But what if I don’t die?
It is going to come as exactly zero surprise to anyone who knows me that I went through a fairly serious goth phase. And by “phase” I mean I’ve added two colors to my closet since then and I wear blue jeans now instead of only black ones. Anyway. So there was this period of time in my twenties when–thanks to a small helping of depression and a large helping of abusive relationship–I was pretty sure I was going to die soon and I was very very okay with that. My stuff was more or less in order, the embarrassing things were, well, not going to bother me because I was going to be dead and it’s hard to embarrass the dead (The Night Pat Murphy Died notwithstanding), and I started taking risks. Stupid risks.
And when my friends called me out on the ridiculousness of what I was doing, I would point out that hey the world is doomed, the climate is changing, and we’re all going to die sometime. (Still true, y’all.) It was a pretty great argument until one friend fired back “Yeah but what if you survive this? You still gonna be ok with what you’re doing now and who you’re doing it to?”
Anyway, that was a long and rambly anecdote leading up to my best advice to you in times of crisis: act like you’re gonna survive and have to pick up the pieces afterward. It’s not as glamorous but unless you’re actually Mumtaz Mahal you probably weren’t born to be that glamorous anyway. Live like you don’t mind living. Lend a hand, and assume you’re gonna be around to be embarrassed later.
Besides, you might get an essay out of it. Plunk that essay down here and it might with the popular vote, or one of our editorial staff picks. Picks are based on writing quality, how successful the author is in conveying information, and just plain style. 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- and we’d love to, so keep that great work coming!
On weeks when we don’t award a staff pick, keep an extra close eye on the Roundup. That’s our rundown of trends we see from week to 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 Roundup, 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 first, 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!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #466
You know how I often say “just write the thing you’re interested in writing, nobody else is going to say it like you anyway so foocus more on your individual voice than on the uniqueness of your topic?” Yeah, this week’s nonfiction grid is a good example of that. So instead of a writing thought, I’m going to leave you with an editing one: if you had to edit one of these essays, what would you do to make sure that it ends up sounding like the original author rather than like you?
Hey, friends. My fiction doesn’t feel like much of an escape these days either. And I’m too exhausted to worldbuild. But there are still things we can do when we’re this tired: we can revisit old stories in new ways, or work collaboratively. Why not see if the energy from an old story or new friend can carry you forward?
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 #466
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 ...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.
