Squills 03/22/15 - 03/29/15

Welcome to Squills, the official news bulletin of the Young Writers Society!

What will you find here? Tons of interesting news about YWS, including but not limited to: articles about writing, art, and the world of humanities; interviews with YWS members; shameless plugs; link round-ups; and opinionated columns.

And where will all of this come from? Take a look at our fantastic creative staff!

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Editor-in-Chief
BlueAfrica

General Editors
Gravity
ShadowVyper

Friendly Neighborhood Robot
SquillsBot

Literary Reporter
AstralHunter

Community Reporter
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

Resources Reporter
Available – PM SquillsBot if interested

Storybook Reporter
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

Poetry Enchantress
Aley

Quibbles Columnist
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Link Cowgirl
megsug

The Adventurer
BlueAfrica

Social Correspondent
ShadowVyper

Associates of Pruno and Gruno
Blackwood
Gravity

Media Critic
Kanome

Code Master
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

General Reporters
AstralHunter
Omni
Skydreamer


Past Editors-in-Chief
GriffinKeeper
AlfredSymon
Iggy
Hannah
ShadowVyper

1. The February 2015 Review Day in Review
2. Storybooks!
3. FM Interview with Holysocks
4. Adventures in Writing
5. Ask Gruno
6. Two Cents: Poetry Month
7. Kanome's Rant of Media
8. New Arrivals
9. This Week's Roundup - 3/22
10. Shameless Plugs
11. Subscribers

THE FEBRUARY 2015 REVIEW DAY IN REVIEW
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

You may not remember because it was a full month ago, but YWSers killed last month’s review day! The goal for February’s review day was 350 reviews, which was not only met but surpassed: the final count was a whopping 454 reviews!

The two teams last month were the Firebolts and Blue’s Clues. Each team did more than 200 reviews for a total of more than 20,000 points. But only one team could win, and the Firebolts were ultimately victorious, with 222 reviews for a total of 22,584 points.

The top reviewer was @CHRISSY321 with 40 reviews, while the top typer was @Noelle with 104,381 characters. CHRISSY321 has only been a site member since December, so it was fantastic to see her churn out so many reviews for us!

We were unable to interview February’s top reviewer for this week’s issue, but @Wolfare1, a close second with 37 reviews, was kind enough to talk to us about his experience with last month’s review day.



Wolfare1: At the time, I was super behind on some novels I’d committed to, and I was just determined to catch up. So about 35+ reviews, I think. I just finished them all, having nothing else to do that day.



W: Yes. I was part of the Firebolts, I believe they were called.



W: Yes, they did, with a wonderful effort from everyone.



W: It was very close! At the beginning, the other team was even ahead, and there was a great push at the end to try to close the gap.



W: Don’t kill yourself, and quality over quantity. The biggest advice to follow, ever, which everyone says millions upon millions of times.



Be sure to keep a lookout for information about next weekend’s March Review Day!

STORYBOOKS!written by Skydreamer < PM: >

First off this time, let's head over to the top of the Storybooks forum where we have the newest announcements!

Storybook Challenge Workshop [March 28-29]

This is a great chance to understand exactly how the Challenges and Badges work for SBs and learn more about SBing in general. You'd be working with the absolute best SBers and get something out of it; it's completely a win-win! The Challenges and Badges are meant to motivate more commitment and participation in SBs so, especially if you're considering starting an SB, or you're in one, or you're thinking about joining one, this is for you.

And of course here's a reminder to Submit a translature!!

What a great idea by @Lava to have written works submitted from different languages. 我很高兴！I know a little Chinese, (I speak better than I write) and I have always been fascinated by other languages and how words work in general. Recently I've found out about these gorgeous words in other languages that mean ten different things (slight exaggeration...sort of) in English. Why limit ourselves to a part of the world when the whole world is before us? I encourage anyone who hasn't seen this or doesn't know about it to click the link above and find out! It's going to be great and I can't wait to see the outcome!

Now, to the 'long lasting SBs' part of this article. Again, these SBs have either lasted more than two months and/or have more than three pages!

