Come through
And y’all did. I don’t know if it was the shoutout last week or just an upsurge of late January energy, but I love being able to give everyone every vote on the grids. And it’s just mathematically better, making your wins more meaningful. Or is that me? Am I the only one who does vote math? Anyway.
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 #459 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Nonfiction
It’s easy to think that essays must always be linear – A happens then B happens then C happens. But some of the most engaging essays don’t conform to this pattern. Especially in creative nonfiction, writers borrow techniques from fiction to good effect. In her essay, Hema gives us the thesis statement right up front in a simple, short sentence. From the very first sentence, we know what this essay is about, and we can bring our own experiences of negotiating for or against having pets to this situation. She introduces us to the hectic nature of daily life, and later in the essay, she demonstrates this by intruding her thought process with how late her daughter already is for the school bus. Hema shows (rather than tells) us, with humour, how dedicated her daughter is to this cause – training her baby brother like a dog, negotiating types of pets, appealing to an external authority (Daddy!), before giving us backstory on why she’s taken this stance. In a thoughtful weaving of lighter and more poignant moments, Hema shows us her own childhood and reflects on how she’ll introduce her daughter to that. Finally, she brings us sharply back into the now, and references her initial claim of having little time and energy for a pet, by showing us how the urgency of daily life repeatedly intrudes on our thoughts.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #459
Misdirection. Whether it’s an unreliable narrator or one who simply doesn’t know enough of the story until the end, it’s a way to build tension in nonfiction. But be careful when you’re working with misdirection: in combination with foreshadowing it can feel both heavy-handed and predictable. Both misdirection and foreshadowing are like salt: the right amount enhances the dish and too much makes it inedible.
It’s the last week in January so I’m a little late for this prompt set but I guarantee you it will come up again: if you’re given a definition in a prompt, read and internalize it. That’s what the judges (or editors, or voters) will be looking for. Not your own definition, not some cool idea you had. It’s one of the hard parts about juried prompted competitions. People are looking as much for how good you are at internalizing and evoking exactly the prompt given as they are for how good a writer you are intrinsically.
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 #459
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 ...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.
