The voting and the nominations have come and gone. There have been tears (okay maybe not), tantrums (a couple), arguments (hell yeah) and applause. So maybe it's not the Oscars, but that's boring to watch anyway. At least if you're bored in this you can skip my pre-awards speech and just look at the winners. Not that I suggest doing so, but this is a free society after all.
I'd just like to take a bit of time to congratulate Nate on creating such a wonderful forum for young writers. From the moment I joined, I felt welcome, and in terms of my writing skills I can honestly say from the first day to now, they have improved a lot. I'm sure many of you will agree. To provide such a brilliant place for discussion and writing is no mean feat, but to maintain and improve it constantly is another thing. It's plain to see that YWS stands out from other similar sites in many ways - style, design, community, members, standard of writing. There is not enough thanks I can give to Nate for providing such a great forum, and I hope you all remember that without him, none of this would be possible.
I'd also like to thank dreaming_mouse for providing the visual awards, without her, it just wouldn't have looked as good! Thanks muchly. (oh, and if you use Internet Explorer you might be unable to see some of the awards as they are .png files)
On to the Awards!
Best Overall Member – Crysi
Crysi has been one of more prominent and popular members of YWS - her friendliness and willingness to help shone through and she quickly became well-known to everyone. She was appointed a moderator earlier this year and has diligently performed her duties, improving the stature of YWS. It is not just her ability to make people feel welcome, but her honest and sincere desire to make everyone feel great that has made her deserve this award. To be honest, her writing isn't half-bad either (j/k).
Funniest Member – Sureal
To make people laugh is always a desirable trait, and Sureal's random comments and remarks brighten up the mood of the board considerably, allowing members to see that YWS is not all about serious things, but also about building a community of young writers. Sureal has managed to help the site fill this duty.
Most Helpful Member/Friendliest Member – Areida07
What can I say? She is one of the most friendly and kind person I have ever had the pleasure to *meet* on the internet. Never ceasing to make people smile, she has fitted easily into the community since joining, and her offers of assistance to help new members never fail to appear. She also encourages budding writers to keep going and this perhaps is the most important of all on such a forum.
Best Reviewer of Prose – Snoink
Such a hard choice to make for this award. All of the nominees write excellent critiques; however, someone has to win. Snoink's deliverance of knowledgable, constructive criticism has helped many members on this write receive comments to improve their story. Commenting on prose isn't just about saying what you don't like, it's about suggesting what to improve as well. Snoink does this (her article on creating believable characters was great) by the bucketload.
Best Reviewer of Poetry – Incandescence
Poetry is something extremely difficult to critique. Because, unlike prose, it almost always comes straight from emotions and therefore can be personal to the poet, it is hard for an outsider to suggest changes as it will take the poem away from it's original meaning. However, Brad seems to have worked a system of pointing out changes that can still drastically improve a poem without taking it's meaning, and allowed many people to improve their skills.
Best Poet – Incandescence
He doesn't just review, he can write, too. And brilliantly at that. His poems exude emotion, imagery and beauty. There is little else to be said.
Best Writer – Duskglimmer
Another hard-fought award. Duskglimmer was a favourite for many voters, as can be seen by her nominations for several stories as well. Imagery, flow, dialogue, pace, characters, description - her stories are well-written and show how YWS has such a collection of fantastic and talented writers.
Member You’d Most Like to Shoot – Fontroy
It's probably his refusal to adhere to grammar and spelling and punctuation that gave him this award. Perhaps it'll spur him on to improve his messages. Don't be too disheartened though - Big Brother forgives you. Or at least I think they all do (fickle group).
Best Moderator – Firestarter
Eh. I'm not sure I deserve this. I've been a moderator for a long time and made some mistakes along the way, but I hope I've contributed something to this site. It's contributed something to me. And it was my birthday on Sunday, so a present for me, maybe?
Best Story – “Hourglass” by Sam
Napoleonic fiction, romance, quirky writing, humour...what else do you need? From the beginning of this story it has shown startling talent, and the consistent level of writing and development shows a lot about a story. Some can have good beginnings and start to fall, but this has perhaps grown stronger as it has gone on. I can only hope she one day finishes it, because it has such a future.
Best Poem – “l'orangina rouge” by Liz
Another nigh on impossible award to judge. Receiving just two comments, this is perhaps what you could call a hidden jewel, seemingly unnoticed by many people. This poem is just...brilliant. Read it. Now.
Best Off-Topic Topic - Post-Your-Own-Pic
You know it. What can be more fun than looking at people from YWS? Instead of an avatar, you get to see their faces, and place it to their names! Demonstrated by the fact there are in fact two topics of the same name, and together they have over 100 pages of comments and pictures.
Spam Master (a.k.a. Most Overly Active Member) – Fontroy
I was surprised people didn't vote me for this, considering my stupidly large post count. Perhaps a bit unlucky to win this and the Member You'd Most Like To Shoot award, Fontroy can take something from the fact he won more awards than most people at the best awards ceremony (on YWS). But if he spent a little more time critiquing people's work, and a little less time in the Person Above You thread...
Best Debater – QiGuaiGongFu
He presents facts, he backs them up, he counters other peoples' arguments, he provides clarity and understanding. Qi is one of the foremost debaters on the site, addressing all the issues and providing his well-informed opinion on them.
Best Lyricist – Harley
She's had almost a revolution in lyrics recently - taking peoples' comments on board and coming back with some amazing lyrics that have shown improvement in almost every area. Drawing inspiration from a number of sources, she has shown considerable talent and can only get better.
Best Artist – lollipop
Wowing viewers with extraordinary drawings and paintings, lollipop has shown why she deserves this award. In particular her stunning work on the dragon alerted many members to her talent, and she has shown that that her art skills are something to be envied.
Best Usergroup – Big Brother
The Administrators and the Moderators are often the people that hold forums together. It is no different on YWS. The Big Brother team has supported and helped YWS progress from a feldging forum to a full-grown community, and continuously progressing YWS to new levels. All credit to the Moderators and Administrators for keeping this thing alive.
Best Blog – Something Is Rotten In The State Of Denmark (Sam)
Funny, random, hilarious, crazy, mad, brilliant - take your pick. This blog is something to be taken with a pinch of salt sometimes, and the mind of an 11-year-old girl is obviously quite a mad place, but if it produces comedy like that all the time, it must be fun.
Best Avatar - Bobo
He drew it himself. Does anything else need to be said? Great stuff.
Now break out the drinks! After-awards Party w00t!
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