Young Writers Society

So, you have this amazing book idea.

It starts burning a hole in your brain, the characters swirling around your head, these awe inspiring scenes providing the white rapids in which your characters fight to survive. Empires rise and fall at the keystrokes that ink the life and death of legends.

Sounds like something you deal with? Cool. Me too.

Now here is where the argument starts.

I am beginning to think that the current system we have is not the best for those wanting to post a novel, which includes several installments (Chapters, parts, scenes, what have you.)

Whilst rummaging through the Green Room (Go Kights!) I couldn't help but notice that the 'show old listings' is mostly chapters, or just bad poems. This rustled my jimmies.

This bothered me so much because I know that so many of these chapters hidden in the Green Room with no reviews are amazing installments to maybe the next Harry Potter or Hunger Games concept. Granted many of them are utter Bantha-Fodder, so many of them are full of living, breathing characters on the brink of wonder-inspiring quests that could change history.

This is the problem.

This site basically runs on reviewers. They are the glue that holds us as a community together. The constant feedback we get from our peers keeps us moving forward when we have no one around us that would normally want to hear us, let alone set aside time to read some of the crap that we come up with. The problem comes when a reviewer see's a listing titled: 'The Brave Adventure To A New World - Chapter 14 - Blakes Revenge' Now the reviewer, unless they have been reading through and have been keeping up with the story, will simply move on to the next listing. This is because they would be entering into the middle of a story. They really can't give worthwhile feedback because they haven't read the whole thing!

So what do we do?
I'm not sure yet. I just hate to see so many quit writing because their feedback dies out after the 4th chapter.

I see several ways of fixing the problem.
1. Add in a writers group feature or something like it.
-This would involve a few people creating a group with the goal of posting a certain amount of material in a certain time, then they all give feedback on each story. This creates a small community that will be up to date with your novel, and will be able to give worthwhile feedback.

2. Add in a feature that allows someone to post chapters under a 'series' listing, that then allows fans of the series the ability to 'subscribe' to the series, and thus they are notified when any new material in that series is released.

3. Get rid of it.
- I honestly think that on the current system, I would be better off trying to finish my novel in my home, by myself, or with a writing group. Then I would not worry about the lack of reviews signifying that an audience has lost interest.


These are simply my observations. I may have missed several things, which I am sorry if I have.

I'm interested to see what your thoughts are?

You make some good points. I've felt pretty dis-heartened when no one reviews my chapters. I only have a little bit to say for now. Most of the times when a writer gets consistent reviews from consistent users,they start tagging those faithful reviewers that the next chapter is available. I do like your "Series Subscribe" idea though, and it would help with not having to tag all those people.

~Messenger

Okay, first of all, I agree with you a hundred percent. I think being able to "subscribe" to a series would be amazing, and I would love to see that happen eventually.

Chapters are like the literary section's annoying little sister that no one wants to spend time with. Poetry is the main attraction, and shorts to some extent. I think it's a shame. There's so many great novels on here!

I also think the Spotlight is totally uneven. If more chapters were featured, then maybe more would be read. It's a shame poems earn all the Likes. :-/

But, I digress...

From my experience, posting chapters on here is worth it. Now, this is only my experience and I certainly can't speak for anyone else, but the reviews I've gotten on my novel have been worth the aggravation and self-doubt that comes from a few days going by without getting any reviews. I really think so.

I had times when I worried no one was reading it, because some chapters I'd post and wouldn't get a review for until weeks later. But if you have a good first couple of chapters, most of the people that read them (in my experience, at least) do stick with them. And once you get those loyal readers, I find it doesn't matter so much if you get three reviews or three hundred. You have readers, you have an audience, and if they're sticking with it... they like it.

The reviews I've gotten on my novel have been overwhelmingly positive. I have some amazing people reading it that are super helpful but also full of praise, and even though some chapters I post will (sadly) swirl around in the Green Room for a while, even the Green Room babies usually get two reviews that are so awesome it's totally worth it.

I think novels are an important part of YWS and I definitely don't think they should be rid of. I do think the subscribing system is a great idea, though.

Right now, I'm hard at work doing this thing called Writer of the Week. I'm hoping to use it as a platform to bring attention to all of the amazing novelists on here, by selecting people that write chapters which are lesser-known (but totally deserving of praise and plenty of reviews). That's my idea.

And if I were you, I'd bite the bullet and post your chapter(s). It really is worth it.

First off, I highly doubt Chapters will ever be removed. This is a writing site, and people will always want to post their novels in progress here. Removing the Chapters section would be a huge step backwards.

Second, I think you have some valid concerns. A "follow" button would be a nice addition. Right now you can put all the chapters in the same folder, at least, so it's easier to find the other chapters if you stumble on Chapter 14. You can also follow people so you'll see when they post new works.

I do know Nate is working on some significant changes to the way portfolios work that may be better for novel writers, but I'm not sure when it'll be ready.

A small group of writers critiquing each other's novels? Sounds like a great idea. If others are interested, perhaps you can start a club.

As a dinosaur, I can honestly say the reviewing system as it is now is pretty awesome. In the old days, the literary section was in a forum style, so stuff got bumped off the front page pretty quickly. The Green Room keeps unreviewed works visible, and Review Days get it clear every month, so nothing goes un-reviewed for long.

@niteowl

I absolutely agree! I don't think we SHOULD get rid of Chapters, I simply posed it as an option. I mean, I have my own series posted (ironically), and I have enjoyed the glowing reviews that I have received!

I've been in the community off and on since around 2008, (This is my 2nd account) and I remember the old system! I also noticed when I came back after a hiatus, the new portfolio system. Those are all steps in the right direction, but they don't necessarily fix the problem. Often the only way to find a series I liked was to search the few words I remembered, and often the writer would change the title. (There was no way I would remember the username, and people changed those too.)

I am currently reading several series, and the only way to check right now is to manually search for the title. Or I have too look through someones portfolio every day, not knowing if one has been posted.