Young Writers Society

Hello, my pen name as well as artist name is Orchestrate.

I am a student at a state university, going into the second semester of my freshman year.
My intended major is Animation, although my main focus/goal/career choice is comic books and novel writing.

Currently I am only taking an intro English class as a stepping stone to eventually register in a creative writing course so until I have the pleasure of doing so , I have entered several writing communities and am currently critiquing several short stories and two novellas. My critiques ( I believe and hope) are helpful. I mostly key in on character development, setting, and plot and they are...long. I try not to be so nit-picky ( I don't really comment on grammar and spelling unless it's obviously hideous) but I do have a lot to say. I usually take about five days to get a nice thorough critique. I adore writing and want to read something worthwhile so I want to help make that happen.

With that said, I admire TRUE writing, things that get under the skin and really change/inspire you. Even with my slight obsession with comic books I expect structure, plot, and overall originality. I don't read simply for the action or to know the end. For the most part, I despise young adult fiction and praise works that fit under literary fiction.

I...despise Twilight and I realize there are many fans on here so my only thing is please don't expect me to say anything other than I hate it. I won't attack anyone for liking but I rather not discuss it. To each his own.

My current favorite books are

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer
Hard Love ( I can't remember the author right now. Ironically it is young adult fiction. hehe)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden ( I am obsessed with Japanese culture. Yes, I saw the movie...it could have been better.)
Be With You By Takuji Ichikawa ( a simple read but sweet)
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (so...yes, I read it for the scholarship and I admit it's long and at times overly complicated, but the writing is superb)

Favorite Manga

Battle Royale
Gantz
Mars
Ranma 1/2


I'm really bad at describing my work as far as a genre but...it's dark and usually with some hidden philosophical view with wacky, perhaps sociopath lead characters. Call it fantasy. Call it drama. I'm not so sure. I write sometimes for a cartoon-ish feel because I intend to later draw comics for it. You are always welcome to read and find out.

Yeah, so I'm here to critique and build a nice web of writing buddies!



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EDIT:

Thank you for all the welcoming comments.
I am now currently working on a crtique for every member that has posted here as a token of my gratitude.
Please feel free to add me as a friend

Hey there Orchestrate! I'm June! So very nice to meet you!

Welcome to the wonderful lands of YWS. We're a crazy lot here, but we're nice and we don't bite. Enjoy your stay here please!

So! You're mostly here to critique? That's fantastic! It sounds like you would be an incredible critiquer. Beware, though. There are some persons around here (me, to be exact) who write horribly. Judging from how long it takes you to critique, you must be fabulous.

Eek! You read Ayn Rands "Fountainhead?" For the scholarship!? Haha, I am doing the same thing, and not making successful progress.


[Also, I like you a lot already, you despise Twilight. I do too, but there are a few people around here that are big fans. However, I think the number of people who dislike it here outnumber those who like it]

Hmmm... let's see... do you like poetry? If so, what's your favorite type?

Also! We have a rule here, which is commonly referred to as the 2:1 policy. It simply means that for every one piece of work you post you should have reviewed two things by someone else. This way, the reviews keep circling and everyone takes part.

And, we have a no chatspeak rule. You obviously don't seem like the type of person who will use chatspeak, but it's necessary to say that to new members . Chatspeak like "Lol" and "brb" are okay, but use them moderately.

This link basically covers all you need to know about the wonders of YWS .

viewarticlebody.php?t=36288


So! Welcome to YWS! if you need anything-- and I mean ANYTHING, then feel free to PM me. (Also, we have a no caps-speak rule, haha, which I think I broke there.)

I look forward to seeing your work around here! Welcome aboard!


June =)

Welcome there!

I love the username. So you're a freshman in college. That's great! I'm still a bit scared about what comes next for me after high school. And the end of it is approaching so fast for me. Right now I'm taking an AP Literature class.

I can't say that I agree with you on Twilight, but I can see the many disadvantages it has. I've never heard of the other books, I think that I'll go search for them in all the librarys now.

The chat speak rule has been explained to you, I see. When I first started, I used it a bit and reminded several times not to use it. Also, make sure to use good grammar, although I doubt you'll even have a problem with that.

If you need any assistance, let me know. I'll be happy to help. Well, see you around the forums.

~Alyss

Welcome aboard YWS!

I'm glad that you found the site. I see that you critique, but do you write some as well? The books that you mentioned sounded interesting. Manga books aren't my thing, but I love to draw out cartoons. There is an Art and Phtography forum if you want to check that out.

