That breathless moment
The stage is set. The theater is full. The curtain is still drawn and the lights haven’t–quite–dimmed. Are you ready for what’s coming? Find out tonight in the kickoff for YeahWrite’s 500th week.
To kill time while you’re waiting for that (or for the results from Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania) scroll on down to see who won this week’s popular vote! 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 #499
One of my favorite ways to connect an essay with a reader is to make parallels between the known and unknown. Between summer camp and a work retreat; between riding a bike and a motorcycle, and so on. But there’s a trap in these parallels – you have to make sure that the two things really are like each other in the aspects you want to talk about. So summer camp and a work retreat are both places where you’re isolated from everyday life with some people you may or may not know. But one you pay for and the other one pays you to be there. A bike and a motorcycle are both two-wheeled vehicles that you’re pretty excited to get your first one of and should wear a helmet while riding. But one goes fast and is loud and the other… not so much. So if your work retreat essay is about making new friends, then great; but if it’s about your relative affluence or lack thereof, summer camp might not be a great parallel for you.
Sometimes, when you’re faced with a prompt you have the greatest idea. Only to realize that something about the prompt would make it (or the idea) wildly anachronistic. Suddenly you have two problems to solve: do you write a new story, or try to get around the anachronism? Both are valid choices, as long as you spot your problem early enough in the writing process!
Find the comment on:
The nonfiction grid. Yes, all of it.
This week, we loved Melony’s comments on nonfiction. This week, she showed us that comments don’t have to be long to be thorough – with a couple quick sentences she highlighted the good and gently pointed out unclear or missing portions of each essay. Critical reading is a great skill to have, but so is this conversational way of explaining where you went wrong. Folks, if Melony ever offers to beta for you… take her up on it. 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 #499
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.
Congrats on reaching 500. I’m looking forward to seeing what your celebratory post has to offer. 🍾🍾 Maybe I’ll actually produce some fiction… 😉