Writing Guidelines

The Young Writers Project is currently open to students from Vermont and the greater Lebanon, N.H., area.

CIVILITY. The Young Writers Project expects that all writing and communication on this Web site -- including comments, blogs, forums AND submissions for outside publication -- be civil, accurate and respectful of others; the latter includes refraining from using profanity, words of hate and any mention of specific individuals not in the public eye.

PLAGIARISM. YWP expects that all work is the author's own original work unless noted. Violations will result in banishment from participation. Work that is deemed inappropriate will be removed.

Plagiarism is defined as using someone else's ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of those ideas and words. It doesn't matter if you don't intend to do it, it is still plagiarism.
The Young Writers Project is extremely strict about this policy. Our credibility -- and the credibility of the other writers -- depends on students' awareness and compliance with our policy. We define plagiarism as:

* using, word for word or partial phrasing, another person’s written or spoken words;
paraphrasing the essence of another person's written or spoken words;
using another person's drawing, artwork, graphics, idea or facts that are not common knowledge.

An easier way to determine this is to ask yourself: "Am I using someone else's words or phrasing or ideas in my piece?" If so, "Have I given them credit by attributing those words, phrases or ideas?"
We take this matter quite seriously. We see the use of someone else's work as a major breach of faith and something that compromises this project and the publications in which we publish.
If we discover that something has been plagiarized we will request a conversation with the student and with his parent or guardian present if desired. We will seek to determine what went wrong or how the situation evolved. We will then determine a course of action that will generally require, if the piece was published, a published correction and a ban for a year from participation in the YWP.

SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. We ask that students participating on the Web site check to make sure their pieces have accurate spelling and grammar. We expect, and hope, that all submissions to the Newspaper Series have been checked to ensure that basic grammar has been followed and words are spelled correctly. Please note that on this Web site, if a word is misspelled it is underlined in red!

GOOD SENSE. While all this sounds ponderous, it is good to remember that what you write should reflect who you are and what you are. Be respectful.