It’s raining, it’s pouring
The rain held off until after Halloween here, which is great cause it’s my favorite holiday. I love it so much that I’m considering all of November a trick or treat extension with our scavenger hunt of writing challenges, #NaNoDoMore. And this weekend, Daylight Saving Time ends, which is EVEN BETTER. Sign me up to sleep in an extra hour! While I was frantically putting together a last minute costume and trick or treating, you were writing goat stories (that was quite a prompt) and voting. U.S. friends: please, please vote. Everyone else: you vote too, but you don’t have a Tuesday deadline. Hey, some folks will get to vote twice next week, once at the ballot box and once right here on the grid!
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 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 #394 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
What I like most about Myna’s story are the little details that clue the reader into the kinds of relationships the main character has in her life: the size 11 pink flamingo slippers, the half-eaten “fancy” half of her car roof, the bungee cord she keeps on the barbecue grill. She’s the only person around who’s keeping things together, and it’s clear that the ring is the reason why. So we, the readers, have no trouble understanding the lengths she goes to in order to get that ring back. Myna infused humor and heart into her tale just as well as she incorporated the prompts. And the final image she leaves us with is absolutely justified!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #394
Persuasive essays ruled the grid this week! That’s right, both essays on our nonfiction grid fall into the category of persuasive, not personal, essays even though they used personal stories and anecdotes to lead the reader to the conclusion (vote. we’re unoriginal, but hey, vote anyway). As you read back through (congratulations to the winner 😛 ) look at the differences in the way each essay engaged you as a reader. What did you respond to in each one? How could it have drawn you into agreeing more with its point? Where did you check out and start skimming?
One of the things I love the most about reading a group of works written to the same prompt is that you can really dig in and compare stories, because you’re looking at the same base information, with the writer’s personal touches. Read back through this week’s grids with our prompt suggestions in mind: did the writer make the sentence flow naturally into the rest of the story, or did it stick out? Were both prompts important to the way the story functioned, or did one or both of them feel like they could have been replaced without changing the story much? Then go read Nate’s Pick again.
That said: any one of these three stories could have topped the grid on a different week, so think about how you could be incorporating some of these techniques into your own writing!
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 #394
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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