Young Writers Society

1) When did you join YWS?
I joined on the 25th July 2008.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?
Yes.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?
Fictionpress.com and youngwritersonline.net.

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!).
Nope. After I joined YWS they both seemed pretty lame.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.
Not really, I must admit. I was really lost for ages, and kept getting reprimanded for erring against the rules. It was my fault though, I suppose.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?
I do indeed. I'm addicted.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Yes, I try to every time I try something new. I received good critiques the more I posted and the more I improved, which were also extremely helpful.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse?
Much, much better. On other sites, romantic crap tends to get favoured and deeper work barely ever gets reviewed.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
There are other writing sites?
It's the best. Definitely. It's my most visited webpage.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
The fact that we're all like a big family, coupled with the fact that it never stops being active, as there's moderators to keep everything going.

9) What do you like least about YWS?
The fact that older members' work gets favoured a lot more than newbies...

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
A buddy system for newbies. I know that there's an opportunity to sign up for a mentor and everything, but when I joined I never knew about it, so ended up being completely lost.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Yes, yes, definitely. I have improved...amazingly. Amazingly. If I hadn't joined, I would definitely not be at this stage in my writing.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?
Indeed. Monkeys and Nate = terror.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
Um. A quicker network system. As it can be rather slow.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?
Somewhere in between. It cheers me up loads and relieves me of all my stress problems when I log on and can finally be in a place where I identify with everyone and we all share the same interests. When I post a story and get a harsh critique, it can be stressful when everyone else seems to be getting absolutely amazing crits and mine are awful. Plus, it can be stressful when you get competitive because obviously, I'm a younger writer so the older writers are always going to be better, to a certain extent.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?
I did. They were all so friendly!

1) When did you join YWS?

April 1, 2005. So I'm an old member.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?

Yes, I did! And I joined a couple after I joined YWS as well.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?

TYWC, Flax (it's a private forum, an offshoot of some of TYWC's storybookers), a forum I made for a storybook on TYWC, and I think that's it. O_o Most of the things that I involved myself in were primarily based on TYWC. After I joined YWS, I also joined Critique Circle, nanorwrimo, TWS, and Teenage writers, though really, I'm slightly dead on them. It's sad.

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!).

Well... TYWC died. The storybook forums essentially died (although on one of them, Flax, an older version of FREAK exists in full!). Critique Circle was... okay, but I didn't get into it and they've probably cancelled my account by now. I never really got into Nanowrimo that much. TWS is... well.... it needs a facelift. XD And Teenage Writers is one of those forums I never really got into.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.

Not really. When I first joined, I did it only because Shadow Knight asked me to read his story, and stories on YWS were hidden at that time. I didn't really want to be welcomed. I just wanted to critique stories, since they had new ones, unlike YWS. So my first posts were primarily critiques. I got my brother to join because we liked making fun of stories together, and that's how it happened.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?

LOL! Yes, I do. If I am not as active, it's probably because I'm traveling. But I should be around.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?

Obviously, I have. And... as far as the critiques? Yes and no, I guess. Because I'm one of the more mature writers, I think most people, especially newbies, are frightened to give any real input in my work. They just see it's by me and think, "Oh my gosh, it has to be the most awesome thing ever!" And then they either say that in their critiques or they're intimidated. Which kind of sucks, but whatever. As far as the older members go, I think they tend to avoid critiquing my works as well (unless I shove it in their faces) probably for the same reasons as I avoid critiquing their works--either they would say, "That's awesome!" and give what they think is a useless review, or they would be too harsh, and you don't want to be harsh with someone who you're familiar with.

So... that makes it sound like critiques on YWS are really bad, at least for me. XD But! There's a bright side. When I was new and such, I made contact with a bunch of fabulous critiquers, and though we don't do this on the site, we critique each other's stuff privately. They're my lovely group of copy editors, I guess. ^^ So YWS has provided me a gold mine of critiquers... but for the most part, it's off site when the real interesting comments come.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse?

They tend to be a little better than the other critiques I've seen. Critique Circle's critiques are actually quite good, but there's no community feel, so I don't know.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?

