YWS Yearbook 2024

spot!!

Spoiler

Things to include:
-Free verse club
-Duolingo takeover
-becoming a mod
-NaPo/NovMo/NaPo week
-travels
-reviewing stats

I was less active on YWS than in previous years, but I still enjoyed the time I did manage to spend on here.

> In April I set myself a goal of following at least two NaPo threads fairly closely and I think I managed a bit more than that! I also enjoyed reading quite a number of poets besides the ones mentioned.

NaPo threads I enjoyed following in April:
watercolor flowers & other pretty fading things - @alliyah

A girl called February - @NadyaStatham

on code and conlangs - @Spearmint

The Long Drive - @Ventomology

> I put out a wall post sometime in June or July to offer post-NaPo thread comments for anyone who wanted them, and I managed to comment on all those threads I promised to c:

> I completed 6 Poetry Windows articles for Squills! It's hard to choose a favourite, but I did like my analysis of the imagery in H.D.'s Sea Gods, although the writing in that article was a lot less organised than in some of my other columns. I'm pleasantly surprised I got into the structure and form of the poems as much as I did.

> This year was my first full year as co-editor of Squills! I'm really proud of the Squills staff for getting together an issue every month, plus the epic bonus issue for YWS's Birthday Week.

Here are just a few favourite articles of mine by our wonderful reporter team:

@Spearmint's Graphic Design column - I particularly enjoyed reading her thought process on how she chose to arrange various elements in her own designs. I've always enjoyed looking at mint's design work so getting a behind-the-scenes look was a treat!

@redcarnation's summer reads suggestions - I just really like the style and voice in this book review/ recommendation article.

@alliyah's NaPo Quick Review was really nice to look back on.

I also enjoyed reading @IcyFlame's reading log each time it came out!

I remember @NadyaStatham's People's Tab Highlights was fun to read for the variety of snippets of YWS life and also the encouraging messages.

I also enjoyed @EllieMae's article inviting YWSers to share in one sentence why they love the site - it's such a good concept!

(Give all of them a read, if you're reading this!)

> Later on in the year I finished my draft for MF, which was a project that started in NovMo 2021! I enjoyed writing it, even though it is no doubt filled with weird improvised plot twists and inconsistencies, plus a questionably coherent setting. It was definitely a process of discovery and I had the chance to explore the psychological aspects of the way my characters view the world and themselves. A very cool experience.

> In terms of lit mags, I enjoyed dipping in and out of Starling, and also revisiting Beneath Ceaseless Skies later in the year. (Note: both magazines have works containing mature topics - in the YWS system, I'd give Beneath Ceaseless Skies a 16+ to 18+ rating depending on the story, and Starling poems occasionally, but not always, go up to 18+.)

> I didn't get anywhere near my reading goals for the year at all, but I started reading Freda Warrington's A Blackbird series and really got into it. I was in the midst of reading the second book A Blackbird in Darkness on Internet Archive, but I'm hoping to find a physical copy of it in a local library somewhere so I can pick up where I left off!

2024. I had a lot of expectations when their year started. And I did a lot of things I didn't know I would.

I became a professional actor(booked nothing, but that's not uncommon) and also realized that maybe, that passion was temporary, and it's purpose was up.

I rediscovered art, bringing back the joy of simply creating, and putting pencil to paper.

I became happy just being on my own, I also became very lonely, had my mother ask me multiple times that I may be depressed, only for me to deny it and later wonder if she was correct. I'm still happy being on my own.

I grew closer to God, which is also cool. This year was a period of waiting. A lot of waiting.

I participated in LLS, started a (kind of failed) minecraft server, write an entire novel, and lots of other creative ventures.

I got sick for months, had to quit my job, helped my mother through a very hard year of mental, physical, and emotional stress. I watched my parents struggle to navigate the curveballs our simply /amazing/ neighbors threw at us.
Somehow they managed to open a police report against my father( proved, unfounded.) and a court case in the same year!

I watched my mother will her self for an unfathomable amount of walks around the neighborhood(idk if I've ever walked sm) which is a lot harder to do when you know people talk about how horrible you are. Or when they walk their dogs into you, or attack you. Or film you. Or drive you off the road or- well. Yeah.

