What have you learned about writing from YWS?

Many of us are on YWS in part because we wanted to grow in the craft of writing, so what have been the most valuable learnings / insights you've taken away related to writing from YWS?

(answer can be related to novel-writing, poetry-writing, publishing, editing whatever!)

YWS has definitely taught me a lot about writing and I have become such a better writer than I was when I first joined the site (I privated most of those works, so don't even think about looking!)

A lot of this improvement definitely came from reviewing, both by receiving/reading other people's reviews and by me writing them for other people. I learned to improve my own writing by analyzing someone else's work and providing constructive criticism. My reviews developed beyond simply pointing out grammatical errors and things that could easily be fixed by adding a missing comma or removing an apostrophe. I learned how to critique the writing itself, providing feedback on the dialogue, the setting, the characters, the pacing of the plot, etc. I feel that a lot of new writers primarily focus on the grammatical aspect of writing and less on the actual substance of the piece, which is the story itself.

However, I also saw ways to improve my writing as well. Reviewing taught me how to strengthen my narrative writing and my dialogue, as well as how to include more depth and nuance in my characters. I saw elements I never considered, perspectives I never tried writing from. I have also been inspired, more than a handful of times, to delve into a genre or a theme that I never considered toying with before! Overall, I just learned by observing. So I am very grateful for that! Where else would I have learned such skills?

I have learned so so much! When I started posting on YWS, I could hardly type with a keyboard, but getting feedback has helped me improve my writing so much. I love looking back at old stories and seeing how I have grown. YWS has taught me how to use quotation marks when I write dialogue XD and also so many other things, like spelling, grammar, structure, and words I like to use.

So in terms of my prose writing: formatting, spelling, grammar rules, how to structure a novel, what programs to use to write a book, and even things like self printing and publishing.

Poetry: I have learned about so many other forms of poetry. I learned to relax when I write and not fuss about capitalization and to focus on letting myself feel the words. I have been able to explore different poetic voices and find my own, as well as be inspired to write my own poetry books.

Other: YWS has exposed me to role-playing and working with other writers, as well as doing collab poems. This has taught me SO much and helped me socially too, since I have been able to socialize and make friends on YWS. YWS has been here the whole time through my teenage years and I am so grateful for it!

it literally helped me define my poetic voice so so much- i'm no longer just "some" poet i am the "melancholic-always-yearning-for-someone-or-something" poet and also it's helped me make characters for things?!