Joining a writers community can be hard for some high school students. Too much homework, not enough time, the meeting hours are weird and the members are older. Scribophile is a website designed for writers who need to work at their own pace.

“I would say this is very useful because students can get critiques and confidence, but also gives students ways to improve their writing,” English teacher Tiffany Conner said. “So they could get advice that was very encouraging, but also could help them grow. It may even allow them to develop a following that would help them take that next step.”

It works on a set of karma points. Authors have to critique other authors works to earn karma points. When an author critiques a work, they earn points. When they get enough points, they can in turn post their own work. Readers can also choose to follow the author so they will get notifications of all future works by that author.

“This site is pretty cool,” senior Isaac Sandoval said. “I just think it would be hard for me personally to put my stuff out there and get judged. It is important to create a following though for when you are ready.”

The site creates reputation points so if authors run across users who abuse the site or give bad critiques they can report them. Other authors can see on their profile how their reputation is on the site. Of course as comes with any online sites, people are worried of the drawbacks. No one under 18 can join the site and if used by students would be for seniors.

“Some drawbacks might be you don’t know who you are talking too,” Conner said. “You might be a stronger writer, but they would discourage you and tear you down. Make sure you know that they are credible.”