Hi, I'm new

Yep. I'm new.

This site was recommended to me and it looks like a really nice writer's forum. I need to work on my writing skills, and this looks like just the place to do that.

I like dogs, Invader Zim, and anime.
I've been in karate for a few years and I am a self-taught pianist. And I like these little emoticons.

That's about it.

Hi there Peyton! Welcome to the wonderful palace of YWS!

I'm June, and we're glad to have you in our castle! I'll take you on a brief tour:

This place is the perfect place to improve your writing skills. You couldn't find a better place!

Anyway! Right now, you're standing in the lobby of the castle. It's where new people are received and introduced to everything. Anyway!

Along this hallway, you will see large rooms, also known as the literature forums. In each room, you will find different genres of writing-- from Poetry, to all types of fiction, to non-fiction to lyrics and so on.

You are welcome to submit your own work as well, but! We have a 2:1 policy, which means that before you submit one piece of your work. This way, you're guaranteed to get more reviews when you do post your work.

And, also! Please, rate your work.

If the piece is clean enough for a child to read it, rate it G.

If it has mild swearing, mild violence, rate it PG-13.

If it contains the F word, and explicit content, rate it R.


The more you review, the more stars you get to line up beneath your avatar. Here's the legend:

Yellow/Gold

5 Reviews = 1 Star
25 Reviews = 2 Stars
75 Reviews = 3 Stars
150 Reviews = 4 Stars
250 Reviews = 5 Stars


Blue Stars:


350 Reviews = 1 Blue Star, 4 Gold Stars
450 Reviews = 2 Blue Stars, 3 Gold Stars
550 Reviews = 3 Blue Stars, 2 Gold Stars
650 Reviews = 4 blue stars, 1 Gold star
750 Reviews = 5 blue stars

Red Stars:

850 Reviews = 1 Red Star, 4 Blue Stars
950 Reviews = 2 Red Stars, 3 Blue Stars
1,050 Reviews = 3 Red stars, 2 Blue Stars
1,150 Reviews = 4 Red stars, 1 Blue star
1,250 Reviews = 5 Red stars


Also! We have a "no chatspeak" rule; which means that we do not allow chatspeak in our forums. It's better to just write, "Nice to meet you," in proper English rather than saying, "nyc 2 m33t u."


All work that you post will show up in your portfolio, on your profile. You can organize your work into folders.

And! You can hang a pretty picture on your profile by adding a profile picture. People can leave comments there for you in your guestbook, and your friendslist will also be displayed. Your friends are displayed in the order of their last login.


Hmmm... we also have a Randomness forum and The Lounge. Randomness is just as it sounds-- a random forum for anything random.

In the lounge, you can talk to other members and discuss stuff that goes on around YWS. We also have a chatroom; but that's not open often, since a moderator has to be in there to enforce the rules.

The more posts you make around the site, the higher your rank goes. Here's how the ranks work:

New Member: 0-4 posts
Novice: 5-14 posts
Junior Writer: 15 - 49 posts
Writer: 50 - 99 posts
Senior Writer: 100 - 249 posts
Novelist: 250 - 499 posts *
Speaker of the Forum: 500+ posts
Master of the Forum: 1,000 posts.

When you reach a novelist, you are allowed to have a custom title. A custom title appears beneath your name, and you can change it up .

Also! You will see some people with colored names around here. Here's the legend:

Red = Admins/Junior Admin. These are the people who created YWS, and those who help him run the inner parts of this place that we don't have to see.

Dark Green = Moderators. These people help maintain the site, making sure that everything is under control. Got a problem? Report to them!

Light Green = Junior Moderators. These people maintain only certain areas of the site, making sure to pay close attention to what the moderators can't get to right away.


Orange = Distinguished members. These are simply retired Mods/Admins.

Purple = Instructors, aka grammar Nazis. We specialize in giving you the best reviews on your work. You're welcome to bug us for critiques anytime.


Light blue = greeters. These people welcome newcomers to the site, making sure that they feel comfy and at home.


*

Also! You might see some people speaking about critiques and reviews? Well, what's the difference? Not much, honestly.

A review is where you simply review the story-- giving positive feedback for the author, maybe telling them what was good about the piece.

A critique is where you read a piece, and point out any errors you may have noticed (grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics) and provide suggestions on how to improve their writing. Basically, a critique is usually longer than a review-- but both are counted as reviews.

And! There's the points system-- basically YWS's currency! When you write a review, you are awarded with points. The most you can get per post is 50 points. (To have a post count as a review, it must be at least 250 characters long).

And, it costs points to submit your own work; it's 150 for basic literature, but you're awarded with 50 in return, so you're only really spending 100.

