Young Writers Society

If you're a new member, I'm really interested in what you have to think. If you've been around a while, then, well, you can fill this out too I suppose...

Anyhow, this will help me out in designing the new YWS, which will be kicking into maximum gear a week from Monday. I rather you write an answer than nothing at all, so feel free to answer in whatever manner you wish (only rule: please don't use chat-speak or profanity!).

However, if you fill out the entire questionnaire with substantive answers (i.e., in a complete sentence that isn't nonsense) , I will give you 500 points.


1) When did you join YWS?

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

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.

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

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

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?

9) What do you like least about YWS?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posting it here because I'm not sure where you wanted it

1) When did you join YWS? December 23, 2004

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

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? The Young Writers Guild, a proboards-powered forum of moderate popularity, and Writingforums.org for a short time.

2.2) Are you still a member of any? No.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? If I recall correctly, I definitely did--that was back when Nate still welcomed everyone personally.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? Yes.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? I have posted my own work, and on the whole I'd say I received friendly and helpful critiques.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? The critiques on YWS are more numerous and of better quality.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? Compared to the other two sites I've been a member of, YWS is the best run, the most popular, and the friendliest.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? The atmosphere, the people.

9) What do you like least about YWS? Unfortunately, the drama that occasionally accompanies the target market of YWS.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. The storybook forum needs some love.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? Yes, and no. The latter, however, is no fault of YWS.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? No...but there was that one time.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. A corporate office! No, seriously--working for YWS as a profitable company would be a dream job.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? Ironic question--it used to be very much the former, but is now mostly the latter.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? I did, very much so.

1) When did you join YWS?
November of 2007

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

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?
xD N/A

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!).
N/A

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.
I think so. *has bad memory* Yes, yes I did! Although I felt that some people were a bit... overwhelming and possibly even a bit... crazed. But, I can't judge now. I'm one of those crazed people.

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

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 not recently because I'm lazy and I've been procrastinating and what I have written lately is lacking.

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?
N/A

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
There's no competition.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
Here's a simple answer: everything. And that it caters to "young writers" such as myself (though I don't exactly think of myself as young anymore).

9) What do you like least about YWS?
When I figure that out, I'll be sure to edit this post. At the moment, there's nothing not to like.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
Hm... just one thing. I'd love it if we could have a background/theme/layout for our profiles or something. Something to spice it up a bit.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Of course! When I was younger/before I found YWS, I was just a naive kid who talked about becoming a writer. Now, I am a writer, for I am: one who writes. lol.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?
Lol. I suppose so.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
Definitely the option to "pimp out" our profiles. Yeah.

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

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?
Hm.. well, yes and no. Yes, I found many my age, but not many that were quite like me. There aren't many that think like me.

1) When did you join YWS? October 6th, 2007

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

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? Writing.com and writingforums.com

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 occasionally go to Writing Forums, but I don't post anything.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. Extremely welcome. I had a whole flock of people introduce themselves and me to the site. It was fabulous.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not? I've been active for a year, so I do plan on being totally active for the next few years.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? I've posted every story I've ever written on YWS, and all of the members have been extremely helpful with all of the writer-ly traits. My writing has improved a hundred fold.

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 are not nearly as in-depth as the critiques on YWS. The other sites merely give you comments.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? It's a million times better. Everything here--from the members to the critiques--are all better than any writing site out there.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? All of my friends are so supportive in everything I do, and they help my writing abilities to grow.

9) What do you like least about YWS? Blogs, probably. I wish we had more options on how to customize the blogs.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. Er. The blogs, like I just said up there. I wish it would be more like Blogger, where you get to customize everything.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? Of course! Not only has it helped my writing abilities flourish, but my personality and my voice is being heard, I like that. I write way more frequently than I did before joining the site, because I know that if I write, I'll post it and get more help on how to get better.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? ... No? But I have had YWS Reunion dreams.

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

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? Very very stress-free. I don't feel stressed at all on this website. It's where I come to relax.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? YES! That's probably the first thing I did. I made tons of other friends that enjoyed doing the same sort of things I do, which made us 'click' a lot easier.

-Jared

Well here I go.

1) When did you join YWS?

I joined YWS on February the 1st, 2007. Wow, it's been quite a well.

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

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they?

I remember joining Writingforum.org and posting something on there.

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. I left Writingforum.org ASAP because there was hardly any community support there and people didn't really seem that friendly and open as I had hoped.

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

I have mixed feelings about this. With just standard members, then yes, they were quite welcoming and friendly in both the chat and forums. I remember getting an odd PM from a random person and get all excited lol. But with older and more experienced members, it isn't the same. Little effort was made to include newer and less experienced members into their conversation (and at times, they would even ignore them on the whole).