The community feeling is definitely very nice. ^_^ And the fact that we don't newbie bash and we're generally really nice! I mean, we have our exceptions, of course, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. ALTHOUGH, one thing I am concerned about is we have such a lovey dovey feeling and everything that our members are a bit too trusting sometimes, and thus open them up to certain vulnerabilities. -_-

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?

The community feeling, the fact that we actually use proper English, the way we treat our newbies and generally are very forgiving of any mistakes! I've been to places (not writing forums) with a tight-knit community feeling, but often they're mean to newbies, and I don't like it at all, mostly because I'm a newbie coming there and it just rubs me the wrong way. Also, we like English! I've been to several forums that either don't use English at all, or they make fun of anybody who doesn't use good English. We try to help them out. And I love that.

9) What do you like least about YWS?

The debate forum. It's gotten better than it was, but it still tends to be a bastion of idiocy, no offense. -_-

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.

Delete some of the inactive usergroups, or at least implement some sort of usergroup training? Actually, that idea just randomly popped in my head. Hmmm... we must discuss this further.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?

Sort of, lol. I write a lot more poetry than I used to, in any case. I only really started after coming to YWS.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?

No, but I have had multiple dreams about Nate. In one dream, Nate was Italian and I had to go to his room, which was essentially a waterpark ride that looked uncannily liked Splash Mountain, the Disney Land ride, except there was an obstacle course before. But before you went on that, you had to get past his mafia family. They just stared at me... they had lots of food on the tables, etc., including some of the most awesome desserts imaginable, but they weren't eating it, nor did they invite me to eat it. It was... strange.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.

A robot that went around and randomly published freaking good stories and poems by our members.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?

Haha... I'm a mod. It can be hugely stressful at times. But other times, it's the most stressless thing I can do.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?

After [s]brutally[/s] critiquing other people's work, they wanted to know who I was. So... very easy.

Yep. And oldbie's answers. Still, hope that helps in your conquest of the world!

1) When did you join YWS?
June 2008, so fairly newbie

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?
I did do Dream Writers, but found it not suitable for my purpose - to share work, read others', and have fun writing

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?
Dream Writers

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!).
Dream Writers - new member i deleted old account - niccy_v

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.
Yes i definitely did. Though I did feel extremely intimidated (and still do) by everybody's writing i have overcome it by adding friends... not everybody is actually as perfect as they seem now i know more people/pm more people and read more of their older words, which is somewhat a relief

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?
Of course. I have my NaNo to polish for June and more reviews to write!

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Yes i have. But, only one actually got a response. Scars got a few excellent reviews indeed, and i am thankful. Though now - not so much. I have sumbitted a few more works including the Scars rewrite, and though i have done a lot of reviews in the past few months, nobody except one or two reply to it. So my confidence in my writing ability has plunged somewhat now and i have no desire to post on YWS until I've had at least 3 PM-ed reviews

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse?
Well, i have never submitted anything on DW but YWS are way more thorouh

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
It's geared toward younger writers, so yes, it stacks up well. Most others i have briefly walked in and out of were older writers i was afraid to join in with

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
being able to learn off other people's mistakes in their writing

9) What do you like least about YWS?
Having such a high standard of writing ability - for me, it plunges my confidence lower and lower because i read stellar stories and look at my own and frown. Though i have learned a tonne of new words since joining

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
Donations working - they never work for me and i have cost people about 500 points in the past month alone when they have donated to me, but i never got the points. And i don't really see the benefit for them or me by having our points evened out to a level playing field when i have given a stellar review and all they do is have their points dropped if they are too lazy to do a review, or they write a wonderful review and spent a lot more time on their review of mine than i did to theirs

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Yes and No. While it's made me less confident because everybody is so detailed and thorough on here, it has helped me because i have explored different themes (Advanture/Fantasy etc) more now, and write more of stuff i never did before, simply based off what others have written

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?
Erm - not that i can remember. Actually... just no.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
Right now, i wouldn't add a thing or minus a thing, but of course that might change with time.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?
In between - when i post a work i stress for having it revealed for others to judge, and i only stress more when nobody replies to it for more than a week.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?
Yes - the system of pm and adding friends is easy, and everybody talks to me if i PM which has been pretty good

1) When did you join YWS?

