Summer days
Hey, YeahWriters, Christine here! I know that our Southern hemisphere friends are curling up in front of fireplaces and heaters, waiting for the ever-lengthening days to bring back the sun. But here at YeahWrite, most of the editors are taking some time to relax and enjoy a bit of a break. Michelle’s at ComicCon, Rowan’s on a road trip, and I’m sitting on my brother’s patio reading the grids and watching the votes roll in.
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 #431 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Nonfiction
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #431
We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth bringing up again. One of the most effective ways to structure a short personal essay is using an “anchor object”—that is, something to center your story on so that you can tease out the “so what.” An anchor object can keep your story from becoming a simple list of events. Look at how the car (well, various cars) in Margaret’s essay functions to highlight her personal growth and change over many years. With each loop, she touches back on the consistent image of “my car” and sets us up to examine the next stage in her life.
Sometimes a prompt might lead you straight down the path to a particular interpretation. There’s nothing wrong with this, but if you’re going to go the expected route, try to do it in an unexpected way so that you can avoid cliches and tired, trite writing. On the other hand, if you go for a more obscure interpretation of a prompt, you want your readers to understand the relationship between your story (or poem) and the prompt. For example, if your prompt is an object, it ought to be important in and of itself; if you can replace “a top hat” with “a red rose” without altering the story, you haven’t quite incorporated the prompt.
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, next week’s challenges kick off at midnight tonight!
Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #431
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.
Loading InLinkz ... Loading InLinkz ...About the author:
Christine Hanolsy is a (primarily) science fiction and fantasy writer who simply cannot resist a love story. She joined the YeahWrite team in 2014 as the microstory editor and stepped into the role of Editor-In-Chief in 2020. Christine was a 2015 BlogHer Voices of the Year award recipient and Community Keynote speaker for her YeahWrite essay, “Rights and Privileges.” Her short fiction has been published in a number of anthologies and periodicals and her creative nonfiction at Dead Housekeeping and in the Timberline Review. Outside of YeahWrite, Christine’s past roles have included Russian language scholar, composer, interpreter, and general cat herder. Find her online at christinehanolsy.com.
