But first, a shameless plug
Y’all, with less than two weeks left in the registration timeline, we’ve hit a $200 prize pot for Super Challenge 10. If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?
In the meantime, of course, you can practice your prompted fiction writing on our free weekly grid. Why would you want to do that? Well, among other things it’s a great way to find out who writes like you and who’s just a little bit better, so that you can start soliciting your beta readers. Don’t be afraid to approach writers you think are fantastic! Everyone started out in the same place, just not at the same time, and we’re all here to give each other a hand up. Also, the best writers you know have days where they want to build a pillow fort and pull the entrance in after them because everything they’ve ever written is crap. Yes, including the writers who consistently top the popular vote.
But it’s not all about the popular vote at YeahWrite, folks. 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 #387 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
One of my favorite ways of skipping all the backstory and getting to the heart of a flash fiction piece is by retelling a story everyone knows. Michelle’s retelling of Snow White was brilliant. She made the awkward third-person opening sentence work by turning it into a sort of declarative statement from inside the mind of the narrator. Her queen is written in frank, declarative sentences, which, to me, is exactly how someone who is used to getting what she wants talks to her court. Michelle flipped the known tale on its head by giving Snow White some agency through her magical powers. The story continues with building tension and ends in a very satisfying reversal.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #387
I talk a lot about the difference between a diary entry and a personal essay being “a list of events in chronological order” vs “something with a narrative structure tying it all together” but there’s another important difference: context. If you’re writing a diary entry (or a personal blog post that functions like one) or a letter to a friend, you are writing to someone who already knows you and has memorized your backstory: what city you’re from, what you like or don’t, who your parents were, etc. When you’re writing a personal essay, you’re ideally writing for an audience that doesn’t know these things about you, so it’s important to look back at your essay the same way you would a fiction piece and say to yourself, “Is everything the reader needs to understand this story on the page, or is some of it still in my head?” Not making assumptions about how much your reader knows about you will strengthen your essay as a standalone piece and prepare you for pitching to even wider markets than our friendly little community. (I know, scary. I just had two rejections this week, folks, I feel you. Do it anyway.)
Instead of a roundup this week, I’d like to give you a writing exercise. Go up and read Nate’s editor pick. Now try to write your own ed-pick-style review for each thing you read. Can you identify kindly and clearly what’s really working in the story, and what might not be? Why not share that with the author, or try it out as a commenting style next week? Being able to summarize the high points of a story or poem like that is as useful a tool for editing as knowing where each comma goes!
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 #387
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.
