Dying of deadlines
It’s the last week of the Super Challenge, and last round’s winners are waiting for their prompt. It’s the last day of this week’s grids, and those winners wanna know, too. In the meantime, all I’ve won is three sets of deadlines. And a new kitchen island. I am sooooo close to having my kitchen back. Five cabinet legs, a countertop, and a sink close, in fact. I even found time to write something for the grids (and I’m two votes closer to the top of the charts than I was last week! hey, if I can’t laugh at myself…).
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 #435 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
Stories don’t always have to spring entirely from your imagination. Sometimes retelling an existing story can breathe new life into it. This take on the myth of Persephone, with its recurring themes of death and rebirth, brings the mythical characters and events into stark relief through the subtlety of her descriptions of them. By placing the gods in familiar situations and performing ordinary, everyday tasks (kneading bread, patting a {three-headed} dog, sweeping leaves), we can see ourselves in these characters, experience the story as if we’re walking beside Persephone. Through careful crafting, the story utilises subtext – the spaces around what’s actually written, the emotions conveyed because readers bring our own experiences to bear when engaging with the text – to show us Persephone’s determination and strength, Demeter’s worry for and confidence in Persephone, Pluto’s conflicting behaviours of trapping Persephone, while also wanting to make Hades neat and presentable for her. We see Pluto’s abusive nature in the way he rapidly shifts from performing a task to please Persephone, to demanding threateningly that she keep her agreement. Finally, we are shown Persephone’s reclamation of her power (her rebirth) through the way she claims her status as queen of the underworld, and the way she holds Pluto’s gaze, and we are invited to imagine a better future for Persephone.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #435
OK, I’m onto y’all. You’re scared of me. That’s why you’re hiding.
Kidding; it’s the end of summer and the last week of a Super Challenge and TBH I’m tired too. But I’m taking advantage of these thin grids to give big advice (and looking forward to being back in the coffeehouse in a week or two).
So let’s talk about one of my favorite things: the little quiet moments in essays. See, when people sit down to write memoir, or essays, or even to blog, sometimes they feel like they have to reach for the dramatic. And the dramatic can deliver a huge essay! It can! But just like in life, constant drama will wear your essays (and your willingness to write them) out. Some of the best essays I’ve read in the past five years have featured: sitting down in the morning; watching someone sleep; walking through an empty room; and making ordinary food. Don’t forget your so-what, but don’t forget that you’re thinking, breathing and feeling even when you’re not jumping out of a plane or getting in a train wreck. Use your quiet moments for contrast and for the kind of reflective essay that will stick with a reader longer than your action movie ones.
There’s a Paul Simon song that asks “why deny the obvious child?” (Hopefully this link works for you; it may not because of international copyright law, but that’s why we have search engines. Sigh.) It’s not terrible advice for writing, either. That is, when a prompt takes you someplace “obvious” you have two choices: come up with something totally different, or write the obvious thing well. As you’ll notice on this week’s grid, quite a few writers found a fantastic story in that “obvious” zone- and they were all different and distinctive. So don’t worry about making your story unlike anyone else’s (it will be, because you’re writing it and not them) – worry about making it good. Get that last round of beta reading and proofreading in, smooth it out, breathe life into fully developed characters with individual motivations. You’ll stand out just fine.
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 #435
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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