Hehe, you would probably have a ballgame with my stories. I bet they are loaded with tons of mistakes. I've started on like three books, and haven't got that far yet.

Good luck on YWS! If you ever need any help, feel free to PM me. I love to help, and that's what I'm here for after all.

Hey Orchestrate!

Lots of people here don't like Twilight. I'm one of those who is so bored of people talking about liking it and not liking it. It's the new Eragon -- some people obsess over it, others try and fight over who is cool enough to hate it the most. I'm sure we both hope the fad goes away soon (although there is always something new).

Pretty cool that your aim is comic books and novel writing. I'm a big fan of comic books too.

Good to see you're here with an intent to critique! Five days seems intense. I think I spend about half an hour at the most critiquing.

See you around!

Ha ha, a manga fan! I don't read much, but my favorites are:

1. Full-metal Alchemist
2. anything to do with Dot Hack, though I haven't read any.

That's about it. Oh, and I'd like to check out "Manga Messiah." (adaption of the Gospels... interesting.)

Anyway. My favorite author, hands-down, is Brian Jacques.

Hey,

welcome to yws.

I am looking forward to seeing your reviews and if any, your works.

hope to see you around.

Night Mistress.

Well, it's true. This forum is most likely to contain TONS of YA Fiction but the way I see it that it doesn't have to be limited. I think what peeves me about YA is that it doesn't dig deep enough and I find the same scenarios and characters across novels.
I guess I'm hoping that even though the fiction written here is done by young adults, it is extraordinary or aims to be as such.

Five days for a critique is steep but what I have critiqued so far has been well over 2,000 wds and seem to be...lacking in several areas of basic writing technique. I get so angry sometimes when I read stuff by adults. They have good ideas but they butcher them in favor of stereotype. I'm not mean. I'm not a critic. I try to be nice as possible...Anyway if the piece is perhaps about a page long, 30mins to an hour would probably be the norm.

I like poetry.
I don't critique it.
because I'm horrible at it.

Ayn Rand can be a tough read.
You definitely have to take your time with it.
It took four months to finish and maybe half-way understand.

*Orchestrate~

Hey! I see you have been welcomed, already. Cool. Well, Welcome!!!

When you say you love literary works, what do you mean? The classics? I do have to agree with you there. I can hardly find a "good" YA novel, out there. One that really catches your eye and keeps you at the edge of your seat. I lean more towards the classics.

My younger sister and mom read Memoirs of a Geisha. Mom wasn't too fond of it, but my sister liked it. My family also saw the movie. Dad kept on going over and over how their culture back then was really harsh.

Yeah, I've heard of Be With You. Maybe I should check it out. I was actually trying to search those Viz and Tokyopop novels. The good ones. Have any recommendations?

Oh my goodness! My other younger sister (I'm the older one) loves Ranma 1/2. And she saw all the seasons up to the seventh one. And both my younger sisters, love their manga. I've read some. But I've stopped. The ones I really liked were...

1) Kare Kano ~ His and her circumstances (saw the anime)

2) Hana Kimi ~ saw the whole Taiwanese Drama. Loved it!!

Let's see...I'm more for writing historical novels. But I would love to try out other genres.

It was great to know a little about you. See you around.

*Merry

Thank you for all the welcoming comments.
I am now currently working on a crtique for every member that has posted here as a token of my gratitude.
Please feel free to add me as a friend

Hehe, a froshie!

It's nice to have another critiquer here. I used to do them quite a lot, but then I got involved with my biochemical engineering classes and... yeah. XD But still! I look forward to reading the critiques that you write, just because I'm geeky like that. Weirdly enough, I like reading critiques better than the actual works.

Animation, huh? I have a couple of friends that are cartoonists, and it's interesting watching them do whatever they do, just because I have no talent in art and they typically have a lot of talent in it. What eventually happens is I force them to write their comics and help in with their math so they aren't spending their free time doing math homework.

Twilight... I haven't read it at all, but there are various works on here that totally make fun of Twilight. In fact, one of the parodies is on the front page, I think, so that's why we're getting so many Twilight ads. It's amusing! But it's just a fad. It'll pass.

Haha... ninety-five percent of the time if people complain about a critique being too harsh, they just got their feelings hurt and they want to rant immediately, and unfortunately they do it at you. Which they shouldn't, but whatever. Anyway, if that happens, bug one of us moderators. We're the guys in green. We can deal with it. ^^