Glitter Season
Sure, everyone has a favorite season. Pumpkin Spice season (hint: it’s not spiced pumpkin)? Beach season? Me, I like Glitter Season. It starts at Halloween (or Diwali in years when Diwali comes first) and ends right around the Lunar New Year. In the Northern Hemisphere, I get my darkest days AND my sparkliest nights. And then I spend the rest of the year trying to get the FREAKING glitter out of the FREAKING carpets.
Oh look: a writing metaphor.
Glitter is a bit like my favorite phrases in writing. I love them while they’re happening, but maybe I need to clean them up a bit more thoroughly than I have been, if my performance on the grids this week is any indication. Still, there’s more than one way to the top of the popular vote, and some of those darlings might be recyclable later.
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 trends we see each week. 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 all three grids. If you earned the highest number of votes in any challenge, you are this week’s Crowd Favorite! If you came in first, second or third, you get “Top Three” honors. Grab your badge from our sidebar!
Looking for your badge? All our 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!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #451
I, personally, love that we’re getting more poetry on the nonfiction grid. You know why? Even though it’s hard sometimes to compare poetry and essays, they’re not that different. A poem can be the so-what of an essay; an essay is a way of fleshing out and sharing precisely the kind of intimate moments a poem alludes to. Take the sensibilities you learn by reading and writing poetry into your essays, and vice versa.
December’s free-for-all has brought all the poets back to the grid. See anyone missing? Go bug them to join us 🙂
On a more serious note, let’s chat about editing poetry, ok? When you sit down to write a poem, you have an image or feeling or message that you want to convey. Don’t get so bogged down in writing pretty words that you lose that central theme. As you read back through your poem, ask yourself if each line is leading away from or toward that theme, and if it’s leading away, how long does it take the poem to come “home” to its idea? Maybe some of these bright images need to escape and be their own poems. After all… December is long enough to get them all on paper.
When we shifted our micro format to a variable wordcount, I was surprised by how much I struggled. I’d gotten used to writing 42 words, and 50 or even 60 felt like so many words I didn’t know how to fill them. 40 was terrifying, even though it’s only two words fewer. Even with a micro, it’s nice to settle into a groove, and get the hang of landing in a wordcount. You’ll get the chance next year, as we move into our new format. A little more room to write, a little more time to proof and get a beta reader on it. And then three whole days to comment on what’s often our fullest grid. Are you as excited as I am?
That’s it for this week! Remember, we don’t always give out a pick on every 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 challenge grids will be kicking off right here at midnight!
Congratulations to the Crowd Favorites at YeahWrite #451
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
Loading InLinkz ...Fiction|Poetry
Loading InLinkz ... 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.
