Young Writers Society

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!

1. Three Guests, Three Questions
2. Ask Gruno
3. Wrapping Up of NaPoWriMo
4. Two Cents
5. New Arrivals
6. Shameless Plugs
7. Subscribers

THREE GUESTS, THREE QUESTIONS
CLOSING OF NAPOWRIMOwritten by AliceAfternoon < PM: >

April's NaPoWriMo is finally coming to an end so I wanted to make this article's topic about. I know I've already written about this month's NaPo but I wanted to bring some people in to talk about the ending of NaPo. For me NaPo was hard but it was extremely difficult. I normally write a poem a day (not a good poem but a poem) so that part wasn't that hard. I think the hardest part was staying motivated and thinking of what to write. Anyway! Thank you to @Aley, @bluewaterlily, and @Nightcrawler





Aley: I'm happy to have it done, but also sad. It wasn't difficult to write poems, but doing one a day proved a challenge I couldn't meet. I ended up writing 2 or 3 poems to catch up and then taking breaks. The challenge was to do the poems for the "[] of the Day" event



A: Always. I'm a NaPo addict



A: Write short poems and long poems. Pick something you want to work on that month in your poetry and write a variety of lengths. If you're pressed for time, dedicate yourself to a short poem and really try to make it exemplify whatever it is you're going for in just a few lines. That'll catch you up and keep you ahead of your NaPo goals.





Bluewaterlily: It feels good to complete Napo. It's also excitng because this was my year completing Napo, and it was challenging because I fell behind a few days, and there were days where I felt like I couldn't even write, but I got through it and had these awesome and spontaneous moments of inspiration based on all the experiences in my own life as well as having the opportunity to read other people's amazing poetry. I also had good support from my friends and fellow writers which helped motivate me to finish. For a first year Napo, it was a very good experience.



B: I would definitely do Napo again since it was a great learning experience and opportunity to explore poetry. I have been writing poetry for nearly four years, but I have not seen as much growth in my writing in those years as I did in just a month of taking the challenge of NaPo. I found inspiration in places I never imagined and it became easier to write. It also was encouraging to have other poets read my work and give me good feedback and inspiring to read the amazing poems other people wrote.



B: My advice for those wanting to try NaPO is to do even if you doubt your ability to finish or still feel conscious about being a beginning poet like I felt before taking the challenge. Just try it and surprise yourself. It can help though to have a friend either doing NaPo or to have a good friend reading your poems and motivating you. Also, read other people's poems. It can be amazing inspiration. And even if you don't finish with 30 poems, it's okay. Keep writing and try again the next year.





Nightcrawler: Well, I haven't finished NaPo quite yet, but I imagine it will be a big relief and a proud moment when I finish my last one. I think NaPo is pretty hard, especially when I have to juggle it along with school and other life events. It's difficult to come up with an original idea each day and execute it well, and sometime inspiration never appears at all, so some of the poems can feel forced. However, this year I held myself to a higher standard, and I'm quite pleased with some of the poems I got out. I'll probably publish some of my favorites.



N: Absolutely. It's a challenge but it's incredibly rewarding to see what you're capable of.



N: Think about it ahead of time! You aren't allowed to write poems for NaPo before hand, but definitely brainstorm topics and themes you want to address before April starts. I did this and it gave me the boost I needed to get through. Try to have a positive attitude even when ideas aren't flowing! I find that taking a break- taking a shower or laying down for a little while- can help restart your mind and get the poetic phrases flowing.
And finally, push yourself, but don't forget to have fun. Make it a celebration, not an obligation. Be proud in what you create, even if it isn't at the peak of your ability, because you can always go back and edit your poems after the month is over!

Well that concludes these lovely interviews. Click on the link to check out the NaPoWriMo thread and a special thanks to @Aley, @bluewaterlily and @Nightcrawler for letting me interview them and for giving us great advice! Hopefully more people will be interested in trying NaPo out in May!

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 Magnificent one
Where you the kid who always ate weird things like glue and grass in kindergarten?
-P

Dear P,
No, I never ate weird things like glue and grass. It was more like boogers and jelly beans I found outside on the playground.

Love,
Gruno

Woof,
What do I do when my owner is too busy submitting G&P questions or browsing YWS to take me on a walk?
-The Annonymous Riddler's Sad Pet Labradoodle

My Dear Pup,

You should join in on the fun, or you can run away and come be the official Runian Dog of Awesome Wonders. Although, don’t be disappointed if they ignore you because I’m much cuter.

Love,
Gruno

Dear whomever,
Can you stake a vampire with an artificial heart?
-WildBagel

Dear WildBagel,
It depends on what you’re asking. If you mean, is it possible to drive a stake through the artificial heart of a vampire, then yes, it is entirely possible. You may not be able to kill him but yes, it is possible. Now, if you’re asking, is it possible to use an artificial heart as a stake to drive through aforementioned vampie’s heart then I would have to say…

Did that heart come from Ana when it was frozen and pointy like a stake? Because unless it did, no it’s not possible.



Sadly, that is all this Runian has for this week! We need your questions to keep this column going so if you're interested in submitting, click here.

WRAPPING UP NAPOWRIMOwritten by Morrigan < PM: >

April passed like a leaf blown in a gale, and poets have wrapped up their fevered typing. National Poetry Writing Month, or NaPoWriMo, when poets strive to write one poem every day, has ended.

Some who attempted the poetic journey fell short of their goal, but even then, their attempts were admirable. @Meshugenah, while not quite making it to 30 poems, was on their 8th year of NaPo threads. This year, they describe the theme of Earthquake Weather with lines like

fences weren’t meant to be broken
things, braces falling down as prelude
of what’s to come -

Meshugenah's poetry is always worth a thorough read.

