Lost thyme
That’s not even a pun. A couple weeks ago, in a fit of gardening, I planted thyme in my front yard. And promptly forgot about it, because all the food plants and the herb garden are out back. So I’ve been diligently watering the crookneck squash, the carrots, the lettuce and the chili peppers and the eggplant and the volunteer broccoli that came back after the Zombie Broccoli of 2017 finally died. We thought. But not the thyme.
Yesterday I remembered I probably had dead thyme in the front yard and ran outside in a fit of remorse, only to find that it’s doing just fine. I guess the moral of the story should be that writing’s like that, too: you can forget about it for a while and then when you remember, you can go back and pick it up. It might not be quite what you remember, but it’ll be there. In fact, I should probably go write something that isn’t an intro and give you a break, right?
In the meantime, it’s Friday so here’s the popular vote results. 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 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!
And for our ninth birthday we added a little something new. 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.
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 #482 Weekly Writing Challenge Staff Picks:
Fiction|Poetry
What I admire most about this piece is how Jenny quietly and succinctly builds a world in which a mythical moving statue consoles and counsels the human race. With mist and bird feathers and canyons of lost souls, readers get the sense that the statue has been available to people for centuries and will be for centuries more. Its voice throughout the tale supports the idea that everything is going to be all right.
Rowan’s Roundup: YeahWrite Weekly Writing Challenge #482
As we sneak up on Week 500 (not for a couple months, but everything in 2020 seems both remote and immediate so whatever) I’m reminded how YeahWrite’s original wordcount maximum was 500. You can turn out some amazing, compact essays in 500 words. And in 1,000, which is a zone that most of us are familiar with through submission guidelines or competitions. But 750 is tricky. 750 asks “why shouldn’t I pack those extra words of explanation in” or whispers “you have room for one more feeling.” But it’s not 1,000, either, and 750 will bite your essay in the butt while it chews off those extra 250 words you needed to really develop that extra thought. When you find yourself veering into dryness or navel-gazing, give that 750-word limit a glare and ask it if it’s tempting you to cram too much into the wrong amount of space. Then edit something out, and use your 250 words of wiggle room to really develop the thoughts you have, rather than trying to put more in.
When we’re building worlds, figuring out civilizations and families and maybe some science and naming a few planets and… we often forget to build something that’s integral to our own world: its mythologies. What do your characters believe in? What half-heard stories of their youth do they remember? What little superstitious gestures do they make, and what do those gestures look like and mean? Everyone on this week’s grid built a mythology for their characters, and the result was worlds that felt more thoroughly developed than usual – even worlds seen only through a glimpse of dialogue and a statue’s half-hidden eyes.
It was fascinating—but not entirely unexpected—to see so many fairytale-esqe stories on the grid. This prompt practically begged for it, after all. But the really interesting thing is how different all those stories are. Take, for example, the two very different Snow White-inspired stories (Margaret and Rowan). Or look at Sanch’s story, which reads like a fairytale but is also grounded in contemporary reality. Yeshasvi ran with the popular “seven sons” trope, putting their fates in the hands of a trickster grandmother, whereas Christine flipped her story on its head by letting the “dutiful daughter” escape hers. And while both Jen and Northie wrote stories that are firmly planted in the here and now, they each contain a typical element of Western fairytales: the happy ending. Every writer this month leaned into the prompt instead of fighting it, and the results were as good as it gets! (Did anyone count the entries, by the way? Seven!)
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 #482
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.