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

Heck yes! I'm an instructor on the site after all.

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

Yes and I must admit, the critiques that I've gotten were both well thought out and insightful.

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?

Hrmm. From what I've remembered on Writingforum.org, critiques on average tend to be based more on grammatical/spelling changes. However, comments that are made in the critiques tend to be rather generalized and lack insight (eg: "This piece is cliche" or "Your characters are bland" without even justifying as to why that is so). I've also seen critiques from Teenage Writers and they pretty much follow the same trend. With YWS, its a different problem. Based on what I've seen from roaming around the literacy forums, there are some that do very detailed critiques while others that simply generalize or just ego-stroke the author.

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

I believe that YWS is one of the best (if not the best) on the net. There is a great community on the site, some effort made in community involvement, a large number of functions and events (such as the Radio show) and a very dedicated and creative site administrator. Nate for the win!

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?

The great and diverse community on the site.

9) What do you like least about YWS?

There isn't much opportunities for members on the site to participate in official competitions.

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

The storybook forum. There really doesn't seem to be much incentive to even finish a storybook due to the lack of support there.

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

Definitely due to the detailed critiques and advice that I receive from other members. For the second part of the question, then no, because I have school to worry about.

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

You wish Nate XD I have to admit though that I've once dreamt of meeting certain members of YWS in flesh and blood. It was awesome.

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

There should be bi-weekly or monthly writing tournaments on the site, organized either by moderators, instructors or by a special group of members.

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

It's stress-free most of the time.

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

Yes because of the chat-room itself.

I hope my evaluation has helped Nate.

Andy.

1) When did you join YWS?
21 March, 2007

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?
Nope. YWS was my first. xD

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.
I did. There were a lot of friendly people who introduced the site to me. Most of them are still friends now.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?
More so than usual. My holidays have started, so I really should start critiquing more.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Quite a lot of it. Not recently, though. I received good critiques. The only problem I've ever had is with length. People used to leave comments of just a sentence. That was a while ago, though, and the vast majority give amazingly helpful critiques.

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?
From looking at other websites, the other ones tend to be worse. There's also fewer of them.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
It's better than any I've seen.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
The friendly and helpful atmosphere. It's relaxed, and allows people to improve.

9) What do you like least about YWS?
I'll edit if I can think of something.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
Like Jared said, it'd be good to be able to customise the blogs some more, even if I don't use mine often.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
It has. My writing is a lot better and I write far more often than I used to.

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

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
Again stealing an answer, a horror forum. I see a lot of it around, and the Other Fiction forum tends to be a bit cramped.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?
It's stress free. People are always helpful if I need something.

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

-----

Also, woo. That was my 500th post. xD

1) When did you join YWS? Jan. 1, 2008

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS? Not really, I was just browsing sites looking for something to do when I found this one.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? N/A

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!). Writersbeat.com, it's a smaller forum but it's alright.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. I did and I didn't. I am not one to throw myself out there, so I was a bit of a recluse at first. However YWS brought me out of my shell now if only I could figure out how to get back into it...

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

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? I have posted many things on here, and recieved the wonderful reviews. They almost always have some really good information, and they're always helpful in some way or another.

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 are more in depth usually. It's not often that you'll find a place where you can get more than one line by line review for a poem

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? I have only truly stuck with this site, but I have tried a few others. It's set up really well, the people are interesting and fun, and the reviews are above and beyond. Besides, you make friends with everyone.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? The people

9) What do you like least about YWS? Sometimes people get a bit intense if you were harsh on their works.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. I would add a Dramatic Fiction section lol

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? Yes and no. I am a better writer, however I find that I write less now, but what I do write is much better quality.

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

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. See question 10

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? Stress-free for the most part, it has it's moments.

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

1) When did you join YWS? November 27, 2004

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

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

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!). Theoretically, I'm still on writing.com, but I'm not active.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. Yes, I got a few friendly welcomes and quickly became part of the community.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not? Yes, probably even more so because I will have far less to do over holiday break.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? Yes, and for the most part yes. There have been a few poor-quality ones, but they're the exception, not the rule.

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 think critiques on YWS are better than writing.com's because you're not forced to give a rating, plus you can't just rate someone's piece without a review. I like the gold star thing because it's optional. Also, the critiques are better because the site is more of a community, so you can actually get to know your reviewers.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? Amazingly well. It's got a good community, is well-organized, and you don't have to pay for special features, unlike writing.com. Also, the members are more mature than what I've seen on other (non writing-related) forums.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? Pretty much what I said above. Oh, and the way you ask for our input and stuff is really great.