*

If you're in need of reviews you can drop by here: forum188.html

If you'd like a look at the Rules, swing by here: rules.php

FAQ anyone? faq.php

We also have forums for large stories, too, if you would like an advanced critique done on a novel you've written.


So! Anyway! I hope I haven't scared you away rambling on and on about YWS's background.

You're a self taught pianist? That's awesome! Are you good? How long have you been playing? I recently started playing piano, and I'm nowhere near good. I can only play about 5 songs so far, haha.

Karate!? That's awesome! There are alot of YWSers-- including myself-- who take martial arts. That's awesome . What color belt are you?

Invader Zim is adorable.

So! What do you write? Who's your favorite author? Biggest inspiration in life? Biggest goal in life? Favorite book?


Welcome aboard! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

June

I'm Forever Threnody! It's awesome to meet you!

Well... looks like June covered most everything.


Yes, this is probably the best place you could come to improve your writing skills!

So, what do you like? I'd in general, like to know some more about you!

Welcome to YWS and I hope you have fun! I hope to see you around!

P.M. Me if you have any questions!

Peace, Love and Sugar Packets~
Forever Threnody

Hi, June and Forever Threnody!

Thank you both for the welcome (June, that was exceptionally thorough! Thanks!).

I normally write action/adventure. I don't do poetry - sadly, I can't rhyme at all.
I guess my favorite book would have to be Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, who is also my favorite author.

And I'm a Blue-Green belt in karate; I've been taking for about two years now. I'm pretty good at that (if I do say so myself). XD
As far as piano goes, I'm alright. lol
I've only been playing for a few months now, and I can only play a few songs.

I also have one question: why is it that at the top of stories/poems/etc. there is a star? Does the writer get points or something if we give them a star?

HI! Yay, another fellow anime watcher/Invader Zim liker! Welcome to YWS!

I'm quite new myself and would just like to tell you that this site is very, very addicting.
So I take it by your avatar that you watch Death Note, yes?

Dude, who doesn't like the emoticons? Have you seen yet? It's totally my favorite. Though I feel like most of the time. Seriously, they're the best.

So! Welcome to YWS! I think you know most of the rules already, but just in case, you can find them all here.

How long have you been writing?
I play piano, kind of, too! And dogs are great. And I *love* your avatar. I think I actually said that to someone today.

About the stars: No, they don't give you point, but if you really like someone's work, you can give them a star by clicking on it. Pieces with two or more stars will show up in the top right hand corner, and the pieces with the most stars for the last twenty-four hours are on the front page, in that big slideshow-looking thing.

We read Huck Finn in English last semester, it was great. Mark Twain is also great.

Again, welcome to the site, and I hope you love it as much as we do! Don't hesitate to PM me if you need anything.
-Mars

Hey Peyton! Welcome to YWS!

These emoticons are way fun. Sometimes I forget we have even more than show up on the left. Whoa! Thanks for reminding me! I'm a-lovin' them!

Anyway, hello! My name is Clo, and as Springrain has pointed out already, my purple name means I'm an Instructor. I'm here for all your writing needs, and I can help you out with anything you may need. So feel free to PM (Private Message) me for any critiques, reviews, basic forum help! I like helping out new members.

What are your favorite animes? Here's a Usergroup you may be interested in, Manga / Anime Usergroup: viewgroup.php?f=126 You can talk about any anime there, and we have loads of other Usergroups you could join and discuss things in too.

What sort of stories/poems do you write? What genres do you focus on? Tell us about yourself, so we can get to know you! We're a very close community here at YWS, which you'll find out really quickly. We cheer in new members and will gab up everyone, haha.

I hope to see you around the forums, Peyton!

~ Clo

You've been attacked by Instructors, Peyton dear. XD Normally it would be Greeters who would be giving you a heads-up on YWS, but you've come during our Blue vs Purple epic battle week, where we switch places. Hence all the Instructors lingering in the welcome forums!

Make sure to check out the Knowledge base (http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/writing_tips.php) and the Will Review for Food forum(http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/forum188.html). The former has great tips on writing, grammar, and everything under the sun, and the latter is where you can ask for reviews from specific people on the site.

See you around!

~Evi

I don't really see the point in welcoming you, but I will anyways. XD

Glad you joined?
I told you this place was cool. Just start writing more and you'll do a-okay. (Seriously, post your stuff, man.)

So Evi mentioned the war between the Instructors and the Greeters - whoever does the most greets/reviews respectively wins. Fun stuff, but oh boy. Does it get competitive or what. XD
(And yes, my stick men are sexy. Don't be jealous.)

I don't really have anything to add... all of these other guys are insanely detailed. Be sure to memorize every single one of these rules, or you'll be dragged round the back and shot.
Just kidding. (Sort of.)

See you later,
-Em.