Congratulations to those poets who trekked through all 30 days and poems of NaPo! @Meandbooks has an exceptionally well organized thread. turning through the years is an exploration of life in thirty poems divided into four stages. While some poets had to scramble to catch up, Meandbooks was rock steady in their routine.

@AliceAfternoon had a rather enthusiastic NaPo thread. late night poetry from my trusty notebook explores many themes, but always contains AliceAfternoon's energy.

A more subdued take on NaPo can be found in the (non) master of my own (sham) destiny, by @niteowl . Spattered with beautiful imagery and some sorrowful themes, it is enough to make any reader's heart ache.

Some users even went above 30 poems in April. @Aley wrote a total of 45 poems, found here: Attempt the Thrid. It is amazing how many wonderful poems grew there like flowers in a garden.

Now that NaPoWriMo has come to a close, poets can take a breather from their whirlwind of words. Congratulations to all who participated in this April sprint, and keep writing poetry. There isn't just one month poets write in. Keep up the good work all year round!

TWO CENTS: TONEwritten by Aley < PM: >

In poetry and novels one of the biggest things that can change your writing without you realizing it is the tone of voice that people may read into it. This, in poetry, is considered simply the tone, and in novels it's considered to be the character.

So how do we change the tone to match what we want to say? I think that is one of the largest problems that writers have to face. In a novel, you have to avoid using the same type of sentence structure for every single sentence in order to avoid a repetitive tone. If you start every sentence with "She" then you're going to run into this problem. Look at the changes in voice between the next two examples.






In this paragraph it might look like really stable, good writing, but it can be improve because each line, pretty much, starts with "She [verb]" and that can get repetitive and boring very quickly.






Now maybe you're looking at that and saying, "Well that's a completely different paragraph" but that's the point here. The tone of these two paragraphs are very different. In the first paragraph the poem and repetition of the types of phrasing, the focus is the girl, but we don't have much room as writers to maneuver. It's all focused on her so we have a hard time adding to the setting.

The second time around, there was more emphasis on what was happening and adding in details about the environment. This gave room for adding in names, and setting providing a better idea of where Tenny was rather than what she was failing to do.

Caution, don't get carried away with this. There are still times when you want consistency. The range should be used for general broad areas where you're not trying to do anything in particular. It gives the mind a place to rest. Meanwhile, when you use repetitive tones, it'll tell the brain that there's something going on.

In a poem, it works the same way. The tone here is the beat, the stressed and unstressed syllables and how they lay out within the poem. The more you alter this the more you'll get people hounding you saying that it doesn't "flow" but in reality, you don't have to have a poem flow, you have to have it understandable. Sometimes you may wish your poem to flow really well, in which case stressed beats per line, and how many unstressed beats are put together will matter to the reading of the poem. The number and placement of stressed beats are more important than unstressed beats. This is because those are the ones people are going to see the most.

Changing the tone in the poem can be as minute as changing what sorts of letters you're using first, to something as large as changing the structures of stanzas to have hard or soft beats in certain spots as a repetitive pattern.

In poetry, soft tones are considered those which can be held longer such as f, sh, s and so forth. This means that words like silky, soft, fuzzy, falcon, shadow, shower, and stationary are softer sounds than words that start with hard sounds, or highly cut sounds like k, t, p, and b like in bath, pitch, take, and kid. These noises all represent a different response that the audience is going to receive. The best way to determine what sounds you wish to use is to read aloud and become familiar with the different tones your common lexicon [vocabulary] offer. That way, when you're in a situation where you want to make the impression of something being soft, you don't have to wonder what words will be soft and gentle instead of quipped, and kill the mood.

You can apply this to novels as well simply by transferring the new knowledge to what you already knew.

Until next time!

NEW ARRIVALSwritten by Defyingravity01 < PM: >

Hey guys!

We have had lots of new members this week, just wanted to give you all a warm welcome to YWS and tell you we are happy to have you! We’ve had a pretty active bunch this week with lots joining the monthly review day, including @YoungGod93 on red team, @Oswin1800 on black team and maybe a dozen others who have had the guts to join the insane competition.

Also, congrats to lots of others who have done reviews and already earned their first stars, including @NoStoryTime, @AsTheFlowersGrow, @Gymnast2801 (WHOA, 21 REVIEWS? YOU GO!!!) and @BaileyTheHoosier. Great job guys!

And, other members who haven’t had a chance to be as active, but are still awesome nonetheless! Why don’t you head on over to the walls of these guys and give them a warm welcome and encouraging smile?

@MinaSteriade @esterling @BaileyTheHoosier @Ivvy @Siddharth @Sunnysmiles @k8laughery @jeanettelee @EvilEpicPerson @supriya @titangirl @hyperbole @charlasLenMunick @allyleeways @tee2038 @matt2358 @inonefullbrightness @Insanity167 @ayekid @Dominator20657 @Gymnast2801 @DCS @girl12writer @Maya23 @@Midsummernebula @cgsmith6453 @bensayre @MyBeautifulSins @bloodstring @Blu @nxtg @nxtxlie @nxtxliee @bookita @Eagle @firelordzuko @koketso @satavisa @tmi @jokerman57 @NoRestForTheStudents @leosenseo @sophiaasf @TrinityRose @leesajohnson @KangaroosHaveJoeys @2016JUBILEE @AaronLedgers @AsTheFlowersGrow @javercher @Daisy @VivianEden @Dayelight @timex282 @DoubleH @NoStoryTime @helsisapotato @CaptainStack @seriouslyschizo @harshbhardwajeminem @sauerains @Oswin1800 @ellism269 @MidgeTheSmidge @Iamx @Adhruti @YouAreSociety @jartro @Spyderking07 @YoungGod93

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.





Click for more information about the exciting new Squills contest!






That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!



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!