I joined November 24th, 2008.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?

No. This is the first one. The last site I was on had an active story section, but I didn't read any.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!).

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.

Oh yes! Having about four people post in an hour was a huge plus for me. And the amount of questions they asked/tips they gave really helped me feel at home after just a few days. Not just the greeters, but the normal members.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?

Yes. This place is way to much fun to leave.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?

I've posted four things. Each one got mixed reviews, but the longer I left it up the more it got shredded. I like that, since it shows me where I need to improve.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse?

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?

I have to pick one thing? It would probably be how civil people are on the boards, even if they've just shredded your work or don't agree with something you said. It's a really great comunity.

9) What do you like least about YWS?

Probably the lack of an open chat. The schedual isn't updated yet, and it's fun to talk to everybody like that.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.

Erm, I'd probably add a higher limit to points you can get for reviewing. Most reviews are really long and take awhile to write up. Getting only fifty points for a page-long critique is a little low in my opinion.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?

Yes, it's helped me a great deal! As for writing more then I did, YWS has made me cut down the amount of time I spend writing and gets me to focus more on the backstory to my world, characters, ect.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?

Excuse me? Why would that happen?

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.

More chat time.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?

Very stress-free

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?

In real life? No. I only know one person in real life that likes writing, and she doesn't do it often.

1) When did you join YWS?
14th November 2008. Officially, anyway. The next day I attended a jamboree, so it was a week or so before I actually posted.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?
Nope. I joined HPFF, but just to read.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?
HPFF.

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!).
Not an active one - never was.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.
Not REALLY.. Okay, I guess. It was like when a drop of water lands next to a puddle - slowly I became part of it, but of course, since I wasn't very active at first, it took a while.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?
'Course I do. Maybe not as active, the school year's starting next month, but this site is too good to give up.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Yea, definitely. The critiques were great. First time I felt like someone was being honest about my work.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse?
Oh, HPFF reviews are more of single sentenced things like, "I loved it, keep writing!" I definitely like this one better, even if I never posted a complete story there before.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
I wouldn't know, but it seems great, I don't know if there can be better.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
The feel of being part of something, and everyone is close together. It isn't distanced. HPFF was just a place to post stories. Thank goodness for forums. And the non-vulgarity - yay.

9) What do you like least about YWS?
The lack of comments and critiques, but I would assume that's my fault, too, because I don't critique half as often as I should. I can never find the right things to say.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. I would probably put the Literary Forums with the Community Forums. I always forget how the Literature Forums are separated, so..

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Yes. I used to write once a week - I average once every two days now. I write less poems and more fiction, aand I'm cutting down on "-ly"s, since everyone hates them so much. Seriously.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?
No, unless you count other primates like gorrilas.. But I have dreamt about someone who posted their pic in the forums. Short black hair, green eyes.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
Something that will really force me to get my lazy-bum mind to fire good, short, and sweet reviews. I don't know what, exactly. Not helpful, I know.. *cringe*

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?
Certainly somewhere in between. I just need to make myself write better! Pressure, pressure.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?Definitely better than in real life. Actually, I have never met anyone in real life, aside from my family, who're really interested in writing. I barely meet any who like reading.

1) When did you join YWS? January 2007

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS? no

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? NA

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!). NA

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. I did, definitely. Even though I never posted a message in the welcome forum, I still had a few people show up in my guestbook to welcome me and offer assistance.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not? I will hopefully be more active in the last month than I’ve been in the past three months at least, so yes, definitely

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? I have, and I received very helpful critiques. I’ve always changed at least one thing after getting a review

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse? After joining YWS, someone invited me to check out another writing site. However, I was very disappointed with the critiques. They were not the focus of the site; writing was not the focus of the site. It was not very active, and the writing areas of the site were far outnumbered both in space and activity by threads devoted to random nonsense and spam posts. The critiques, if you got any at all, were always, without fail, limited to “this was good” or “this was bad”.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? I do not have a lot of experience with other writing sites, but based on what I’ve heard of others’ experience, some limited experience of my own, and a year and a half here, I would put YWS at the top of the list without hesitation.