9) What do you like least about YWS? One thing that has always bothered me is the labeling of the poetry forums. I was really confused by them when I first joined. Now they make more sense, but I still think the definitions are kind of vague. Then again, I can't come up with better categories without being too rigid so I don't know.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. Perhaps making rating (like G, PG, etc.) a required thing would be a good idea...I often forget to rate and I've stumbled upon a few pieces that were not rated but needed to be. It's not a huge problem, though.


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

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? No, but I have had dreams about the site itself.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. I'd make a sort of undo button, because sometimes silly things happen when I type and I accidentally delete bits I wanted to keep. I hate having to type it up again. This just happened to me when typing #9.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? It's been both, but right now it's more what I do to procrastinate, so I'd have to say stress-free.

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

1) When did you join YWS?
I joined on the 21st of July 2007.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS?
No, actually, YWS was my first.

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.
I really did, feel welcomed actually. I was a bit nervous and shy to start with, but Jig pushed me into it and I was very pleased at how lovely everyone was. Once I got into the chat it was like I was at a party. It’s not really changed since then, it’s still awesome.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?
I do indeed. I need to work on my review thread – I think it breeds when I’m sleeping.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
I have posted my work on YWs, a lot more than I thought I would. For the most part I’ve received good critiques; in places like the poetry forums you get a lot of one liners telling you that someone liked it. While the same happens in the literary forums it has been my experience that it happens more in poetry. Other than that, critiques are usually in-depth and certainly 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?
I did look at some other sites, to see the difference between them and YWS, and I’ve found that with the exception of TWS or possibly the inclusion considering the lack of activity TWS is often subject to, YWS critiques are most certainly the best.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
YWS is just the best I’ve seen.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
The atmosphere. While some may mention that people are too harsh, or it’s too big, I find that YWS allows everyone to have a fair go at posting work and critiquing work. The people are by far some of the most friendly I’ve met on the internet wherever I’ve been and that adds to the experience. That coupled with how everyone cares for the individual – how many blogs I’ve seen that are commented on with advice and support is unbelievable in such a large community.

9) What do you like least about YWS?
It’s perhaps the newer feeling that comes into YWS sometimes where people consider things unfair. I realise there’s been a lot of talk over the year and more about how YWS favours the more “popular” members. While I don’t agree with this assessment the feelings that it generates are uncomfortable to be around.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
I think I’d like a better Search button? I’m cool with the search as it is – it’s actually really effective when you’ve lost a post – but I often forget there is a search because the link’s a little out of the way.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Definitely. I’m much better than I was a year or so ago and I’m so pleased about that. I do also write more than I used to, I even completely NaNo this year. It’s a triumph.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?
They certainly haven’t decreased.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
I think it would be the ability to bookmark stories within YWS, to have a page of my favourites, not ones I want to watch per say, just that I want to remember exist. Sometimes with how big YWS is, things get lost along the way.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?
I think it’s moved to somewhere in between since I was made JM. Merely because that does add a little more pressure to be watching as much as I can and I’d hate to disappoint anyone.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined?
Definitely, everyone was willing to say hi and help out.

*Hearts* Le Penguin.

1) When did you join YWS? I first joined YWS on October 16th, 2006. More than two years and nobody's sick of me yet.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS? I didn't really try any before YWS. Rather, I simultaneously tried a fistful or writing sites, YWS included. YWS was the only one that stuck.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? Like I said, YWS is the only one that stuck... and the only one that I rememeber. xD

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 really. The other sites weren't quite what I was looking for, and weren't quite the same caliber as YWS. Mostly, when poking around the other sites, I was looking for feedback quality. Every other site that I came to was like, "Great job! Keep going!" When I looked at YWS, I was immediately swayed by the quality.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. This is a complicated one. Yes and no. Yes because the people here on YWS were and still are the most incredible group of people that I have ever met, in person or online. Folks were quick to give me a helping hand and eager to be my friend, which was quite flattering. The no is actually completely me and not in any way a reflection of the site or its members -- I simply had spent a few years on a message board with very, very, very negative members and atmosphere, so naturally I expected a very negative "welcome." It was sort of pleasantly jarring when that didn't come.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not? Me, inactive? Only when I'm dead.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? Oh, goodness. xD I've posted a whole repertoire of my work over the years. It's quite funny to look back on my older pieces and realize how silly I was -- and how far I've come. I look at old critiques of my work and say, "I think I've told someone else that about a thousand different times." It's that ability to forward along such great advice that also won me over about YWS. Additionally, I've never received a harsh critique. The work may have been atrocious but the critiques were gentle about it. I have never felt that anyone on YWS has attacked my work. Only helped.

