Young Writers Society

I've finished 9 novels total, and I always have new ideas marinating. I'm very actively working towards traditional publication!!

Here’s what we’re working with!


WHEN I WAS ANNA
Novel 6
Status: We reached the end of our querying journey, but hope is still alive in 2023!
Short pitch: A girl with social anxiety catfishes her drumline rival but accidentally falls for him in real life.

NO BUNNY BUT YOU
Novel 9, aka bunny rom com
Status: Revising, hoping to query by spring if Anna falls through!
Short pitch: Rabbit welfare influencer Maia has to team up with her childhood best friend turned rival to stop an unwanted pet store from taking over their small town and realizes she might hate him a little less than she thought.

EVERY REASON WHY
Novel 5, aka Liz + Zac, aka Falling on Thin Ice
Status: It's for real a real book this time. While I've only finished act 1, I'm more confident than ever that I can make it to the end and finally let people read it.
Vibes: grumpy/sunshine (or maybe it's really prickly girl/soft guy), elite figure skating, let me give you a list of reasons why we shouldn't date, call it what you want by taylor swift (but sort of reputation vibes in general)

ROADTRIP ROMANCE
Status: still nothing, need to research, hope to write a draft in 2023!
Vibes: friends to lovers in 24 hours. only one bed. very fast, sort of illegal road trip. adrenaline junkies. boy is in love and girl isn't sure. dual POV/dual timeline. shenanigans.



Plenty of other vague all vibes no plot ideas marinating as well <3


2022 plans:
1. get When I Was Anna ready to query/start querying -- DONE
2. 24 hour romance draft -- thought about this book but wrote exactly 0 words
3. finish a bunny rom com draft -- DONE
4. get Falling on Thin Ice to a point where I'll let people (Icy & Mea) read it. -- WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK

2023 plans:
1. get No Bunny But You ready to query/start querying
2. for real finish a draft of Every Reason Why
3. finish a roadtrip romance draft
4. bonus goal: research for *secret project*



Crawls keep me motivated so I’ll still be crawling along and posting progress here! Feel free to comment/ask questions/whatever. Thanks for following along <3

COMPLETED CRAWLS:
1. All 7 years of the Extreme Harry Potter Word Crawls: 89,990 words!!!
2. Halloween Crawl: 3178 words
3. Mean Girls Crawl: 9364 words
4. Great British Bake Off Crawl: 7857 words
5. Sleep-away camp crawl: 4080 words
6. Draw 5 Challenge (five rounds): 5158 words
7. NaNo Academy Crawl: 16116 words
8. The Oh God I'm So Far Behind and NaNoWriMo Ends Soon Crawl: 10029 words
9. Road Trip Crawl: 10093 words
10. Disney Crawl: 2448 words
11. 12 Level Dungeon Crawl: 13,900 words (never. again.)
12. Gilmore girls crawl: 6437 words
13. Motivationally challenged crawl: 3147
14. Cutthroat Kitchen Crawl: 20,342 words
15. 8d20 Challenge: 2142 words
16. Apocalypse Crawl: 5929 words
17. Alice in Wonderland Crawl: 8555 words
18. Avengers Crawl: 7777 words
19. Bookshelf Crawl: 4853 words
20. Ultimate YWS Word Crawl: 13976 words
21. A Christmas Carol Crawl: 10253 words
22. Birthday Crawl: 2066 words
23. Git 'Er Done Crawl: 1245 words
24. Git 'Er Done Crawl 2: 1356 words

::eyes:: at that last post, v mysterious

CARLI! I can't BELIEVE When I Was Anna is already complete. It feels like you were JUST drafting it. Amazing.

Also! I actually love the title Dark Corners, Bright Spaces. This one definitely feels a bit darker than your usual stuff, but I'm really curious to see how it goes.

Also also: Liz + Zac reboot, yessssssss.

I'm so here for the L+Z reboot <3 I love those crazy kids.

Also can't believe how far you've got with what I will always affectionately know as the dark computer nerd love story! That word crawl was awesome!

@BluesClues lol the post I'm saving isn't sinister or anything I promise.

And it's crazy what I can do when I just focus on one project! I wrote the first draft of it in 2017 and then didn't touch it again until 2019, and it was pretty much all I worked on from then until I started my new WIP a few months ago!

@IcyFlame my hope is the first draft of the dark computer nerd love story (shame that can't be the title :p) will be DONE with the next week. I'm a pantser but this plot came to me so fast once I got going! And totaling up my words written from that crawl truly shocked me. 81k!!! Unreal.

