Young Writers Society

No. I will not sugar coat critiques for anyone, regardless of age. Sure I may not use as much fowl language, but thats it. If they post it on here, its not a "LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!" site, its a "help me get better" site, which can only happen through merciless critiques.

When I was younger, I was always mad when people wouldn't tell me what to change because I knew my writing wasn't up to snuff. Do onto others as others would do onto you.

Well said, Snoink! ^^

Age doesn't make one stinking ounce of difference. Sure, at younger ages you're inexperienced, but the true stuff, the passion, it's still there. ^_^

Like Amelia said above, do unto others as others would do unto you.

And the stuff that I wrote when I was much much younger makes me cringe. Blimey, something I scratched six months ago makes me cringe. I could rewrite that so much better now. I owe it all to this site. [/random sappy moment] ^^

Down with sugar-coated crits!

ok, i agree with not sugarcoating stuff, but at the same time, we do have to understand that a thirteen-year-old's piece of writing ISN'T going to be as good, simply because they haven't gone through college composition yet. A lot of it's about experience.

Don't sugarcoat - but don't tell them its a hopeless story and they suck, either.

I'm with a few others on this. If I think it's rubbish, I don't critique simply to save myself the pain of rereading it to nitpick on their mistakes.

However, oh geez...I was a horrid writer when I was 13. I wrote...*hides* MARY SUE FANFICTION! Oh god the PAIN. I'm embarrassed to even admit it. Although, at the time I hadn't found fanfiction.net yet so I had no idea that my little crapfic was one in a bazillion.

Yet, if it wasn't into my various forays into fanfiction of different fandoms I wouldn't have improved. I still go into fanfiction time and again for fun when I don't feel like playing with my own creations. I'm thankful for my crap on ff.net.

If it weren't for it, I never would've gotten better! (Just don't ask me to read it o-o)

luna_the_shiekah wrote:I wrote...*hides* MARY SUE FANFICTION! Oh god the PAIN. I'm embarrassed to even admit it.... If it weren't for it, I never would've gotten better! (Just don't ask me to read it o-o)

Same here.

AmeliaOliver wrote:

luna_the_shiekah wrote:I wrote...*hides* MARY SUE FANFICTION! Oh god the PAIN. I'm embarrassed to even admit it.... If it weren't for it, I never would've gotten better! (Just don't ask me to read it o-o)

Same here.

:hides face:

The embarrassing thing for me is I started writing HP fanfic when I was 9......and I can't truthfully say my OC was a Mary-Sue, because 1] I deleted it out of embarrassment when I was 11 and 2] my memory sucks. I tried to counter her good parts with a larger scale of bad for realism.....but oh boy, did I suck. XD

Since I discovered anime in general (mainly the cute bad guys) I'd become a little more prone towards MS-ism, say, when I was eleven or twelve, but I've developed a no-tolerance policy towards MSs. (Any fanfic writers I've 'tiqued can tell you this ^_~ )

Well, that was a somewhat pointless ramble........

at least we know better now, right? 0_o

at least we know better now, right? 0_o

And we're better people for it

I'm twenty-five. I suck. Every so often I realize my writing style is changing, usually for the best. That's why I suck. I'm always improving. XD

When I was nine-ish, one of my stories was titled, "A Monster Glonster." I think the title speaks for itself.

Samara wrote:ok, i agree with not sugarcoating stuff, but at the same time, we do have to understand that a thirteen-year-old's piece of writing ISN'T going to be as good, simply because they haven't gone through college composition yet. A lot of it's about experience.

Much to the same point, I believe such experience is gained through critiques to the same standards for people of any age. Otherwise, how are younger people able to abtain such experience?

Now watch me contradict myself!
I don't think, however, that a five year old just learning how to write should have to worry about anything other than someone jumping rope and singing a song. So it is rather relative. For someone who has been writing longer, it seems reasonable to point out where things that go further than plot have lapsed, and for someone who hasn't been writing as long, to mention that maybe a more developed image pattern could tie everything together. For example, until I started high school, I didn't know there was anything to a story other than a basic plot, when really, that often just scratches the surface. Honestly, sometimes people just don't know.