The Room Started by: @Basil

Dun, dun dun... The Room already sounds suspenseful with the smart title, and is a pretty suspenseful SB! Everyone is locked in this mysterious room and have to battle strange creatures, or you're the strange creature yourself. It seems to be a sci-fi action SB that's all about staying alive! And if I might say so, those are very captivating SBs to write for. Not to mention, they keep everyone on their toes allowing them to create new challenges every time. However, they can also become a bit redundant and hard to keep track of, and it takes dedication to keep them going. So I applaud the participators of this Sci-Fi SB that has lasted for quite a while starting in September of 2014. It is now March of 2015 and people are still posting, and they have gotten to their fourth page. Bravo guys, bravo.

The Broken Seal Started by: @Lumi

Another SB to have started in September of 2014 and to have reached four pages is The Broken Seal. It's an interesting one, and is about,






It seems as though a band of misfit superheroes come together to save the world through magic and the Elements! It's pretty cool and while I confess I am not familiar with this world, it's really commendable how long it's been going on for and how intricate and specific it seems to be. Also, those headings they have are awesome.


Last but not least, there are those new or new-ish SBs, that seem to be catching on!

Camp of Almost-Heros Started by: @ladcat13

This SB has two pages, and seems to be going for more. It's a camp that operates in the winter that holds some evil characters, who need help. It's a therapy camp for those who classify themselves as anti-heros, almost-bad-guys, or Byronic. I thought it was original in that way, and this rule was cool,






The idea was clever and so if you've ever wondered what it would be like to have a bunch of antagonists in a place talking about their feelings, there's an SB to write out your thoughts.


The Wilderness of Machafuko (Chaos) Started by: @TheWanderingWizard

Ah! Adventure and danger, who's with me?! Okay, I'll simmer down, but to be honest I really liked this SB idea and I feel like so did all the people who joined it! It's been here a little while actually, but it's reletaivly new and it looks like it's off to a pretty good start. A good story idea, I recommend everyone reading this to consider joining (there are still spots left). Go have a little adventure, won't ya? I hope it stays interesting for those who are a part of it.

Dream of the Stars Started by: @Wolfare1






What a captivating start! This was a very creative SB and had a lot of thought put into its creation. It's about a part of our life we've always experienced while asleep. And a fascinating subject. The SB also has a lot of mystery and seems to be one where you have to discover the unknown. Very cool.

And that's it for this article, but remember, there are a lot of other great Storybooks to check out! If you'd like to, please head over to the Storybooks tab and check them out. Have a great day!

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW WITH HOLYSOCKS

written Gravity < PM: >

Featured Members are important to our little online community. They are people we generally look up to and respect. They are great writers, role models, reviewers and friendly personalities around YWS which is why each FM receives the honor of a Squills article. So, give it up for @Holysocks, the new FM!



Holysocks: Yeah, no problem.



H: Well, it is certainly a nice feeling... like getting a surprise party XD Only without the awkward exchanging of gifts >.>



H: Hm, well I'm not entirely sure... but I think just generally trying to respect other peoples opinions and beliefs... and trying to be friendly helped



H: Lately? Probably the forums.



H: EscaSkye, although there are tons of other awesome people around YWS

ADVENTURES IN WRITING
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

After last week’s short detour from our usual paid programming, I’m jumping back into the three-tip format. (Aren’t you glad?) However, we’re still talking about motivation. As you may recall--although it was several weeks ago--the one-before-last issue of Adventures in Writing talked about extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation or, in layman’s terms, external versus internal motivation. In other words, motivation that comes from without--spurred on by events and other people--and motivation that comes from within--the thoughts and feelings of the character in question. Another way to think about it is that external motivators are concrete things the character wants or needs (food, shelter, children, books), while internal motivators are abstract things the character wants or needs (freedom, self-esteem, love).

This week, I want to go a little more in-depth about how to bring these two basic types of motivation together.

Start with the external. You don’t always have to start with extrinsic motivation, but it’s good to do so because it provides a clear reason for your character to dive into action. The readers get to watch an event happen or another character push your character to act, so they never question why the character is doing what she’s doing.