And I appreciate the L+Z love from both of you!! Can't wait to hang out with these darings again <3

Let's start things off with.....

Mean Girls Crawl!


Because I love this movie and it's even a Wednesday, and on Wednesdays we wear pink.


It's my first day of school in America after being homeschooled in Africa for the last twelve years. I have to write for 12 minutes to get acclimated: DONE

I have to find a good seat in class before they're all taken! I have to write 300 words in 10 minutes: DONE! 302, just made it!
I get the last good seat in the nick of time and can breathe fresh air

^I know I posted it on a Thursday but I did in fact do that on Wednesday.

Now noveling WITH ONE HAND. 2020 can't stop me!!


On the second day I meet Janis and Damien. They convince me to ditch class and I get my first glimpse of the Plastics. I have to roll a die to get the deets on one of them. I roll a five so...
Gretchen Wieners. Her hair is so big because it's full of secrets. Probably thousands! So I have to write 1000 words: DONE
(I'll admit this was over a few days and I am now able to type with two hands again, although still not up to normal speed...)

At lunch I'm invited to sit at the Plastics table, but I have to follow their rules or write words...
-Am I wearing pink on a Wednesday? (not a Wednesday thankfully because I don't know if I own much pink...)
-Have I worn a tank top two days in a row this week? (you betcha - 200 words)
-Have I worn my hair in a ponytail more than once this week (twice that I remember - 200 more words)
-Am I wearing jeans or sweatpants and it's not Friday (wore sweatpants earlier, now athletic shorts - 300 more words)
700 words total: DONE

I meet the dreamy Aaron Samuels. I get lost staring into his eyes and miss Ms. Norbury's question. I have to write 300 words while I pretend I was paying attention: DONE

I have to do a 3-digit challenge as I survive my first 3-way phone call with Regina where she tells me Gretchen told her about my crush on her ex Aaron. 835 words then: DONE

I have some amazing conversations with Aaron (like on October 3rd when I told him what day it was... October 3rd). He invites me to his Halloween party and I have to decide how I'm going to dress! Either an ex-wife/zombie bride or a dress with animal ears. I'll do the former so I have to write for 15 minutes: DONE

Regina took Aaron back instead of helping set me up with him! How dare she! I plot with Janis and Damien to take her down.
Step One - go after her relationship with Aaron.
I have to complete the following three challenges to get Aaron to find out Regina is cheating on him with Shane Oman.
#1. I post that swim practice has been moved to the projector room above the auditorium (where Regina and Shane hook up) but Aaron just finds Shane in his underwear. I have to write 300 words to get that image out of my head: DONE

#2. Damien steals my purse and Aaron chases him to the auditorium room (but they only find Coach Carr and Trang Pak making out... awkward). I have to sprint to 500 words: DONE
#3 Play dumb at math and have Aaron tutor me. Steal a kiss and spill the beans, but he still won't break up with Regina! I have to write for 10 minutes to recover: DONE

Now we're going to go after Regina's "hot bod". I get the idea to give her Kalteen bars which my mom used to give to kids in Africa to help them gain weight. I have to write to the next 1000 while I revel in my genius. That's only 61 words lol: DONE

Taking a quick break from the Mean Girls Crawl to do a....

HALLOWEEN CRAWL!

It's a Saturday so I will do this entire crawl today!

CARVING - Time to carve my pumpkin! I have to write 250 words while I scoop all the guts out: DONE

DRESS UP - I get to choose my costume (superhero, something from the opposite sex, Disney character). In this crawl I'm dressing up as BELLE so that means I have to sprint to the nearest 1000. THAT MEANS SPRINT TO 50K which is 642 words: DONE
oope, doing this mostly the day after Halloween. OH WELL!

FIRST STOP - We go to a haunted house first. While I wait in line and try not to look too scared I have to roll a die and multiply by 100 words. I rolled a 2 so 200 words: DONE

STEP INSIDE: It's dark and someone is touching my arm. While I turn to look someone screams. If it's me screaming I have to word war for 15 minutes. If it's not me screaming I have to write at my own pace for 10 minutes. Hmmm I'm a baby, but I don't think it would be my scream. I would assume a friend is touching my arm until I saw otherwise and then I would scream. So write for 10 minutes: DONE (336 words)

RECOVERY: I survive and make it out alive! While I wait for my heart rate to return to normal I have to take the last three digits of the number of people online right now and write that number of words. This is in reference to the NaNo site. I'll look on YWS instead and multiply by 5? 61x5 = 305 words: DONE