8) What do you like most about YWS? Apart from the people and the friendly, respectful overall atmosphere here, the best part is that the focus of writing permeates every single section, even the ones that have the least to do with writing. I doubt there’s another young writer’s site that can say that with complete honesty.

9) What do you like least about YWS? If I had to pick something, I would say that it’s any drama that’s gone on here, although that is so limited it’s almost nonexistent, and I’ve never been directly involved in any.
I also am not the fondest of the debate forum, but that’s only person preference. I don’t have any problem with it existing for the use of people who enjoy the discussions there.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. I would make all the changes you’re already going to.
And I would make it so that not just birthdays, but also anniversaries of joining YWS show up

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? I rarely wrote when I joined YWS. Now, I try to write every day—not that it always happens. I can say with certainty that I am a much better writer than when I started, both as a result from reviews I’ve received, and the reviews I’ve written, as well as just the fact that I’m writing more. I had zero motivation to write frequently before I became active here.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? Yes, and they usually look like the monkey minions of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. I would probably add more to the writer’s market section. I think that’s something users are already able to do, though I don’t know any sites to add.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? It’s completely stress-free… unless I’m panicking about a contest deadline… Uh oh, that poem has to be ready today!

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? I can’t really count the first couple months that I was here, because I barely came on after my first few posts.
When I actually took the time to use the site, though, it was pretty easy. The times when I met the most people though, I have to admit, were when I finally tried out the chatroom. That was when I really started to talk to and get to know other writers. Everything else kind of stemmed from that.

1) When did you join YWS? November 2006.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS? Yes but I dont remember what it was. It wasnt very good though.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? I dont remember.

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!). I really dont even know if its even running...

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. yeah, I did. I adore the welcome message I got from Bubbly...

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not? I do but you never know...

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Of course I have, with mixed reviews.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse? I have no clue. The other website I joined was dead.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? My experience in the theme is limited, so I cant really comment. But there are plenty of members so that must count for something.

eight) What do you like most about YWS? Uh... Blogs. I love writing them and I love reading them. ^_^

9) What do you like least about YWS? Hmm... nothing really. Except for the amount of members that join one day and then are never seen again.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. I really have no idea... Im unhelpful. Although I do think I'd change the amount of quotes Bartimus (?) says that are centred around the Simpsons. That bugs me.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? I think that YWS has helped me improve as a writer, but I think it actually has me writing less. The standard of the competition makes me feel belittled and unworthy.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? No.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. Something I would add? Hm... A "drama fiction" catagory.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? Somewhere in between. It stresses me out when I feel pressured by other members to post 1000 reviews a week O_O

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? Yes because back then there was no limits to the chatroom. I was free to n00b as I pleased.

1) When did you join YWS?

April sometime, 2008

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?

Nope.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?

2.2) Are you still a member of any? If you could, please name them. However, if you're worried about privacy, you don't need to (and it won't be counted against you!).

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.

Erm, not particularly. That was my fault however. I didn't see the Welcome thread, hehehe :*)

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?

Yes, although YWS isn't quite so amazing as I first thought, I have met a few like-minded people here and it's nice to critique once in a while.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?

Yes, mostly good, but I don't receive many. I think that is down both to not being well-known and that my genre of writing isn't quite popular here. For example, I LOATHE fantasy/science-fiction/vamp-fic.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? Are they better? Worse?

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?

Well, it's very easy to use, and really friendly.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?

The relentless friendliness of the community, the easy navigation...

9) What do you like least about YWS?

It's very cliquey.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.

Have it not so that not many people become instructors/greeters etc. I think it begins to lose its meaning after a while.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?

Yes and no. I've found I've toned down more, which I'm not sure is a good thing. But it has improved in that my zeal for commas has lessened!

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?

Aaargh!

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.

A whole bunch of people with similar taste in historical fiction?

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?

Middlin'

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?

To meet them, yes. To befriend them, no.