Young Writers Society

YWS employs a content rating system so as to tell members what to expect in terms of language and content before they start reading. For instance, this topic is rated 'E' since it contains no offensive content whatsoever. Below is an explanation of the content ratings:

E: For everyone, even Ewoks. You could read it to a teddy bear and not have to worry about a thing.

12+: Maybe the topic deals with something serious or contains a couple of low-key curse words.

16+: The topic has some minor mature content. If it's talking about a mature situation or an act of violence, it should be rated 16+.

18+: A topic should be rated 18+ if it has any of the following elements:

- Graphic content (violence included)
- It is sexually explicit
- Has strong language

In addition, to give readers more information about what to expect, you can also add three tags:

M: Mature. Refers to any material that is not suitable for younger audiences.

L: Language. If there are any profanities, please include an L tag.

V: Violence. If there is any violence, please include a V tag.

If you have any questions about what rating your literary work needs, err on the safe side and go for the tougher content rating. After you post it, send the name of the work along with a link to any moderator (someone in light or dark green) and ask what it should be rated.

Moderating Team Addition 11/26/2021:
Please note, YWS is not the right audience to be sharing literary pornography when so many users are minors. Literary works that are only sex scenes unattached to a larger narrative (scenes within larger work withstanding) are therefore not allowed. The work must be a literary one, singular sex scenes will be taken down.

@Nate For controversial topics, such as gay marriage, gun control, and abortion, ect...., what would be the ideal ratings on those kind of works?

@ThereseCricket, to my knowledge there's no specific rating for controversial topics, but generally I'd say at least 12+ under the "deals with something serious" criterion, possibly higher depending on language and amount of explicit description involved.

OK, thanks @niteowl!!!

One more question @niteowl....what happens if you don't rate a controversial topic right? Thanks!

Again, that would depend on the work in question. Usually, if a mod finds a piece that needs a higher rating for any reason, we'll change it and let the author know why we did that. Not a big deal!

My I rated my story 16+, but it involved, torture, and a some violence, could you maybe check if it needs to be a higher 18+ ?

thanks

It depends on how graphic it is, @Burrow! The more detail you go in, the higher the rating should be.

I don't really know, would it be ok, if I show you the bad bits and you tell me?

@Burrow, post it under the rating you think it needs, and if it needs a higher rating a mod will change it for you. Just follow your instincts. If you want to rate it higher just in case, go ahead.

@SparkToFlame a mod reviewed it and didn't bump I up, is that good?

Trust your instincts. That is all I can tell you. There's no magic hard and fast "here is exactly the line between 16+ and 18+"

If you want to ask this as a question, please start a separate topic in Questions and Answers to not clutter up this thread.