Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
I’m not sure I’ve ever said that without sarcasm before? But it’s true. Getting good writing into your eye holes takes more than just an idea and a computer. It takes a team. Whether you’re headed into the world of traditional publishing, pitching a magazine, self-publishing, or even just writing a story for your own site, you can’t (well, you shouldn’t) do it alone. Besides the writer, a good piece of writing usually has beta readers, at least one editor, a proofreader (yes, that’s different), and a designer. You can combine some of these hats, but not all of them — as more than one author has found out to their detriment.
Producing a polished piece of prose doesn’t happen in isolation, and we tend to forget that because there’s this image of a writer tucked into an attic room, hammering away at a typewriter. And sure, that’s how the first step happens. But by the time you’re taking a gorgeous edition of your (yes, your! what a feeling!) book off the bookstore shelf, it’s also been in design workshops, red-penned within an inch of its life, and criticized by people who care more about your writing than they do about your ego. And that’s a good thing. If your writing isn’t passing through at least one other set of eyes before you’re putting it into the world, you’re missing out on a lot of chances. Your beta (at a minimum) will see things you never noticed, and can tell you what’s missing. Give it a shot!
That’s one of the things I like best about YeahWrite, you know. The chance to look at all that writing and see how it could be better, and see the ways that we can make it better together. Because there are a lot of clickfest contests out there, but it’s not all about the popular vote at YeahWrite, folks (although gosh darn it, it feels great to win that, doesn’t it?). 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 #441 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
Boatwriting delivered an excellent character sketch to this week’s grid. By the end, the reader has a clear sense of Dr. Ronda Karion. The crow references that rounded out her character were clear yet subtle enough to not stick out like a cactus in a cornfield. Discovering Ronda’s proclivity and enjoying her spoils with her was riveting for me, and then the author introduced Dr. Rook, who turned out to be even MORE fascinating. I can easily see Ronda starring in a short story or novel, either by filling in the holes of this sketch or leaving this as Ronda’s backstory for a completely new tale, and it’s a tale I want to read!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #441
The first time I was invited to family dinner with my sister’s new family (they came as a unit! plug and play humans!) I wasn’t sure what to expect. I hadn’t really eaten with kids since my protoniece was small, and her family hadn’t done “dinner table dinner” anyway. But I learned a tradition that night which actually applies really well to writing: as we were eating, we went around the table and each person said one good thing that had happened to them that day, and one thing they’d learned. Your personal essay may not be about a good thing, always, but if a reader can’t come away from a story with a clear memory of at least one thing that happened (which means not listing so many things that they run together, or picking one out and adding some detail for an example image before going into the list) and one thing you learned (this is kind of the plot of personal essay, tbh: the growth curve), then you should consider keeping it back for one more round of edits, to focus it into the essay that it really could be. [Ed’s note: look, this is always awkward when I have a piece on the grid because it looks like I’m saying neener neener you didn’t do this well. I assure you that a) I didn’t do it well; and b) it’s not about this week’s grid, it’s about a larger pattern over the last few months that we could all benefit from a refresher on. /rbg]
So, yesterday I was reading the intro to a book, and I realized that the foreword writer had used the same short phrase twice. Which, you know, ordinarily no big deal, but it was twice in the same sentence.
This is how you can edit mistakes into your writing. Which is the opposite of what editing is for, but there you have it. Keep an eye out for your favorite phrases, or turns of phrase (my characters grin and shrug a lot). Sometimes when you edit, you edit out all the space between those phrases, which makes it look like you’ve overused the phrase even though it was nicely spaced out when you originally drafted the story.
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 #441
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 Challenge
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.