Consider Artemis Fowl in the first Artemis Fowl book, for example. He is motivated to hunt magical creatures because he wants gold to restore the family fortune. This changes throughout the series, but we’ll get back to that.

Some other examples of external motivators include: physical comfort, material wealth, survival or safety, and power.

Bring in the internal. It’s difficult to start with internal motivation for two reasons. One is that readers needs a chance to get to know your character before they can understand the deeper motivations for what she does. The second is that people generally don’t understand their own internal desires. It’s easy to figure out what you want externally: clothes, toys, respect, power, etc. It’s a lot harder to figure out that you’re motivated by a desire for self-esteem or a fear of failure.

However, internalization of motivation makes character action more believable and carries it further. Alternatively, an internal motivation that conflicts with the character’s external motivation can create more tension in the story as the character faces the internal conflict of her own clashing motivations as well as whatever overarching external conflict she must face.

The latter is how Eoin Colfer handles things in Artemis Fowl. Throughout the first book, Artemis is conflicted between his initial external motivation and various internal motivations that arise. On the one hand, he wants the fairy gold. On the other hand, he wasn’t expecting the fairy he kidnapped to seem so...human. Additionally, there’s the fact that kidnapping someone is a less-than-ethical thing to do, which bothers him. His missing father told him that gold is power and that he, as the man of the house, must protect the family fortune, but would his practically catatonic mother approve? Still, the lure of gold and the challenge of doing what no other human in history has succeeded in doing is strong enough that Artemis forges ahead with his plans.

Motivation is not the same for all people. A final thing to remember about motivation is that not all people are going to be motivated the same way by the same thing. This goes especially for external motivators.

Let’s take a final example from Artemis Fowl, shall we? In response to his father’s disappearance, courtesy of the Russian Mafia, Artemis grows up too quickly and takes on full responsibility for the family fortune. Aurum est potestas, “gold is power,” has always been the Fowl family motto and now becomes Artemis’ personal mantra.

Angeline Fowl, on the other hand, sinks into a deep denial about her husband’s disappearance. She spends all her time alone in their old bedroom, sleeping with the curtains drawn, and takes on the characteristics of an Alzheimer’s patient. She often fails to recognize Artemis when he checks in on her; when she is lucid, she tends to feel depression or anxiety. Once, Artemis even walks in to find her holding a mannequin that has been dressed in his father’s old clothes.

In other words, the same event affected two people in the same family very differently. How an event, person, or internal desire will affect your character depends on her personality, her past experiences, and her relationships with other characters. When it comes to motivation, one size does not fit all!

This is a cool source for different kinds of motivation, as well as other aspects of plot and character.

ASK GRUNOwritten by Gruno < PM: >

Welcome to Ask Gruno, the advice column in which stuff happens. Gruno will answer any questions you throw at him, be it advice, personal opinion, solutions or philosophy. My cousin Pruno has been busy at the wonderful school for Pruno people, so I will be taking over the column. Every now and again, Pruno may make an appearance, so never fear! May the question answering commence!

Dear Mr. Gruno,
Do you blame Obama?
-Obama

Dear Mr. President,
Well, I see that this question wasn’t intended to be answered seriously but as I’ve been studying politics in the magical world of Runo people, I must be straightforward. The way American politics works is that laws are made when they are written into bills and they have to go through the Senate before they reach the President’s desk. The President then has 3 options. He can refuse to sign it and the law doesn’t pass (after which, if ⅔ of Congress aka the House and the Senate decide to pass it, it becomes a law anyway) he can ignore it and in 10 days it becomes a law. This is for when the President has better things to do than read a bill. Or he can sign it and it becomes a law.

For example, health care. Obama proposed to Congress to just tax everybody a little bit more but if you walk into a doctor’s office, they see you. For free. Like no bills or anything. Not for surgeries, not chemo, not a flu shot, nothing. All free. Every health professional in the country. But then the Republicans decided they didn’t like that, so they made a compromise known as Obama care. So basically you have to pay around $500 a month or pay a $1500 fine at the end of the year (which in the end is less expensive) but if you break your arm and don’t have health insurance… it’s $10,000 so… yeah. Don’t blame Obama. Blame the Republicans. No offense to the Republicans but Obama legitimately wanted to help and is trying to do what he can. So stop being so hard on him. He may be the President but he has feelings too.

