Young Writers Society

Hello everyone

My username - as you can see is Blair Lenham, a random name at first sight. But, it is the character name of the protagonist for my novel-in-progress. I struggled to think of a fitting username - but, this seems right for me.

I'm 18 years old (in a week ) and from England, i've been invested in writing since I was about 13 and started writing Harry Potter fanfiction. What started out as a geeky hobby has turned into a burning passion that I'm hoping to turn into a future career, (in September I'm starting a Creative Writing course at uni.)

I haven't decided on what genre of fiction that I love to write the most, i'm still young and have the rest of my life to write about whatever I choose. I'm an avid reader and I think that is where my love for writing comes from. I first fell in love with Fiction when I read Darren Shans Cirque de Freak and the books that followed. I also think my fondness for Harry Potter when I was younger (now I loath it) and His Dark Materials series and also the Twilight saga now I'm older - has really fuelled my passion to do a series of novels.

I'm also a follower of media, especially television and film and I wouldn't mind testing my hand at screenplays or plays because I've always had a passion for drama too.

I don't know much about my writing style, my only ever critics have been family and friends and as such, don't trust their opinion entirely (they have to love me after all ). I'm a very picky writer and I'm a bit of a perfectionist and as such I always second guess good criticism, whenever I post something please be really critical of me - I want to learn!

Well thats the basics about me ... if you want to know anything else - just ask

Blair (aka Jodie )

xXx

Hiya! Welcome to the wonderful world of YWS! (trust me, it gets really addicting after a while...)
So, here are some basic rules that you should know about this site.

~2:1 Policy - Always review at least two pieces before posting one. It makes sure that everyone gets a review.
~Proper grammar - Write in complete sentences, and don't use too many abbreviations. An occasional 'lol' or 'rofl' is fine but writing 'b' instead of be, and all that really irks us.
~ Full caps - Don't use it. No one wants to read something that's written LIKE THIS. It just gets on people's nerves.
~Oh, and last, Nate is YWS god! This isn't so much a rule as something that you should know to survive in this website.

^_^ I think that's it for the rules. **gasp** Another Philip Pullman fan?! I love his writing! Eh...as for Twilight...No comment. XD I used to obsess over Harry Potter too...but, I stopped after I got a little older. So, what genres do you like to write? Any specific genres that you like to read? I'm guessing you're a fan of fantasy, since you like Twilight and His Dark Materials...Just a wild guess..

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, need a review, or just want to talk!

fluteluvr77<3

Hiya Jodie, welcome to the wonderful, marvelous and strangely addictive site that is YWS!

My username was created the same way as yours. Selene is one of my main characters in a novel I'm writing and to me, she's as real as any other person (and I'm not crazy, I'm sure you can relate in some way). I hold her character very close to my heart. No one here knows my real name.

So here's a few rules to get you started!

1.) We have a 2:1 ratio of reviewing work and submitting your own. This means that you should review two pieces of work here on YWS before posting your own.

2.) Please do not use chat-speak or all CAPs in your posts. For example: "dat wuz gr8 ill c u l8r." or "THAT WAS WICKED! KEEP WRITING!"

3.) Rate your work. If it has vulgar language or sex scenes, please rate it R. This is because your work will appear on the home page if it is not rated R, and you'll receive more reviews.

Here are some other questions to get to know you better:

~ What's your favorite dessert?

~ What inspires you to write?

~ What's your favorite movie?

If you have any questions concerning YWS, would like a review, or would like to chat, feel free to PM me.

^fluteluver77

Yes I do love fantasy novels, but, I read everything really, it's no exaggeration. Romance is also a big thing for me, I like a bit of it in every novel I read.

I like to write realistically ironically, I don't like writing about mythological creatures - I think i've read about them too much for my own spin on it to be original. My latest novel is a Sci-Fi in the fact that its set in the future and it's very unlikely a situation to be in but, there are no aliens. I also tend to include romance in my stories - I'm a hopeless romantic

^Selene

Yes, I know exactly what you mean about characters feeling real.

