The last refuge of pedantry
Tired of people lording it over you because you used “less” where you should have used “fewer?” Fear no more, reader! I’ve got your back.
It’s confusing, because the opposites of both words, are the same: MORE. The YeahWrite Super Challenge will give away more than $200 in prizes this fall for prompted flash fiction stories.
But when do you use less and when do you use fewer?
Use FEWER if:
- You can count the thing. If you’re confused about what countable nouns are, here’s an easy way to tell
- You say “how many” when you’re asking about it. How many words? Flash fiction stories for the competition must have fewer than 1,000 words.
- The thing has a plural. Fewer writers entered the nonfiction grid than the fiction|poetry grid.
Use LESS if:
- The thing is uncountable. How do you know if something is uncountable?
- You say “how much” when you’re asking about it. How much money? There’s less money in the prize pot than there would be if you signed up, because we split the money with you. Half goes to keeping the lights on and half goes right back to our winners.
- It doesn’t have a plural. I plan to drink less coffee than I did during the last Super Challenge because my hands were shaking so badly I could hardly type. (While technically I have been known to say “how many coffees did you buy at Starbucks” I’m not really asking about the coffee itself, I’m using “coffee” as slang for “coffee drinks” – How many drinks, how much coffee. See the difference?)
- OR, if you’re measuring.
- TIME: There’s less than a week left to sign up.
- DISTANCE: The computer’s less than ten feet away from you.
- MONEY: It costs less than the $40 it takes me to put gas in the car, not that I leave the house anymore these days.
- WEIGHT: Both of my old cats weigh less than the stupid kitten now, but every cat in my house weighs less than ten kilograms.
There’s one special case, percentages, and it follows the same rules: if you are talking about a percentage of something countable, use fewer. If it’s uncountable, use less. I am less than 50% sad today. Fewer than 25% of the days in 2018 stand between me and the winter solstice. Still confused? This post dives in deeper: check it out!
Comparing things is useful. It is, in fact, how we find out who won 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. 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 #388
A few times a year I circle back to the “so what” of nonfiction writing. Each of this week’s posts had a clear and defined “so what” – can you pick them out? That’s what made it so hard to choose! The “so what” says this is important. But remember that important can mean many things. Don’t get caught in the beginning writer’s trap of Only Writing About The Most Dramatic Thing That Ever Happened To You. Important means important to you, important enough to share. Would you bring it up as a story during a road trip or get caught ranting about it at a party? It’s important enough. On the other hand, there’s stuff that’s important enough to share but that we’re nervous about saying out loud (go say “I am a writer” to your mirror. Hard? SO HARD.) which also fits neatly into that “so what.” Important is what you make it. If you care enough about it to write about it, it’s important. If you’re writing around it by turning it into a list of events, it’s either not actually important enough, or you haven’t processed what about it is important yet – sit on those for a while until you figure out which one they are, and then start over. Sorry. No I’m not. I want to read them.
Who wants a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Super Challenge? You? Yeah you do. Just like most people learn best when they’re teaching, sometimes the best way to become a competition writer is to try on the judge’s red pen. Go back through this week’s entries and ask yourself not only “did this story use the prompt” but “did this story use every part of the prompt effectively?” Was the inanimate object actually inanimate? Was it sarcastic? Did the opening line sound like the rest of the story or did it stick out in style or have a different verb tense? As you edit your own writing and beta-read for others, look for things like this. “I found your inanimate object and I loved it, but it was more desperate than sarcastic” or “I’m not sure a robot is technically inanimate, because it, you know, moves.”
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 #388
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.
Congratulations to the winners! I read all of the stories and the wins here are well deserved! I have to say I thought this week’s entries were so entertaining and fun!