Young Writers Society

There was an issue with sending the newsletter to the newest members, so in case you didn't get it:

THE YOUNG WRITERS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

THE RETURN OF THE SUCCOTASH EDITION
http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/

September The 17th of 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Editors Note
II. Writing Opportunities
III. Interactive Stories
IV. Untitled by LamaLama
V. Top 10 Things You Don't Want To Hear From Your New Teacher
VI. Submissions


I. EDITORS NOTE

Dear YWS Members,

It's been nearly two months now since YWS returned from it's two month hiatus this past summer, and everyone's been busy on the site. I'm proud to announce that YWS is now one of the top 50,000 sites on the web. Doesn't sound like much until you consider that there are tens of millions of sites out there, so put another way, YWS is in the top .2% of all websites! That's amazing, and it's really due to the members on the site. Everyone is very active, and that is what is driving the numbers, so I'm very thankful.

In any case, the last two months have seen a number of new additions to the site. YWS now has Interactive Stories where you choose (or write) what happens next. There's already some excellent ones and they're a great time waster. YWS also now has Sudoku, which will soon boast hundreds of puzzles for you to solve. If you haven't tried it yet, you should, although if you're like me, you'll find a lot of your time being spent solving a puzzle.

However, the most important addition are the simple urls YWS now offers. These allow you to easily share your profile and blog with friends. For you profile, the url is:
~Your Name Here

And for your blog, it's:
blog/Your Name Here

Take note that if your name has spaces in it, it will still work. Leave the spaces in and everything will go where it's supposed to go.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Have fun reading!

Vale!
Nate


II. Writing Opportunities

United States:

Young Voices of America Speak Up: Short story contest sponsored by Community Voice Media for those in grades 3 to 12. First prize is $500. However, they do require $30 as an entry fee, so be sure to check with your parents before entering! For more information see http://www.communityvoicemedia.com/.

International:

Fractal Matter: An online magazine looking for people to cover media, books, and music. If you have an idea for an article, send it, along with a writing sample, to submissions@fractalmatter.com. For more information see http://www.fractalmatter.com.


III. INTERACTIVE STORIES

I just finished adding perhaps the biggest addition to the Young Writers Society: Interactive Stories. These are stories where you choose what happens next, and if you come to a part that has not been written yet (which will inevitably happen), you can write what happens next.

To check it out, just mosy on over to YWS and click the "[ interactive ]" link at the top of the page. There's a help page right when you click on it so you can figure out how to add new stories, or how to edit an existing story. It might seem complicated at first, but it's all very easy to do.

IV. UNTITLED BY LAMALAMA

Looking through the headlines that Google so politely picked out for me as
the most important headlines from each of my news picks: CNN, the BBC, NYT,
and yes, even USA Today, I noticed one article that probably should not be
there.
"Baby One More Time" for Spears, care of the BBC news network.
Far be it for me to understand why most American's care about the fertility
of the trailor trash turned pop star, but the Brits are in on it too? Until
now, I trusted the BBC to bring me quality, important news updates on real
world issues. Now, it seems, they've given in to the lackluster spectacle
of Hollywoodland's paparazzi fueled paradise, of celebri-news.
C'mon BBC! Didn't a chicken sneeze somewhere in China? Isn't there a bug in
Africa that's slowly crawling its way to a heaping pile of Rhino run-off?
This isn't aimed only at the BBC of course, I just expected more of them
than a pregnant woman. God forbid we hear about that little tiff in Iraq,
Iran, Isreal, or any one of 20 other countries currently shooting at
eachother.
Katie Couric thinks we care about how she's going to sign off every night,
BBC thinks we care about Spears' womb, CNN thinks we care about god knows
what, and local news thinks we care about their anchors. When did they stop
thinking we cared about news? No no, not your wife and kids Dan Rather, not
what itches today Wolf Blitzer, not how comphy your Serta brand matress is
ABC. When SNL's Weekend Update, and Comedy Central's the Daily Show give us
more valuable news than these channels do, it says something about those
channels.
It says I'm watching the Daily Show.



V. TOP 10

School is starting up again for most people, so I thought David Letterman's Top 10 Things You Don't Want To Hear From Your New Teacher would be appropiate:

10. "My name is Mr. Parker...but if the feds ask, I'm Mr. Johnson"

9. "Sorry I'm late...some bullies threw me into a locker"

8. "Anybody need lottery tickets or cigarettes?"

7. "My system is simple...I assign grades by height"

6. "I will learn your names when I sober up"

5. "Science, scientology, what's the difference?"

4. "Today you'll be dissecting the person sitting next to you"

3. "Daddy is sleepy...wake me at 4"

2. "I'm gonna learn you all kinds of smart things"

1. "Show of hands...who has a single mom?"


VI. SUBMISSIONS

Over 1,000 people receive the YWS newsletter, and if you'd like to have a piece published here, simply e-mail it to webmaster@youngwriterssociety.com. I'm looking for book reviews, writing tips, and satire. Articles on current events are also welcomed, however no opinion columns will be accepted.


Thanks for reading!
Nate