Liquid sunshine
Hey YeahWriters, Christine here! Rowan is taking a short—but well-deserved—vacation to the rainy midwest while I’ve been enjoying an early summer at home, so I’m covering the winners post this week. It looks like this week’s fiction prompt in particular resonated with a lot of people, so I hope you all took a few minutes to read, comment, and vote.
[ed’s note: Rowan here. It’s so muggy. How does Nate do this? Now I remember why I moved back. But gosh, I love this city. And getting surprise-guested on Dive Into Worldbuilding wasn’t the worst, either! /RBG]
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 #421
It was so refresting to see poems on the nonfiction grid this week. While we focus a lot on personal essays around here, it’s worth pointing out that most poetry, at its heart, is a kind of mostly-true story—even if it is not entirely factual. In his essay “Facts and Truth,” Kwame Dawes reminds us that poetry “presents us with a way of looking at the world that is critical to society’s understanding of itself” and allows the writer to “explore truth even while [they are] uncertain about the facts.” This goes for intimate writing as well as work that tackles larger issues. Now think about taking that sensibility from your poems and lending it to your prose—you’ll end up with the kind of stories that are both personal and universal.
Maybe it’s the change of seasons, but, wow, there was a lot of death and darkness on the grid this week! It got me thinking: there are dozens of ways to build tension in a story or to create a compelling plot. Your hero can be interesting without being a murderer or having murdered parents or being assaulted as a way to spark character growth (looking directly at you, George RR Martin). There are lots of reasons for people to do things or be good people that don’t involve a “tragic past” – in fact, there are so many ways that in a longer work I’m starting to consider it lazy writing. What innovative ways can you think of to create and resolve conflict? Plot, after all, is just what happens when something prevents a character from getting what they want. It doesn’t have to be dramatic, violent, or angst-ridden; it just needs to be there.
Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #421
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 ...
