Baby, it’s cold id by dose
I’m pretty sure my head has been filled with glue. Snot glue. Look, this is where my writing’s at this week, take it or leave it. I’m in the middle of trying to figure out a complicated interaction in the novel, involving military personnel of two separate branches who are supposed to have actual, established banter, and all I can think about is where has the hot cider gone and why am I too old to have someone tuck me into bed and bring me soup? (Kidding, you’re never too old for that.) Anyway, pass the tissues and the cold medicine, and let’s see who won the popular vote!
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 #443 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
Ok. Here’s the deal. The point of adopting other people’s voices/characters/writing styles is to help define and develop our own. Like, “wow I’m having trouble mimicking this character’s speech pattern, why is that?” “Oh, it’s because my style is more grammatically strict.” Those are the kinds of epiphanies we can have when we use other’s work as inspiration. Tara did a great job of plopping someone else’s character into a setting and amongst characters that are more true to her style. With Aggie and Joey, she could employ that quick and witty dialogue her stories favor, but she still remain true to Mags’s newly-adopted bold personality.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #443
Sometimes it feels like people think that nonfiction has to be dry. It has to be outlined, follow a logical order, and it can’t be fun unless it’s written to be funny. This week’s grid proves them wrong. It’s fine to play with words – yours or someone else’s – I almost linked that tweet and Katie’s essay but I’m not linking that tweet – in nonfiction. It’s ok to throw a bunch of ideas in a pot, shake them up, and pull them out one at a time. Just make sure you don’t forget your so what while you’re having fun, and you’ll be good to go!
Have you ever listened to a nine year old tell you about their day? I went to the bus and then i got on the bus and i sat on the bus and the song played and josie was there and anand was at the stop and we had milk in school and lunch was hot dogs and i like hot dogs and i had mustard but the mustard got on my shirt and then there was math time and
There’s a reason nine year olds don’t usually write bestsellers, even if they’ve got incredible imaginations and a wordcount that would make Dickens jealous. It’s because they aren’t telling stories; they’re listing events in order without much thought to plot or character development. That’s what we mean when we say “something needs to happen” in a story: there needs to be an obstacle to overcome, a reason to care if it’s overcome, a learning experience, or the character changing somehow between the beginning and end. That’s the real difference between a story and a character sketch, right? It’s more than a list of events with a character in it.
Tell me a story 🙂
Soooooooo. One of the things I love, and you love, and we all (ok not that guy, but the rest of us) love about YeahWrite is the feedback. So I’m trying a new thing, starting this month, and I’d love to know how you feel about that. As we change over prompts, I’m going to talk really briefly in a prompt-specific way about how that’s going, and what we’re looking for during the rest of the month (and we might tweak the prompt a little, too, if it’s clear that we were, er, unclear). Sound good? Here we go:
In October, we’re leaving character sketches behind…mostly. That means we’re hoping for plot-centric stories, featuring those rich, developed characters. But that also means that you’re going to need to put some thought into the other characters in the story, so that your work doesn’t look like one human walking around among a bunch of cardboard cutouts. And you can’t just plunk the character down in the setting and write another character sketch: something should happen there. So as you move through October’s prompts, keep that in mind, ok?
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 #443
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 ...
Oh! Thank you for the shout out Nate! Don’t know what to say. I was so worried I didn’t do Mags right. 🙂