I watched my dad become scared, which I've never experienced before, and watched him grow and learn new ways of living. He also built a large part of our house renovations. Which doesn't come naturally to him. So it took a lot of trial and error.

Collectively my family has formed new traditions and navigated independently form our entire family relations. We turned our house into a cozy space, while building a metaphorical and physical wall of safety around it.

We also found a new friend. A lovely older women, who live by herself with a retired police dog, an adorable and lovey dovey German shepherd.

Safe to say it's been a ROLLERCOASTER of events. But it's left me excited for 2025. I have no expectations. Just a feeling that a chapter may be finally closing. Maybe we can get some peace. I want to finish my Agents of Time and publish it, I want to finish Royal Feud and Query it. I'm also hoping to get a job again so I can actually have some money. Y'know, would be nice. All in all, im just happy to live each day, by day.

spot <3

claiming a spot!

spot (hopefully i actually remember to write this...)

I wasn't going to forget to do this this year.

• I'm heading into my last semester in high school. It's unnerving how fast the time has flied. I'm going to miss my friends and classmates dearly next year. But I don't want to think about that just yet--I still have a full five months and graduation preparations with them!
• I spent part of this summer living and studying abroad in France. It was simultaneously a amazing and challenging experience. I learned a lot, for better or for worse, but I wouldn't trade my time there for the world. It has helped shape me and guided my decision for what to study in college.
• I read sixteen out of the twenty books I had hoped to read last year! Hopefully I can complete a full twenty this time around. According to Letterboxd, though, I spent a good amount of time watching seventy-three movies. We'll see if this increases or decreases.
• I turned 18! Although the only adult thing I've done is renew my license, it has been an adjustment trying to think of myself as an adult. I'll figure it out eventually, though!

I know I wasn't the most active this year--for the most part, I stuck to moderating duties. But I did participate in a few things, and I'm here to tell you about them!

• The most important writing-related thing I accomplished was finishing the first draft of The Halls of St. Julian's on July 28th. It is the first novel I have ever written cover-to-cover, and I am so excited to be editing and rewriting it in the future. I sincerely hope its the first novel I ever publish as well. :)
• @EllieMae and I hosted the Reviewing 101 Workshop earlier this year! It was a blast. We also hosted a Reviewing 102 Workshop, which you can reminisce about here. I hope it was helpful to some of you--I had a wonderful time hosting it!
• I completely forgot about this until looking at my trophies for this post, but I participated in the YWS Olympics this year! I even won gold in the Write the Story event! Looking back on it, I am super proud of the story @redcarnation and I wrote. Good times.
• I somewhat participated in NovNo this year! I completed three PlanMo challenges, but only wrote 974 words of THSJ 2.0. However, after NovMo I was very motivated to write some more, and I'm up to 6,576 words of the second draft. And there may be a potential name change for it in the near future!
• This is one thing I never expected to do--I was the very last guest on the YWS Birthday Week radio show, which you can find here. It was so amazing and surreal to hear all of your voices, and I'm glad I could play a part in celebrating this wonderful website's 20th anniversary!

Goals

• I only wrote five reviews in 2024. :/ This year, I hope to write at least one a month and finally get my fourth review star after five years on this website. I have been saying that since 2022, though, so we'll see.
• I really want to join a storybook/roleplay this year, especially if it's for another edition of LMS. I had such fun writing LSS: The Last Word and An Unexpected Time, and I'd love to be a part of something like them again.
• As I said before, I want to read at least twenty books. I've already started on my first of the year: No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
• My writing goal is to finish the second draft of THSJ 2.0 and get it to a point where I can start looking to publish it (and finally let my parents read it)!
• Personally, I'm hoping to successfully transition from high school to college life this year! I know it'll be a big change, especially being away from my family, but I'm confident I can find my people and happy place. :)

To end, I want to thank everyone who has helped make YWS what it is. You all hold a very special place in my heart. From my beloved mod squad to members I've only bumped into in WFPs, I hope you know that you have all made YWS worth sticking around for. I wouldn't be here without you.

And, finally, to finish this post, I end on the same GIF I did in 2022. Happy New Year, everyone! I hope it's a great one.