Mine?
Who’s an old school (see what I did there) Yeah Writer, from back in the days of the cute typewriter badge and the birds? Remember Kevin the Kiwi, who used to deliver our editor’s pick? But most importantly… do you remember COMMENT BOB?
Comment Bob was a penguin, loaned to us by the absolutely delightful (I’ve met her, neener neener) Mary Laura Philpott. Bob was a friendly little bird, and always was excited to see commenters making the rounds. He’d go home with someone who had commented on every single post meaningfully.
Comment Bob also involved a complicated spreadsheet and hours and hours of editorial time, and eventually he–and we–just plain wore out. But that wasn’t fair to our community, and we’ve been plotting and scheming and trying to figure out ways to bring him back. What we settled on instead was the commentariat commendation. It’s our ninth birthday present to YOU, because every week you give your time and effort to each other and make this community great in ways that we as a handful of editors can’t possibly duplicate on our own.
Our commentariat commendation goes to a writer who has gone above and beyond to offer help and community to someone with work on the grids. You don’t need to post to the grids to earn it, but you do need to read and comment. We’re looking for comments that go beyond “I liked this” to “this is how you can make your work the best version of itself” by pointing out issues kindly and giving praise where it’s warranted. You can check out our Critic’s Guide for examples of what we mean, but we don’t limit the commentariat commendation to posts with the concrit badge on. There are definitely still ways to help and support authors who don’t feel confident asking for robust criticism, and we trust our community to find them. On weeks when we see a comment to commend, we’ll let you know in the Roundup section.
The commendation doesn’t have a specific editor’s name attached to it like the picks do, because we agree as a team on which comments are the most helpful and kind. As you’ll see, kindness doesn’t necessarily mean delivering undeserved praise: it means giving credit where credit is due, and making suggestions for places that need improvement, or where the author isn’t showing up as the best version of themself. And like the staff picks, we have an unlimited number of commendations to hand out.
See, while there’s a popular vote winner every week, we don’t always give out a staff pick or commendation. 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.
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 #468 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
So, there’s a reason bredlik wasn’t our actual April slam, and it’s because it’s actually a very hard form to do well. Even a lot of the bredliks that get wide internet acclaim don’t scan and aren’t clever. So when we decided it would be a fun April 1 prank to launch that as our “slam” we figured a lot of folks would throw together some indifferent but fun poetry and that would be that.
Instead we got a poem so good that three editors fought it out for the staff pick. But I called dibs, and dibs are sacred, and that means I get to explain how Katie nailed the form and subject matter that it takes to write a great bredlik. First of all, the cat poem scans perfectly and the rhymes fit smoothly together without feeling strained or trite. Second, the words she chose to misspell are ones that the reader doesn’t stumble over, and the misspellings themselves are easy to read. But third, her malicious Catte (that’s the only spelling I’d change) is delightfully, well, catty, from describing the car as “your boxe” and being possessive of the lawn, to reminding the “human spawn” that they’re not in charge. And the last line, while technically unrelated to a cat on a car, is so perfectly cat that it puts a neat bow on a brief, smooth, rollicking read.
But she wasn’t satisfied with one bredlik: Katie gave us a second one that’s just as charming and well-written, with a sweet chirpy excited voice that is completely distinct from the contemptuous cat bredlik. Re-read the paired poems and listen for the different ways of expressing things even though both poems are super short and in the same format. Word choice matters!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #468
Ah, writing in the age of COVID-19. (But first, a plea for no more Love in the Time of Cholera jokes or puns, they’re not all that clever and now they’re not new either.) How do you write about something that’s so consuming that you can’t think of anything else, but so pervasive that an essay about it seems like one more exhausting thing about the frickin coronavirus? Folks, go back and read this essay. Because it nails that balance. Consider reading more about the braided essay format, and thinking what parts of that form you might be able to incorporate into your own writing. This is just a lovely job of writing about something that isn’t obviously pandemical but which uses the world in which we find ourselves as a backdrop and contrast without which the tenderness at the essay’s center couldn’t exist. (Side note two: this would also be a fantastic example of using “pandemic” as a prompt – the pandemic is integral to the plot but not the entire plot.)
What I learned this week was that I am very ready for April’s prompts. Kidding! No, I’m not. Come behind the scenes with me, and let’s talk internal rhyme. Which was probably the meanest thing I could possibly have picked for the slam. Not because it’s hard for writers, but because when it’s done well it’s invisible. So I set the editors and you up for, in the middle of a major national crisis, having to read poetry word by word for form and not for the beauty in it. I, er, fixed that for the upcoming slam, and I hope you’ll join us on the grid.
Find the comment on:
Mousse au ChocolatOur commentariat commendation goes to a writer who has gone above and beyond to offer help and community to someone with work on the grids. This week, we loved a comment by unfoldingfromthefog on Melony’s Mousse au Chocolat.
The comment started out positive, just the way criticism should. It built an immediate personal connection between writer and reader. It went on to point out something that the essay did well while still incorporating the world’s gentlest typo/misspelling correction (did y’all catch that?). Then it pointed out something that the essay struggled with, bore the burden of the misunderstanding, and suggested a simple, clear fix that would have resolved most of the transition issues that other commenters were struggling with as well. We can’t imagine a more constructive, useful critique to receive.
Grab that badge from the sidebar and wear it with pride!
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 #468
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.