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? To put it simply, the effort is what makes this website as great as it is. Nobody goes halfway. A two-sentence review may be fair on another site, but here, it doesn't even count. Which is amazing.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? That's like comparing a cardboard box to the Empire State building. One rocks and the other... doesn't rock.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? The people. Honestly, do we have an Awesome Person Magnet or something? Almost everyone on this site is amazing, helpful, and kind, and the people who aren't usually leave the site soon enough and are inconsequential.

9) What do you like least about YWS? Its addictiveness. xD It's my homepage!

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. You know, I stared at this question for about fifteen minutes trying to think of something before finally giving up. Any change can only make a great site even greater.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? When I was little, I wrote a series of what I call "one-page" novels. I would write a page of a book and then never touch it again. When I was eleven, I started to seriously write and started a series of "seminovels," which were all unfinished on paper. When I joined YWS at first, I finished my first short story. Two years later, I've finished my first novel. I've achieved a level of skill and commitment that I never thought possible and wouldn't be possible without YWS. I've taken writing from a flippant moment in time to something career worthy. And like I mentioned a few days ago, I would give up everything for YWS. It has helped me in more ways than writing -- I probably would be completely lost without the direction and aspirations this site has given me.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? Every time I see one I think of Nate. In my dictionary, I look up "chimp" and there's a photograph of Nate.

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. Is this a fair question because I know what's coming thanks to the JM forum? XD I'm looking forward to the new features. I think that adding those is plenty for now.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? Somewhere in between, but mostly because of my JM duties. Although I must say that being a person of authority on this site has got to be a walk in the park. The other moderators and even a handful of regular members are so helpful, whether it's something exceeds my powers and I need some outside help, I need some plain ol' input, or I just need to vent.

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? Oh, totally. All my friends are YWSers -- even my real-life ones! I joined YWS when I was new to high school and making some new friends. The fact that we were all YWS members only brought us closer together on a level we probably wouldn't have touched before. As far as others go, I've always been surprised with how much people like me and how nice everyone is. Like I said, I came from a really nasty message board so I was expecting to be on my own in a rowboat in the middle of a mad typhoon. But I was welcomed into the fold extremely quickly and I made lifelong friends doubly fast. I'm still amazed by it. But these are people who will be my friends for many, many, many years.

1) When did you join YWS? 18th of November, 2005. Three solid years ago.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS? No, this was my first.
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.

My memory is atrocious, but if I hadn't felt welcome at the time, then I wouldn't be here now, would I? I think its safe to assume I did.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not? Yes, very much. I've never been more active, oddly enough. Although, since I'm going to England, there might be a slight interruption in my activities here.

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques?

Actually, nearly every single creative piece I've done is on YWS, or has been at some point. I always got good, helpful critiques.

6) If you have been a member of other writing sites, how do critiques on YWS differ from critiques on other sites? I tried some out after my initial success here, but the activity was mostly lacklustre, less impressive - clearly less effort was put in by the management and it reflected in the way members acted.

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

There's no comparison.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?

What isn't there to like? My favourite thing, I guess, is that its always active and there's always something to do here, someone to help. It's great.

9) What do you like least about YWS?

I guess, sometimes, YWS' popularity works against it. 'Nuff said.

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

I would make the knowledge base and all those awesome, helpful articles a lot more accessible and obvious. Someone needs to shine a light on that dusty pile - do you know that some people aren't even aware it exists? It has the answers and the teachings to nearly every problem and mistake that I find myself critiquing in stories and poems around the site. But I understand you've already got this under control, Nate, so it's all good.

I think the critiquing system needs a review, also. And there needs to be more Pat Buchanan.


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

Absolutely. I went from rubbish to something actually approaching good! (thank you, Snoink ) I write more now because I'm a lot better, not so much because of my continuing membership (which also helps; lots of yummy contests and prompts inspire brilliance) but because my writing has improved and I know I can do something with it. But it all comes back to YWS and what its done for me.

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

Scarily so.

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

A real, live monkey. XD (I honestly can't come up with anything else)

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

Mostly stress-free but it wasn't always so. The quality of people has improved, I think and the amount of helpful advice, critiques and commentary make this a great place to kick-back.

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

Easy to meet, definitely. Easy to make friends? Not so much, but then, that's more my fault than anyone else'.

1) When did you join YWS?
May 2, 2008

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

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!).
I'm only member of YWS.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.
Yes, I did! Many people posted on my thread in the Welcome forum, reviewed my stuff and answered quickly to my questions when I had some.

