Are you ready?
It’s almost Halloween – you can see that we’ve got our costumes on at YeahWrite (bonus points if you can name the movies and pick out the theme) – but we’ve got one last weekend between us and the Best Holiday Of The Year [ed’s note – I know that’s not proper capitalization, fight me, Christine. /rbg] and it’s a jam-packed one. Just personally, I’ve got deadlines, parties, and the last round of Super Challenge 10 to run.
But in this little bit of Friday morning breathing space I’ve got, I want to talk to you about two very important things, neither of which is a costume, although people sure seem to think they are:
- People’s culture. Don’t dress up as a member of a living culture for Halloween. Vikings are still fair game. Romans are. But not indigenous people. Not people from cultures which aren’t yours. For one thing, it’s kind of like just wearing someone else’s jeans to a party, if for some reason you manage to do it without perpetuating horrible racialized stereotypes. For another, you’re not going to do it without perpetuating horrible racialized stereotypes. (White people, this is on you. If you can get the “sexyHandmaid” costume taken down, you can get the “sexy Indian” costume taken down. Handle it.) While we’re on the subject, “gypsy” is a racial slur and you can stop using it any time. [ed’s note: slur is written out because too many people don’t recognize it under ***s. /rbg] You didn’t know that? Probably because you don’t have any Romani friends. But now you know, and you can do better, and nobody even had to see you using it and getting called out!
- People’s reality. YeahWrite respects the dignity and diversity of our community, in all its glory. That means this is not a space where someone’s identity or gender are up for debate. We’re not interested in gender essentialism here, and if your story or essay is transphobic we’ll explain where it needs work and give you the chance to fix it, but it won’t appear on our grids in that format. (If you need a science talk that’s more nuanced than the Mendelian stuff you learned in fourth grade, explaining why not just gender but sex is a spectrum, click here. You’re welcome. And now you’ve learned two things today.) As writers, we believe that language has power and we encourage you to join us in resisting the US Government’s efforts to use language to deny real people’s existence. Include trans and nonbinary and gender nonconforming and intersex characters in your writing. It’s a lot more normal than you think – you probably know some. Even if you don’t know you know some… you know? (This week’s extra fun fact: intersex people exist in the population in at least the same proportion as redheads.) Nervous about writing trans characters? Good. You’ll be careful to make sure you do it right. If you’re a cis writer (you identify as the same gender the doctors guessed you were when you were born), think about putting trans characters in your story but not making the story about their trans experience, because you’re probably not qualified to write about that anyway. Just let them be people. Need more hints? Try here. Or here.
Um. Yeah, that got heavy real fast, but it’s been kind of a heavy week for a lot of us. Do something nice for someone today, okay? Even if it’s just yourself. Even if it’s just leaving a nice comment on someone’s work.
We have something nice too: we have 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 the trends we’re seeing. 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 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 #393 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
There were so many stand out entries on this week’s grid, but I’m always especially delighted when I see well-done anthropomorphism, where animals or inanimate objects are given human characteristics. Jen took us convincingly into the secret world of a dog, a cat and a squirrel. Through vivid imagery and careful characterisation, she brought these characters to life. By beginning the story in medias res (in the middle of the action), Jen placed the reader immediately into the setting and gave us a reason to be invested in the outcomes. Each of the characters was carefully drawn and their individual personalities were brought out in dialogue. Jen kept the pace moving by alternating the lengths of sentences, and by breaking up expository sections with action and dialogue. This was a creative way to interpret the prompts and extend them beyond what the reader would ordinarily expect.
Every year as Halloween rolls around I dread the inevitable rush of “horror” stories that aren’t scary at all, they’re merely blood splattered. A jump scare or two, some gore, maybe a few cheap and meaningless deaths, and people think they’ve got hold of what terror means. They don’t. And this story proves it. There are few details – the scene with Red Petra herself is underwritten and dreamlike, just a scattering of strobed images – the men are “found dead” having been killed in a “manner… which raises certain suspicions.” The entire story feels like the town is in a conspiracy to keep a terrible, horrifying – and sometimes thrilling and wonderful and necessary – secret. That’s how you keep the chills going: not with explicit description but by letting the reader bring the thing that terrifies them most to the story, and then giving it a road to the light. Sometimes that road is marked with twin trails of blood from no-one in particular.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #393
This week you get a bonus rant about David Foster Wallace, creepy darling of the literary world. Look, I know people love his writing. I’ve been to weddings where the reading was from On Water. But DFW does a thing that, barely a page in to any of his work, has me (and possibly you) rolling my hand like “yes yes I get it let’s move along.” And that thing is making every single idea into a three-example list. Everything is this, this, and that. Or who, whom, and whoever. It feels like he’s padding his wordcount wherever possible and maybe – maybe – DFW is good enough to get away with that for a while, but not many people are. So as you edit your work, keep an eye out for long (or frequent) lists of examples, and try to cut them off at the point your reader “gets it.” As a special bonus, you’ll have more room for your very own personal interesting ideas when you’re not clogging your essays with examples or cliched phrases.
I love the weeks I can look at the grid and say “well, here’s a really positive thing that almost everyone did” instead of “well, what’s something almost everyone could stand to work on.” This week’s theme was vengeance, but it might as well have been subtlety. Other than a couple notable exceptions, y’all stood in the shadows and let your characters shine. Didn’t say too much about the whys and wherefores and the methods (are you trying to preserve a future defense? you scare me a little). Is it because “vengeance” is a solid, relatable, emotional need? Try bringing this sensibility to every emotion you write, trusting that your readers have experienced those emotions as deeply as this one, and don’t need them explained.
That’s it for this week! Remember, we don’t always give out a pick on each grid; 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 #393
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 ...
I’m not sure which editor is Totoro, but Christine is great Arrietty!