The Young Writers Society Announces Its Relaunch to a Collective Response of "Who?"
March 25, 2013 – The Young Writers Society (http://www.YoungWritersSociety.com) announces its relaunch today after a year-long redesign. As the best interactive writing platform for teens that you never heard of, the Young Writers Society (“YWS”) was originally created in 2004 as an online forum for young writers to exchange ideas and their creative works with one another.
“Our stated mission since the beginning has been to encourage creative writing as a popular pastime,” says Nathan Caldwell, founder of the group. “As part of this, we encourage members not only to read and comment on each other's works, but also to collaborate and engage directly with one another.”
However, Caldwell goes on to caution against calling it a social network. “We have social networking elements, such as friending and clubs, but YWS is much more than just that. It's an organization managed by teens and college-age young adults with the expressed purpose of promoting creative writing.”
In addition to an all-volunteer team that runs the group, YWS also has a mentor program that puts college-age writers in touch with their slightly younger counterparts. The intent is to foster artistic growth and to build bonds that stretch across national boundaries.
Nevertheless, as a website, YWS has found itself facing increased competition in recent years. “When we started,” Caldwell says, “We were the only website for young writers. Now you have sites like Wattpad and Figment. But at Wattpad, you're just another number. And as for Figment, it seems to be more interested in giving out dating advice than in actual writing.”
“We're different,” says Heather Warren, a YWS user. “It may sound trite, but we actually believe in the writing itself.”
With the relaunch, YWS hopes to counter the increased competition and bolster its status as a keynote online community for young writers. The relaunch consists of a fresh look and new design aimed to increase the user experience in addition to appealing to tablet users.
A few notes:
- This was originally going out on March 23. But after talking with a few people who do PR, I found out that was a terrible date. So March 25 it is.
- I described the mentor program a bit differently. I added that in there instead of going on at length about how beginning writers get advice from more experienced young writers. It's much more elegant to simply say "college-age writers help younger counterparts."
- The title is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. YWS has been around since 2004, but its still a fairly unknown website.
- Added in the bit about Wattpad and Figment to stir the pot some. I think it also makes it much more interesting to read.
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