I am 10 years old. Do I suck? Probably. Do I want harsh critiques? Yes.

So if any of you are reading something I have written and it is horribly revolting, please say,,,"Courtney, YOU SUCK!"

Thank you for your kindness. ^.~

I've written since, maybe, 11 years of age, but I never shared it, so i never got criticized about my writings. I'm glad I joined YWS recently, cause now I'm getting great tips to improve, and helping others improve.

I do believe, however, if you have nothing good to say about a piece of work, don't say it at all. woah, dejavu! my mother told me that, only she said it about how I speak to others. "If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all." that rule can apply here too.

I don't believe it a wonderful idea to put down someone's work. We should encourage others to keep writing, to keep improving. No one's perfect, not everyone thinks the same way. There are different levels of writing, different levels of maturity, different levels of everything! But, no matter what, we should all treat otheres the way they want to be treated.

I recently got dumped on a story, adn I almost considered just deleting it, when I thought to myself: that's just one person who doesn't like the story, when there are billions of other people in the world! If someone doesn't like your work, maybe someone else does.

K, that's my rant for the day. Forgive me! Keep writing!

Jabber, the One and Only!

I'm guessing you're refering to me, jabber, and your story Scientific Proof. Very wise, insight. I really hope I didn't offend you in any way. Well, actually, I probably did offend you whether I wanted to or not. A piece of writing that you've spent time on - hours, days, months on - is always a part of you. And when someone is harsh to it, they're being harsh to you. When they insult the story, they insult you. I understand. Feel free to rip on something of mine if you'd like. (as venting, of course)

Anyway. When reading an eleven-year-old's work - stranger or not - I never put he/she down. This is blossoming writer, for heavens sake! In order for he/she to progress they need to be encouraged! Think back to a time - say third or forth grade - when your writing sucked. Terribly. What did your teachers say to you about it? How about your parents? If they had any heart at all, they praised your crap like they would praise something written by God. And look where it's gotten you today. Children are maleable people! A single compliment (or a single harsh word) will determine whether or not they continue to write. As a child, I would have been heartbroken to learn someone thought what I wrote was two-dimensional, shallow, poorly described...These are kids! They are writing like kids! Every once in a while a kid will show a sort of genius for writing. But mainly we all started out the same way: a kid writing kid's stories. What we saw on TV, what we read about in storybooks.

My advice. Go easy on 'em. There are exceptions like JuSt_ImAgInE who doesn't want opinions candy coated. They want the truth. And more power to them. But they are going to have one heck of a hard time perservering through storms of "you sucks" from older more experienced writers.

-Kylan

Stop trying to apologize I just read the comment at a bad time. I was working on homework and had writer's block when i read it. I won't go yelling at you, 'cause that's not how i roll.

To me, age doesn't matter. It's your skill in writing. Here's a quote from my dad that you all may be familiar with:

"How do you get better at something?" my dear father asks me.

"Practice," I answer with no enthusiasm at all, as if I know this speech by heart.

Practice makes perfect. I don't give a care about age, cause everyone handles things differently. You can tell by how the person introduces their story or how they write their story if they can handle a harsh critique or just a simple "very nice, keep writing!"

Kylan's right in saying that, as a fourth grader, when you write a paper, it's never as good as if you write it as a junior in high school. That's because you practiced during those six, seven years in between. Never judge a writer by their age. I know plenty of people a few years younger than me who do a much better job than me. Of course, I don't plan a career in writing--it's just my happy place I escape to.

NOTE: didn't read all of the above posts

Well, I think your critique should be age appropriate.
Like when I started doing flips and stuff on the trampoline at 10. My brothers mocked me because I couldn't do a backflip. Now, 6 years later, I finally tried a backflip.
I have 5 younger siblings, all 14 and under. I know that if you are trying to help them become better, you encourage them, but tell them what they are doing wrong in a nice way (and don't dump all their misdoings on them at once).
I was 11 when I started writing. Mom praised me over and over so I kept going (though thanks to our rotten computer, which crashed thrice, I stopped till I was 13).

My yittle opinion...