A breath of fresh air
I stepped out for a breath of fresh air today. It was hard not to: it’s a gorgeous day out there. It’s a little hard breathing through the mask, but hey, I’m outside. And while no, a non-N95 mask doesn’t filter out all of the particles in the air, it’s not just about me: if I’m putting less particles into the world, that means there’s less lying around for other people to even have to worry about filtering. Plus normalizing mask wear helps reduce stigma for people who need them or feel more comfortable with them, and reduces the odds of anti-Asian racist attacks. So I’m doing my part in more ways than one, really, and honestly? Maybe it’s the weird 90’s goth in me but I actually think they’re pretty cute.
Outside is wonderful, but there’s more ways to get a breath of fresh air right now than the literal. Don’t forget to metaphorically freshen up by stepping away from the computer, letting the kids have some screen time if that’s what needs to happen for you to take a bath, changing what room you’re in, or even just changing what you’re reading or writing. Inundating yourself with media all day is a coping mechanism, but it’s not a super healthy one: you can intake the valuable stuff without 24/7 saturation, I promise, and give your brain time to wind down enough to read or write a poem.
In the meantime, here’s something to read: our popular vote winners! 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!
We also have our brand-new commentariat commendation, which 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. Like the staff pick, we don’t always give out a commendation, but on weeks when we see a comment to commend, we’ll let you know in the Roundup section.
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 #469
I just want to shout out all three of our grid authors this week, who handled the way the coronavirus has woven itself into daily life in three wildly different but all successful ways. Notice how saying or not saying or where you put the word in your story, poem, or essay can feel direct or indirect? Who leads the reader to the conclusion? Who lets them find it on their own? Who confronts the elephant in the room directly? There isn’t a right way to write about where you were when the world changed.
Expository text! You need it! Readers hate it! Okay, maybe both of those sentiments are a little strong. But give some thought to how you worldbuild. Do you like to front-load your story with all the facts? Or do you let them tricke in through the details of the world? If you do it the second way, does it make sense? It’s always weird to me to have one character ask another about their own actions, or explain something to someone who lives in the same house as them and could be expected to know.
Two thoughts this week.
First, my perennial reminder to have someone else read your story and tell you what they think it’s about. When you’re editing down to just a few words, you can edit your entire story out by accident. Make sure your readers can find the story you’re trying to tell.
Second – and this is not a call-out of anyone this week, but I did see a post that reminded me I’ve been meaning to talk about it – if you have 48 words how many of them do you want to spend on sound effects and how many on story? I’ve seen “creak creak creak creak went the stairs” too many times to count, and that’s seven words to say what you can say in three with “the stairs creaked.” Leave yourself some words.
Find the comment on:
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. This week, we loved a comment by Jen on Melony’s The Distance.
We loved this comment because it’s a fantastic example of delivering concrit on a post that doesn’t have our concrit badge. Jen steered away from robust critique like picking out typos or adjusting phrasing, but still led with a positive comment, pointed out some things that Melony did really well in the essay both emotionally and as a writer, and wrapped up with a suggestion for how to make it even better with a little foreshadowing to bookend and develop the essay’s theme.
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 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 #469
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 ...Microprose 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.