4) Do you plan on still being active for at least the next month? If not, why not?
Of course I do! I just can't be that active now, because I can't use my own computer, there's something wrong with it. But once I'll get it fixed...

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Yes, I have. I have received both in-depth critiques and those of only a couple of lines, but I'm happy for any kind of critique.

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 mean, better, of course!]

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
I don't have experience in any other writing sites.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
The people.

9) What do you like least about YWS?
That there are people who claim themselves to be writers, but still sometimes ignore the important rules (for example, no chat-speak).

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
I would like to be able to get to my profile from every page, not just from my posts or the index... did that make sense?

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Yes, I believe I've improved on reading my work objectively, to mention one thing. I haven't been writing more often than before YWS.

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

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS.
Hmm. At the moment, I can't think of any, but I'll get back here when I do.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you?
Most of the time, stress-free. Sometimes it's somewhere in between.

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

1) When did you join YWS? 11 august 2008.

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

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!). No but I am a member of impulsive writers, although not an active member there.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. Yes, the greeters are awesome, and if I didn't know what to do, snoink would give me a message.

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

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? Yes I have and yes I've got.

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? Don't really know I haven't posted anything in impulsive writers.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? As wikipedia says... YWS is the worlds biggest writers site for young people, which I take as the same as the best.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? Everything. I can't specify, maybe storybooks and the critiques that I get.

9) What do you like least about YWS? Hard one. I don't really know... If I have to say something it is the rule that no net language. Not the net language it self but the apostrophe thing.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. Those dating adds, they are irritating.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? Yes it has helped me in my writing, I find myself writing more in the storybooks but less on my actual books.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS? I don't dream.

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

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

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? I already had a friend when I joined, and now I have a few... (cough) friends.

1) When did you join YWS? July, I believe, but January too in a sense.

2) Did you try out any other writing sites before you joined YWS? Yes: writers.net. But it was next to useless, and all the members were not very nice people.

2.1) If you answered yes, what were they? ... writers.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!). Well my login's still there but no, I don't go on it.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain. Yes! I felt that all I had to do was review other people's writing, and I would get a helpful critique in return. There were friends on the website, but it wasn't impossible to become one of them.

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

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not? I usually get good critiques, especially if I do decent ones to such critiquers beforehand. Sometimes, people use chat speak and I can't understand what they're going on about, and I'm hesitant to take grammar points from them

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're a lot better, generally, but due to the recent boom in new members, there're a lot of one line critiques going about, so, yeah. But YWS is better

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general? -- Need I say it?

8 ) What do you like most about YWS? The friendly community.

9) What do you like least about YWS? The fact that I get so addicted to it.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS. Don't know really, but I think if there were people asigned to doing the YWS Blog posts, it would be more active. Just a thought.

11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to? It's definitely helped me, but also given me the encouragement I so desperately needed to write a novel.

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

13) If you were able to, name one thing that you would add to YWS. A million new members. Seriously though, I don't know: YWS serves its purpose well.

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? A bit of both: You have to worry about your writing and how it stacks up against others, but there's a definite sense of encouragement and "congrats" about succeeding

15) Did you find it easy to meet other young writers when you first joined? It takes a while, but eventually I'm getting some friends and such and such. I don't think age matters much, since we are all writers of whom might be classed as "young".

1) When did you join YWS?
May 3, 2008

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

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

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!).
Yes but I only visit it when I get a new e-mail saying I have new notes or something.

3) Did you feel welcomed when you first joined YWS? Please explain.
I think so. I wasn't very active when I first joined but I do remember meeting quiet a few friendly people.

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

5) Have you ever posted your own work on YWS? If so, did you receive good critiques? If not, why not?
Yes I have and the reviews were 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?
YWS was much better with critiiques; people from Allpoetry, from what I can remember, didn't do all that great of critiques.

7) How do you feel YWS stacks up against other writing sites in general?
It's pure awesomeness.

8 ) What do you like most about YWS?
The people and the no chat-speak rule.

9) What do you like least about YWS?
A lot of people ignore the no chat-speak rule and it gets irritating.

10) If you were able to, name one thing that you would change on or about YWS.
Nothing.
11) Has YWS helped you as a writer? Do you find yourself writing more often than you used to?
Yes and no. Yes, it's helped me as a writer but no, I haven't been writing more.

12) Have the frequency of any dreams about monkeys increased since joining YWS?
There have been a few, I think.

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

14) Is YWS stressful, stress-free, or somewhere in between for you? When I procrastinate on my reviews, it's stressful, but otherwise, it's stress-free.

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