Just lucky, I guess
Look, I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve got a job that people need me to do, and I can do it from the comfort and safety of home. On the other hand, there are times I resent still having a job. The flooring for my bedroom sits waiting for me to have time to install it. The yard is getting overgrown. The dog would love to go for a walk. I keep thinking if I were just a morning person I could get to all of this quite easily. Instead, without my usual routine of going to the gym before I’m awake enough to figure out what’s happening to me, I’m dragging myself out of bed well after the dogs (and the humans) need to be fed. In my defense, the cat is only cute from 6am-9am, and she’s picked me as the person to lie on. What can I say? Just lucky.
A combination of luck and skill will get you to the top of the popular vote, but luck isn’t everything. 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!
But we don’t limit kudos to posts: our commentariat commendation goes to a writer who has gone above and beyond to offer help and community to authors with work on the grids. 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 find 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 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!
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #471
The flip side of don’t worry about what you’re writing because you won’t write it like anyone else is: make a commitment to write the essay only you can write. The more your subject matter approaches everyone else’s, the more important it is that your unique experiences and voice are highlighted. Conversely, when you’re writing about a unique experience (climbing a flagpole, maybe, or spelunking?) the way you draw readers in is to keep throwing in commonalities between that experience and something they know. But when you’re writing about an experience you have in common with a lot of people, the human urge to “connect” means that they’re going to start overwriting your experiences and emotions with theirs unless you make that effort to highlight the parts of your experience that aren’t shared. They’ll bring the common parts with them on their own.
Anybody else seeing that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs image everywhere? Yeah. It’s hard to be creative when your basic needs for safety and security don’t feel like they’re being met. On the other hand, it’s times when your basic needs aren’t being met that you most crave escape. For me, that’s been escape into fiction a few times a week. Not writing it; reading it. Because we don’t just write for ourselves; if so, why bother to record it at all? We could think about the story and be done. But giving someone a story to escape into can be a piece of support as important as sewing a mask or paying a bill. If you’ve got the spare energy, think about it.
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 Michelle’s comments on our nonfiction grid.
Usually we’d pick out just one comment, but Michelle did a great job across the board (but especially in the two posts linked) of picking out the really subtle things that worked well in the essays she was discussing. Noticing when “but” shifted to “and” and picking out two examples of how the keyword was used in contrasting ways? Fantastic. A comment like this makes writers feel seen, but it also provides guidance for folks reading along who might be thinking “I liked this, but why is it so good and how do I use it as an example?” She did the same thing pointing out how the very specific emotional and sensual imagery combined with a lack of detail in Run Through The Jungle to make the post more relatable rather than isolating the reader.
Grab that badge from the sidebar and wear it with pride!
Find the comment on:
Our second commentariat commendation this week goes to Katie, who went above and beyond to offer a clean analysis of Algebra. She picked out the differences between the poem’s narrative structure and the source material, found lines that were working well and ones that needed some adjustment, and offered constructive solutions. She also picked out some of the subtler things that were working in the poem, beyond images and into the structure of the work, which doesn’t just demonstrate a careful reader but points out things folks reading along can start noticing and using as well.
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 #471
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.
