Windy City
I know Chicago got its nickname from its politics, but I’d like to vouch for the power of the wind coming off Lake Michigan. Not that I’d know: I’ve been holed up in a room writing the whole time, with occasional trips out to get a food or hug a SFF luminary. Seriously, why do the Cool Kids let me hang out with them? (The downside is that now I have 5 major things to change in my novel, but it will be worth the work and I’ll feel better about the book being in the world for it.)
The wind hasn’t blown me away, but it’s blown our format away. This coming week is YeahWrite 400 (four. hundred. consecutive. weeks. omg.) and we’re celebrating with a new schedule that gives y’all folks with day jobs a shot at the prompts over the weekend when you have time to write. Our grids (except the micro) will open with the kickoff SATURDAY AT 12:01am US Eastern Time, so be ready! Everything else is the same: we’ll close the grids on Wednesday night, you’ll vote Thursday, and Friday (today) you’ll find out who won 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 #399 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Microprose
Laura’s innovative take on this month’s prompt, a colour word and a number, included a number of different colours and a single blooming plant. In just 44 words, Laura gave us a complete story of a traveller stranded in a strange and unfamiliar landscape, yearning for markers of home, and seeking hope for the future. Through the contrasts of the foreign warm hues of the new planet and the familiar cool hues of the planet left behind, she evoked all the homesickness and displacement of moving to a new place – relatable even if you’ve never changed planets. The metaphor of the single green stalk with a flurry of blue hyacinth flowers at its peak bursting from yet another red toned object (the terracotta pot), was a clever way to embody both hope for the future, and memories of the planet left behind.
I have to admit, this is just about my favorite kind of microstory, where the story itself—the plot—happens off-screen, between the lines. What begins as a commonplace, almost banal, conversation with a child is transformed, gently, into something far more raw. And did you notice? Nowhere in the story are we told how anyone feels. The grandmother’s grief is expressed in a lack of answers—more, by a loss of answers. Finally, the ending “twist” isn’t telegraphed, but it also doesn’t come out of nowhere: it unfolds naturally, like a cloud blooming across a blue sky.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #399
This time of year we all get a little introspective, I think. <- see what I did there?
When you’re writing a personal essay that’s all about your thinky-thoughts, it can feel stale pretty quickly. Is this really an essay, you ask, or a journal entry? What am I writing about? Why do I even bother? I’ll never be a…
Hey, you know what made that paragraph there feel even more monotonous? Almost all the sentences are the same length and about the same thing. Nothing drags your personal essay into the doldrums faster than monotony in voice and structure. Fortunately for you, we noticed the same issue last year and wrote a handy guide to including rhythm in your writing, changing it up and keeping it fresh. Check out the guide. And for a fantastic example of rhythm on this week’s grid, check out this post right here.
When we pick each month’s prompt style, we’re never sure what’s going to be easy or hard about it until the first week (and sometimes the second) of writing is in. This month is one-word prompts, and while our grid has a wide variety of entries, there’s a common theme that can be picked out: This prompt is a “sensation.” Sensations take place in one character’s head or perception. Right? Each week we’re going to have a different word, and those words will map to something – whether it’s a color, a flavor, an object, etc. So the trick this month is going to be balancing the imagery built around your word with enough other story to fill in actual characters and plot. If you wrote a micro this week, think about this month’s one-word prompts the same way you treated your micro prompt: a moment that occurs in the context of a larger story.
Whee! My favorite roundups are always the ones where I can talk about what everyone did well. Folks, this week had a *lot* of complete stories – plot, characters you could recognize as individuals, sensory information – contained in a very few words. One of the ways that happened was “not writing the conclusion” – you just led the reader up to the edge of the denouement and let them finish that path on their own. Well. Done. **slow clap**
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 #399
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 ... 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.
