Draggin.
Ok, clearly I can’t resist a Dad Joke when one presents itself. But between the long days (did you know that there are only 3 hours and 18 minutes of night where I live right now? i hate summer so much. i hate it so much) and the constant fireworks (thanks for looking out for pets and vets, america) and this… mysterious stress from some unknown source, idk, maybe it’s the pandemic, maybe it’s the police brutality, maybe it’s live, maybe it’s memorex, maybe you’re old if you know that one too… I’m a little tired right now? Not so tired that I didn’t get on the grids, though. Don’t read my stuff, I have no idea if it even made sense, but do take a second to stop by the other posts if you haven’t yet; they’re worth at least a skim.
Besides the popular vote, we also have the option of handing out an editorial staff pick to any post on our grids. 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!
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 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 #481
“That’s not what I was aiming for.” We don’t always write what we planned to when we sat down. An essay about Dad turns into one about activism. An essay about a car turns into one about being taken advantage of by your friends. An essay about… you get the point. The point IS, the point in your writing may not be what you thought you were pointed at when the point of your pencil hit the paper. And it simultaneously kinda sucks (because we all want to write what we sat down to do, isn’t that the point of writing?) and is awesome (because now you have a whole essay, just not the one you planned to have). You can spend hours trying to shove that essay into the shape you thought it was, or you can embrace the essay it is and can become. If you really feel like you missed the mark on your essay, get it read by someone who doesn’t know you, and ask them what they think it’s about. Because–surprise–it might actually be about that. Polish up THAT essay. It may not be the one you were aiming for, but it’s the one you hit. You can always write the other one later.
Stre-e-e-e-etch. It’s not just good advice for folks under quarantine and suddenly not walking everywhere, it’s great for your brain. I’m going to pick on Melony here for a second, because she wrote something way out of her comfort zone this week that’s a perfect example of this principle. By delving into poetry, she got a separate lesson and reinforcement on some stuff she’s been working on in her nonfiction. And she got to play with words along the way, which I suspect is going to have an effect on her sentence structure somewhere along the line. It’s fun to play with a style that’s pretty much all darlings and less connective tissue. It gives you practice writing in a way that you might never stumble over doing the same style of writing again and again. I’m going to quit writing this before I say “style” or “way” again, but if you haven’t stretched yourself lately, give it some thought, ok?
That’s it for this week! 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! If you’re more the self-help type, remember to scroll through our writing help section for tips and tricks. Even if a post isn’t directed at your favorite grid, there’s probably a handy hint for you in there anyway! 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 #481
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.
