Dona Nobis Pacem
It took a long time to write this post. Not because 2020 is still out there 2020’ing, although you’re forgiven if you thought that because it is a totally reasonable thing to think, but because I started picking out a header image and got absolutely lost in all the gorgeous pictures of forests. I was supposed to be in a forest right now, in fact, section-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail as part of a multi-year project (because I have a day job and this job and I can’t vanish for months to do the PCT and anyway I’m not in shape for that). But 2020 is 2020, and supply chains have been cut, roads and parks periodically closed, and I can’t guarantee food drops or pickups will be there when I need them so… I planted some more crap in my backyard and I’m calling it a forest, I guess. And I’m one of the lucky ones: I have a backyard to plant crap in, and berries growing, and dogs and cats and food and water and… y’all. I don’t mean to be sappy, but in this time of not-getting-out-much, the online communities we’ve built are especially precious. It means a lot to see the grids fill up every week, folks saying “yes, I’m still here, I’ll stick around, I’ll write, and comment, and vote.” Now that I’ve completely grossed myself out, let’s scroll down and get the result of this week’s vote, and pretend this whole paragraph never happened, ok?
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? 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 #486
I was reading through the grid this week thinking “didn’t I mention something about the thing these pieces have in common once? Why doesn’t anyone remember it?” And the answer is, because I wrote it in 2015. To save you having to read back through literally five years of posts, here’s an oldie but a goodie, in its entirety:
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”It’s a fine essay, but you buried the lede,” I told my mentee earlier this week.
What does that mean, buried the lede? It means the heart of your story or essay is so far removed from the places a reader looks for meaning that it may be missed entirely. While you don’t want to begin your essay “How I spent my summer vacation was like this…” neither do you want to wait for somewhere on page five to mention that all of the events you describe took place in the summer. How do you balance these two directives?
The easiest way to keep a story or essay fresh and avoid burying the lede is to make sure your first few paragraphs have only essential details. They don’t have to contain your thesis sentence or your plot twist, but readers should need to carry the information they get from these paragraphs with them throughout the rest of your post. Think about including main character names, the object that’s at the heart of your story, or the feeling you’re trying to convey. Microstory writers, you only have 42 [48 now] words, so you know how to make every one count. Bring that sensibility to your first few paragraphs in a longer piece and see what happens!
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Five years later, I want to add: the lede can also come later in the piece, but don’t shove it in the middle of a swampy section full of diversions and extra words and ideas. And if you aren’t at least aiming at that lede in the first few paragraphs, it’s time to go back in and cut cut cut until you are.
When I start writing a story, I know a lot about the world, the characters, and what’s going to happen. And sometimes I get so excited about the first two things that I forget to make room for the third, which is what the reader is there for. I mean, sure, don’t skip worldbuilding or character development, but also don’t fall in love with the sound of your own words to the point where you end up summarizing your plot instead of having room to let it happen naturally within the confines of the word count. Pacing is important! Too many asides, flashbacks, and character sketches and you’ve suddenly written the story right out of your story.
Back in the day, I entered a writing competition. I thought my entry was super clever. And it might have been, but it was so clever that I rendered the theme of the competition unfindable in my story, and it wasn’t ultimately chosen to move on. Sure, the River Styx ferryman is KIND of a janitor… of souls… if you squint hard enough… but that’s not what the prompt had asked for.
The stakes are a little lower on our weekly grid (although who doesn’t love a 200×200 pixel badge) but the principle is the same and it’s a great time to practice for higher-stakes competitions and anthology submissions. That’s a lot of words to say read the prompt. Not just the prompt itself, but the suggestions for how to work with it. That’s what your judges or editors will be looking for, so make sure it’s in there. If you’re in love with a line or idea that’s wonderful! Now grab your beta reader (you do have a beta reader, right?) and see if they can still easily locate the prompt, as described and in the ways that definition is refined with any supplemental text. If they can’t, you might have a great story that’s not a perfect fit for the thing you were writing it for. Which isn’t without value (hey, you wrote, which is better than me this week) but which probably isn’t going to win the competition or get published in that particular edition.
Find the comment on:
This week, we loved Melony’s comment on The Woman in the Straw Hat. Not only does Melony start by pointing out what she loved, she notes a recurring issue and offers a resource to explore the point more. I want to highlight, too, that while Melony and the author disagree about the resolution of the piece (and possibly its so-what) those comments are also helpful, because it shows you what your readers missed, or what they retained. Re-reading your own writing with “this is what the reader took away from it” can show where you might lean in (or out) a little to highlight what you wanted to say. (In this case, I think adding “through the window” in the earlier instance might help to cement the image the reader has in their mind and make sure it matches the author’s intent, letting the denouement paragraphs then overlay that image more exactly. If that’s what we’re talking about, which it might not be since there was more than one takeaway contained in this essay. Anyway.) Melony, grab that badge from the sidebar and wear it with pride!
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 #486
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
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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.
