Shambling towards….
Stacie wasn’t wrong when she picked the turtle for this week’s vote picture. I’ve felt like I was dragging all day today. Well. It’ll be “yesterday” by the time you read this, but you get the picture. It’s one of those days when even my bone marrow feels tired. Maybe it’s just that it’s finally getting hot here, and the droning days of summer are around the corner. If you’ve got any tricks to pick your energy up when you feel like this, let me know, cause I could use ’em (unless it’s “go to Crossfit” cause after this morning’s deadlifts + 21-15-9 set I don’t care if I ever see the inside of the box again). On days like these, enthusiasm for anything feels as far away as the top of the popular vote can.
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 #423 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Nonfiction
A feature of a good personal essay is the use a specific example to explore a bigger question. This week, Michelle skilfully demonstrated that technique. She used the example of an exercise routine that she does regularly, in order to illustrate the broader question of why we do the things we do. By grounding the reader in the action of a routine event, she created a connection. Even if Crossfit (or exercise) isn’t your jam (heaven knows, it’s not mine), routines are something we’re all familiar with. Michelle drew in the reader with a good, strong hook early in the piece, and then guided us through some necessary backstory and on to the exploration of exactly why she performed this ritual. After offering several possible reasons, she concludes that she doesn’t know. Instead of feeling disappointed that there isn’t an answer, we’re left with a sense of shared experience. After all, don’t we all have some ritual, some routine that we do even though we don’t know exactly why?
YeahWrite #423 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
I love stories where you can really get into a character’s head. You can feel their connections to (or in this case disconnection from) other characters, places, and objects that way. Kim leveraged our close connection to her main character this week to add a layer of what felt like everyday magic to the story, forging a connection through years to the lost family. When the story was resolved, we as readers could breathe a little easier as well. Putting rising action, tension, climax, and resolution within 750 words isn’t easy in any case, but it’s almost impossible without this connection to – and investment in – the characters.
Sanch’s lune has an almost haiku-like sensibility, where the juxtaposition of the first part and the second creates a tension that allows the reader to reflect on the connection—and the contrast—between the two, exposing the lie behind the narrator’s words. It’s a critical look at intimate partner violence. Placing “caressing” on its own line lends a significance to the word; it’s the fulcrum on which the entire poem balances.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Sanch gave us a chance this week to talk about how to write difficult material in a way that is the most accessible to the most readers, and I’m going to take it. When you write about subjects such as IPV (intimate partner violence) – and you can and should write about them if that’s what moves you – there are a few extra precautions you should take in order to help your readers stick with you and take away the important lessons you’re trying to share (you are trying to share something important, right? you’re not just putting gratuitous sexual violence in your stories because you think that’s the only motivating factor for strong characters?) (because if you are, read this. CW: non-graphic descriptions of sexual violence, comic imagery of gendered violence).
First: Make sure your readers know what’s coming so they can pick a time and place that they can really give your words attention. That means a content warning like the one I just (see what I) did (there). Doesn’t matter if it’s sexual or gendered violence, homophobia, racialized verbal or physical violence, or whatever, your readers would like to know before they open your post on the bus ride to work and arrive in no fit state to smile at their boss.
This doesn’t mean you have to post spoilers! See how my content warning tells you the parameters of what’s in the article without getting into the weeds? Be specific enough. Think about allergy warnings: “this product contains tree nuts.” There’s no need to say “there are 5 walnuts and an almond in this candy bar.” People with allergies can figure out if they want to avoid it.
Second: Make sure your readers know that any viewpoints you personally find abhorrent aren’t yours. That may mean if you tell a story about IPV you say “if this is happening to you, here’s help:” and add some links to resources. It may mean adding a donation link to an organization that works to end discrimination of the type described in your story. You should include characters with views different from yours – how would you tell stories if you didn’t? – but you should take steps to distance yourself from them, too. If all you write are edgy rapist murderers, people are going to start making assumptions about what you find aspirational and may not want to support your work.
Thanks for reading—and thanks for writing. We love your difficult, complicated, important work here at YeahWrite, and we want our readers to feel supported and heard as they engage with it. The dignity and diversity of our (and your) audience is deeply important to us.
-Rowan
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #423
I often talk about ways to bring disparate ideas together, but I don’t talk that much about how to write about one thing. Focus, the quality of intentness on a single object or idea, is an important part of your “so what” in a personal essay. There’s a photographic technique called bokeh, which roughly describes “the way the camera renders out of focus points of light. One of the ways bokeh is often deployed is in contrast to a shallow focus depth: that is, there’s a very clear image in the front of the frame, with smears of light behind it. I don’t know if you’re a visual thinker like me – maybe you’re not. But if you are, thinking about the way that in- and out-of-focus objects in an image help the in-focus objects look even clearer might help you with a personal essay. Spend your good and powerful words lovingly describing the important things, and go ahead and gloss through the things that aren’t as important to the story, or that the reader doesn’t need to understand.
To get out of the realm of navel-gazing, most stories need conflict. If you’re not good at recognizing whether there’s conflict in a story, here are a few interesting questions to ask yourself:
- Am I worried that something will/won’t happen?
- Are there real consequences for the character if it doesn’t?
- Does the character have to work to succeed?
- Do I know by the end of the story if the thing is/is not likely to happen? (You don’t have to resolve conflict, but the reader should be invested in the outcome. Imagine if the last episode of Game of Thrones had mysteriously vanished before airing….)
Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #423
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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