-Gruno

Dear Master of all things (including rice farming)
So in one of my classes, I had a whole unit on agriculture. Now, because of that stinking chapter, I know how to rice farm. So now what do I do with my newly found skill? How can I make the world a better(or worse) place now that I know how to farm rice and wheat and all sorts of crops?

-For Some Reason An Official Rice Farmer

To My Dear Farmer Friend,
You must plant a rice farm. This is why.
So smartphones are great, especially iphones. No matter what smartphone you have (unless you have one of those triple otterbox indestructable cases) then it will break. And when it breaks, the rice will attract the Asians to come fix your phone in the middle of the night.

-Gruno

Sadly, that’s all for this week. We need more. You all have been fabulous as far as asking questions, but the more we get, the better. We live to answer your questions and solve your conundrums so if you have a query, click this link

TWO CENTS: POETRY MONTHwritten by Aley < PM: >

With National Poetry Month coming up soon in the United States, I think traditions are the best thing to really think about. The idea of NaNoWriMo, and NaPoWriMo is to get people writing, not to get writing anything important, just to get writing. NaNo focuses on the goal of 50,000 words in November. NaPo focuses on getting 30 poems in as many days. This means that most people will write a poem a day, others will procrastinate and write five poems for the whole week on Sunday. Others still will only write 15 the first half, and then 15 on the last day.

The point of these is not to drill your brain for every ounce of fiber you have in making the last of the days count the most, but to just get awareness and get writing. So, even if you're not participating in NaPo, or NaNo, talk about it. Talk about why you're not, what you're doing instead, and what your goals are as a writer.

Maybe this NaPo your goal is to read 30 poems, one for each day, and in the end, you'll write something, maybe an essay, about the experience or the poems you just read. Read 30 different poets on YWS. Write on 30 different themes. Explore poetry for the first time and try to figure out what all the hype is really about.

This year my NaPo goal is to get 30 poems in 30 days, and read at least 3 different journals all the way through. I usually write more than one poem when I sit down to write a poem, so I'll probably shoot for 60 just because that's two poems a day. I also plan on exploring forms.

If you want to participate too, but you're not quite sure how, why don't you start by asking yourself what you want out of the month? What's important to you about poetry? What's not important?

If poetry isn't your thing, you might choose to do something with novels, lyrics, or short stories. Write 30 short stories in 30 days. Read 30 short stories. Read 30 different types of poems. Make a goal that suits your whims so that you don't get bogged down by it and instead of making it a chore just for the month, add it into the daily things you like to do, and keep it up after the month is over.

Challenges like the Last Man Standing don't have to be our motivation for doing things every day, or every week, or every month. Review Day doesn't have to be the only day we review. Instead, make it a goal to always be on the leaderboard at least with one review. This is what NaPo and NaNo try to teach us, the importance of making your love for writing a lifestyle, not a sprint. Yes, they do it by setting lofty goals, but at the end of NaNo, the goal is just 50,000 words, which isn't that much if you write every day.

Coming into National Poetry Month, consider what you can do to raise awareness of yourself as someone interested in creative writing. Make your NaPo something to help you reach your goal to become a well-rounded individual.

KANOME’S RANT OF MEDIAwritten by KANOME < PM: >

Hello, Kanome here. Welcome to Kanome’s Rant of Media, where I critique media of all kinds (books, video games, television, etc.)
In today’s segment, I will be talking about a manga, which is a Japanese comic, that I have been reading since it first came out.

This manga is about a girl who is secretly a famous cell phone author, who has started writing a novel based on love. She has not experienced love, however, and has to figure out a way to experience love by using someone as research for her novel. This manga is popular in the Japanese world. I am talking about Watashi ni xx Shinasai (Love Misson!).



