Community
I’ve been thinking a lot about community this week. How we build it, who’s in it, who holds us up when we stumble and who brings us together when it looks like we’re drifting apart. Community is who you reach out to when you need a hand picking up the groceries because your car died, or when you need an ear because your sister just called to ask who’s coming to Thanksgiving and that feels like a really fraught decision this year, or when you need a second pair of eyes on that draft before you send it out. But it’s also who you reach out to. Community is reciprocal. In our little community, we know you’re there because you post, read, comment, and vote. You hang out in the coffeehouse and let folks know you have an extra hour or two if they need a hand brainstorming a prompt or want a beta reader. Community isn’t just about asking; it’s about offering. That’s how we lift each other up. Maybe all the way to the top of the popular vote, or to that staff pick. I know. That’s not actually very inspirational but I needed a transition. See, if I’d not been writing at the last minute I could have asked for help with that.
Besides the popular vote, we also have the option of handing out an editorial staff pick to any post on our grids. 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 #392
hahahah um well this is awkward, isn’t it? Writing the roundup on weeks I’m on the grid always feels fraught, you know? And the popular vote is harder to parse with fewer people on the grid, because patterns don’t always show up. On the other hand, this isn’t the worst time to talk about something I’ve talked about before: you don’t always have to reach for the most dramatic thing that ever happened to you to come up with a winning essay. Christine and I posted ours right around the same time yesterday and I’ll be honest, my first thought was “dammit, my dad’s still alive, I’m gonna lose.” (Sorry, Dad, see you at Thanksgiving.) But I took advantage of that whole “not having kids” thing to squeeze out a little extra distraction-free time, and that’s often what makes the real difference: writing an essay you’ve been thinking about for a while, when you have an uninterrupted minute.
Uninterrupted minutes are few and far between for most of us, though, so how do you make the most of your time? Keep your ideas. Marinate them. Write them on sticky notes and leave saved half-drafts or outlines in your blog editor. Then, when the kiddo is finally down for a nap or you’ve talked your partner into walking the dog, or the bus is going to be twenty minutes late, you don’t have to spend that uninterrupted time idea-hunting: you can just polish up something that’s been rolling around in the back of your mind already. It can be dramatic, sure… but it can also be as simple as finding a rock in your pocket.
Prompts! Everyone responds to them differently. Some folks want a prompt for a jumping-off point, but don’t need it in their finished writing (our nonfiction optional prompt works like this). Others – especially editors or judges of competitions or anthologies, where work has to be compared – prefer the prompt to be front and center, or at least clearly identifiable. Our fiction|poetry grid, with its mandatory prompts, is a great place to practice the latter. That includes careful reading of the prompt itself: is it ok to change punctuation? Does a line have to be spoken aloud? Must a required sentence be at the exact beginning or exact end of the story? On unmoderated weeks getting the prompt “mostly right” isn’t going to knock you off the grid, so use your creativity and write the way you enjoy writing – but remember it’ll cost you points in competitions or maybe even publication, so a free competition isn’t the worst place to practice that skill. Not sure what a prompt means, or whether “at the end” means “at the exact, very, end?” Pop over to the coffeehouse and chat about it! Remember, you’re not writing in a musty garret room, isolated from humanity and accompanied only by Brown Jenkin. You’re in a thriving community of writers. (Also, if you’re writing in a musty garret room, I hear Amazon carries air filters, please use one, be kind to your lungs.)
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 #392
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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