if they want to be writing partners for a week. When YeahWrite started, when the grids were more of a free-for-all, our founder used to comb through the tags on blogging sites and would add essays to the grid that she found and thought were great, as long as they were a close fit. We don’t do that any more, but if you run across a writer you think has a ton of potential – at work? at school? somewhere online? – why not invite them to come play? Keeping the grids active keeps competition for that top spot alive.
Yeah, we talk about your writing behind the scenes. I mean, we have to, in order to decide on those editors’ picks. In fact, one of my favorite feelings is being able to get in the editors’ group chat like YOUGAIZ DID YOU READ THIS THING YET GO READ IT WTF WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR STOP DOING YOUR DAY JOB AND GO. But in the last few weeks one of the things I’ve been seeing pop up more and more on the fiction|poetry chats is “it took me a minute to figure out if this was a typo or a creative choice, but based on the rest of the piece I’m going to have to go with typo.” See, proofreading your work (or getting someone with an eye for detail to do it) doesn’t just make the work easier to read. It protects your creative choices and makes your unusual constructions or word manipulations stand up with confidence. If you do one very cool deliberate thing and a bunch of uncool accidental ones, the odds are you’re not getting credit for the cool thing. Get credit for your cool stuff! I want to do more allcaps about you.
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 #385
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.