Yukina, the female main character, is a famous cell phone novelist who uses Yupina as an alias. She starts writing a novel based on romance, even though she has not experienced love before. She meets Student Council President, Shigure, the male main character. One day, she picks a notebook that Shigure dropped, which contains the names of the female classmates he has rejected. She comes up with a plan to use Shigure for her novel in order to successfully write a romance. She blackmails him by threatening to tell the class about his notebook unless he completes love missions so she can experience love firsthand.

That is the basic plot of the manga. I enjoyed every part. As I kept reading, the manga became more intense as more characters, like Akira (Yukina’s cousin), Mami (Shigure’s childhood friend and Yukina’s rival), and Hisame (Shigure’s younger brother), appear. But, in all honesty, I never liked Yukina’s indecisive behavior in the beginning of the manga. She can’t decide which person she loves most, which causes more drama and suspense in the manga.

This manga is popular in the Japanese culture, rated four out of five stars. My rating is 3.5 out of five stars.

The manga is ongoing, so if you want to read it without going to a bookstore, go to this link .

All in all, I really enjoy reading this series. I can’t wait what happens at the end! Well, thank you for reading Squills. See you guys next time!

Kanome c:

P.S If you have any recommendations for me to review and critique, please PM me. I am open for any suggestions.

NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Take a moment to welcome this week’s newest members to the site!

@Bloodsrain has already earned his first review star! Head over to his wall to congratulate him .

@xXGenesisXx has made an introductory post in the Welcome Mat. Check it out to learn more about her !

@bluesofdays has posted a spiritual poem called “Everything He Can Be.” Stop by to drop off a review !

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 3/22written by megsug < PM: >

I could sell you one link for free, but (because I’m nice), I’ll give you the offer of four links for $0.00! Grab it before it’s gone~


@Firestarter has created a thread letting people talk about the great reviews they’ve had in their YWS lifetime. People who have helped your writing the most deserve some love from time to time, so don’t be shy and share your favorite reviews like @Morrigan who praised @carbonCore’s review because:







Praise someone’s review right now! Also check out Reviewer Testimonials in the Will Review For Food forum if you have a user that needs a shout out, or you’re looking for someone you’d like reviews from.


@Iggy has directed us to this website where you paste a bit of your work in English, and the work is analyzed to see what author you write like. @LittleFox had fun and got really good results for most of her works:







Find out who you write like today!


@Lava has thought up a cool idea for anyone who has a fluent grasp on a language other than English. A literary magazine solely for works written in a language other than English as well as translated into English! It can be anything from short stories to essays to poetry as long as it doesn’t start out in English. Dates to know are:






Recordings and artwork or photographs are also welcome. Email your submissions to lava@youngwriterssociety.com. Get to translating!


@LadySpark has gifted us with a lovely blunt article on reviewing, and what it means to tear something apart rather than just being mean. The entire is very helpful and to the point. Her advice can be summed up into:






However, the entire article is definitely worth the read. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that being critical and being kind can exist in the same review.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

We love to run articles and questions, but we also love to advertise for you. Let people know about your new blog, a poem or story you’re looking for reviews on, or a forum thread you’d like more traffic on through Squills’ Shameless Plugs. PM @SquillsBot with the exact formatting of your advertisement, contained in the following code.

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Place advertisement here. Make sure you include a title!

The Adventures in Writing Description Contest

@BlueAfrica is hosting a contest based on her Squills column, Adventures in Writing. For contest details, check out the forum ! The deadline has been extended to March 31st, so if you haven’t entered yet, you have plenty of time!

Translature

Have you noticed the sudden rise in the number of non-English languages you see on the People feed? Do you happen to know one of these languages?

There is now a new magazine you can submit to - Translature - where you can submit your work in a non-English language along with a translation into English AND get a chance to record yourself reading your piece in that language!

What:
Any creative work!

When:
Last date for accepting entries : 26 April 2015


For details, click the image. Grab your chance to be featured on the first-ever issue of Translature!

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!

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Do you, too, want to be enspoiler-ed and receive a personal weekly notification when the Squills newsletter is posted? Shoot a PM over to SquillsBot to let him know, and you'll be pinged along with the next issue!