TRICK OR TREAT: Now I'm ready for candy! I ring the doorbell at the first house and while I wait for candy I have to write for 20 minutes: DONE

PARTY TIME: I head to my friend's house for a costume party. I spot someone across the room that has the same costume as me! I have to write 500 words while I think about what a better costume choice would have been: DONE

MOVIE TIME: I wind the night down by watching a scary movie. I get to choose between Halloween, Paranormal Activity, and Saw. I'm a baby. I don't like scary movies. I've seen Paranormal Activity though and it wasn't that bad so sure, I'll watch that one again. That means I have to roll a die and multiply the number by 50 words. I rolled a 3, so 150 words: DONE

LIGHTS OUT: I turn off the TV and shut out the lights, but then I hear scratching at the front door! Is it last minute trick or treaters or something worse? I'm too scared to check so I rush to bed and hide under the covers, ready to wait it out until daylight. I have to write based on the number of people online again. Since I'm using the YWS website and not the Nano website, I'll do what I did earlier. 50 people online x 5 words = 250 words: DONE

And back to our regularly scheduled programing with the Mean Girls crawl!

Now it's time to crack Regina's ignorant band of loyal followers, which means we really need to crack Gretchen Weiners. I have to complete the following three challenges to crack her.
#1. I send everyone a candygram (supposedly from Regina) to everyone but Gretchen. I have to write 100 words for every candygram I send. One for Cady, one for Karen, four for Glen Coco! You go Glen Coco!! So that's 600 words: DONE
#2. I switch places with Gretchen for the annual Jingle Bell Rock dance at the winter talent show. I have to do a song sprint unless I know all the words to jingle bell rock...
I wrote it all out in a spoiler and I missed a line x_x so writing for the length of that song (which so does not fit the mood :p): DONE (82 words. honestly i'm impressed)
I have to write 100 words if I use the word "fetch" because I need to stop trying to make fetch happen. I can safely say I've never used that word! :p

Spring fling nominations are here! I have to write 450 words in 15 minutes: DONE
472, since I went over I've been nominated for spring fling queen!

Uh oh. I'm starting to fail calculus to impress a boy. I take out my frustrations on Ms. Norbury by writing in the burn book. I have to write for 20 minutes: eh. I didn't really finish this. I'll pick up here tomorrow!

Writing while watching the election coverage lol. (and then into the next day because I didn't write much on election night surprise surprise)

Starting with writing for 20 minutes again as I write in that burn book: DONE (a measly 285 :p)

It's the weekend! I have to roll a die to figure out my plans. I rolled a 1 so that means I go to Madison with my parents to see Lady Smith Black Mumbazo because I'm a good child. I have to write to the nearest 1000 which is only 293 words: DONE

Uh oh. Regina isn't happy that I gave her Kalteen bars to gain weight. She brings the burn book to the principal and spreads copies all over the school! The junior girls go wild! I have sprint to the song "it's a jungle out there": DONE (132)

Confession time! I can make one, I can make all, it's up to me:
#1. If you've ever said anything bad about someone behind their back, write for 10 minutes (guilty): DONE
#2. If someone's ever said something bad about me behind my back, write 300 words to clear it all up (I'm sure someone has): DONE
#3. If you've ever felt personally victimized by Regina George, write to the nearest thousand (OF COURSE): hit a wall and still have about 250 words to go but I know what the next couple of scenes are and I'M ALMOST AT THE END. So I'll pick up here tomorrow!

#3. Still feel personally victimized by Regina George so I'm still writing to the nearest thousand which is now 257 words: DONE
#4. If you want to bake a cake of rainbows and smiles for everyone to eat and be happy write out your feelings for 30 minutes (OF COURSE): DONE

Since I made all the confessions, I get to skip the next round!

Oh no, my parents found out I'm failing math. I'm grounded and I have to write 680 words to make up for the bad grade: DONE

I l o v e a Mean Girls crawl. Maybe I should try one...(especially since I'm going SO SLOWLY this month so far anyway!)

FINISHING THIS CRAWL TODAY.

To make it up to Ms. Norbury and to help my failing math grade, I commit social suicide and join mathletes. I have to roll a die to see if my answer wins at the competition. I rolled a 3 so I got it wrong. I have to write for 10 minutes: DONE

I hit up the spring fling and make a nice speech apologizing for being so mean to everyone. I wing spring fling queen and break my crown into ten pieces to spread the love! I have to write for 10 minutes: DONE

AND I SURVIVED MY FIRST YEAR OF PUBLIC SCHOOL.

total words written: 9364!!