My favorite dessert would have to be a fruity flavoured cheesecake ---- yummy! Especially strawberry and raspberry. It's the perfect balance of whats good and bad for you - it's just so naughty and nice

Characters inspire me to write, when I watch something or read something with immense characters that you can tell the author embodies - it's just an inspiration to my own stories that I have in my head - to my own characters!

Favorite movie? Ooh that was a hard question. Okay i'll have to split it into contemporary movie and classic movie.

Classic movie without a doubt is Breakfast at Tiffany's --- I know it's a cliché favorite movie but Audrey Hepburn is my screen idol!

Contemporary movie is harder ... for the script and the cinematography it has to be August Rush, it's not a famous movie - but once you watch it, it leaves an impression on you.

Blair
xXx

I see I was beaten here by fluteluvr *eyes flute*, so I'll tell you another little tid-bit about YWS.

So you may have noticed that we have different colored usernames here on YWS. Each color has a different job.

Blue- Greeters. They greet and welcome newbies to the site, showing them all the rules.

Purples- Instructors. They will review your work and help you become a better writer.

Light Green/ Green- Junior Moderators and Moderators. They help make sure the site runs smoothly and help control the forums.

Red- Administrators. They control the site. I believe flute referred to our head admin, Nate, as our YWS God.

Orange- Retired Moderators. They are respected here on YWS, along with other Moderators and our Administrators.

Mmm, your cheesecake description has me hungry. I am off to nosh!

Hey Blair! Welcome to site!

Ooh, you like cheesecake... that makes me hungry...

What's your novel in progress about?

You have a really well organised system here, very clear - unlike forums i've been on before

Just a little question, whats with the point system? It's a little confusing - how can I earn them and what are they for?

You can earn points and spend them while doing various things here on YWS. You spend points when you submit your work, like a poem or story, and it costs 150 points. You can receive 50 points back, depending upon how long your post is. If you submit a storybook it costs 500 points.

You can earn points by doing other tasks. You earn points by reviewing people's work and posting in certain forums, like this one, the Welcome forum. Also, you earn points when you post in certain usergroups. You can receive up to 50 points.

Hey Jodie and welcome to the site! I see that everyone has given you the full treatment already.

But I'm afraid I have to make a tiny correction. It costs only 100 points to make a storybook now, but you don't get any points back. I do believe, however, that you get points for creating a thread for storybook discussion.

Well, I hope to see you around sometime, Jodie. If you ever need anything, you can PM me. See ya!

Back with more information! This time it's one more little tidbit about the points system is the reviewing system.
Each review has to be at least three lines, and after that it is .2 points for each character in the review. If it's less than three lines, it's considered a post, however, you still get points for it! And, you can get a max of 50 points for each review.
^_^ I think that's all that Selene missed...Oh, and if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me! PMing someone or posting on their guestbook tends to get a quicker response than posting on the same thread again...I hope to see some of your works around!
fluteluvr77<3

Hey, Jodie! I'm Sunny (don't be confused by my username, I had a break in the creative juices when I chose it.)

I see that people have pretty much cleared things up for you. Still, if you have any questions, you can go here to read the Official Unofficial Guide to YWS, courtesy of Gannon. I found it really useful when I first came here, especially since I'm anything but technologically savvy.

I'm glad you're another romance fan; there's a lot of us here, but you never know who'll come up with the best ones. Cheesecake? Who doesn't love cheesecake? (Don't answer that.) Ah, you have movie taste: Breakfast At Tiffany's is a classic. My friends can't stand it, but I can't help but watch it four or five times a month.

I'm a Harry Potter fan, too. And I'm still in love with children's books so much that I haven't gotten over them yet. You know how when you read some books, they remind your of places and people you saw when you read them for the first time? Well, the Harry Potters are like time machines, so I guess that's which I read them over and over again. And Philip Pullman's great too; my favorite's The Subtle Knife, by far. As for Twilight . . . you might find there's a few of us that can stand life without it.

Well, let's see they've done the 2:1, the Blues, Purps, Oranges, Reds and Greens . . . PMs . . . chatspeak . . . ratings . . . OH! Has anyone told you that Nate is God here? Well, he is. And he SEES. (Just kidding. )

Feel free to PM me about anything. By the way, awesome username. You said it was the name of your MC?

~Sunny