Young Writers Society

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1. Knights of the Green Room
2. Society Pages
3. Three Guests, Three Questions
4. All Things Books and Reading
5. On Imagery
6. New Arrivals
7. Link Roundup
8. Subscribers

I have taken the time to talk with @dragonfphoenix to discuss the Knights of the Green Room!

As we all know, the Knights of the Green Room is a club/forum for people who want to review. But what exactly is it for, besides that, and what was the origin and original purpose for? I sat down with Dragon to go over some of these things, and here is the interview.



Dragonfphoenix: The Knights of the Green Room were originally founded by Hannah in February of 2013. If memory serves, it was originally just a thread in The Lounge before being migrated to a dedicated portion of The Lounge and receiving its own link underneath said Lounge.



D: KotGR was created to help keep the Green Room under control. If enough works get neglected, the Green Room fills to nigh overflowing. So the Knights' mission is to maintain a clean Green Room by reviewing new works as they can in a cheerful, thoughtful, and helpful way. Side benefits include the comradery of fellow Knights and mentorship older Knights can provide, shiny badges for completing certain amounts of reviews or special quests, and growing the community's friendliness and hopefully writing talents as well through constructive criticism.




D: Our motivation is as broad as our Knight base. Some enjoy being helpful and serve because they want to help out. Others like the atmosphere of the Knights. Some of us are CDO about the Green Room getting out of hand and like keeping the new works' numbers down while still being helpful in the process. Additionally, there are a few Orders within the Knights with certain focuses. I only know of two, the Order of Dragons and League of the Tortoise, with pledges to review a certain amount or types of reviews a month.



D: The Knights only have two official ranks, that of Knight and Squire. A Squire is a user who's declared their intention to join the Knights, and they remain a Squire until they've completed 10 Green Room reviews. After that, they're awarded their Knightly badge and join the ranks. Knights have an informal seniority, where there are Knights who've been around a while, and then those who've done a lot of reviews, but in either case Knights are Knights, all of equal rank, all for one, one for all, and so on and so forth.

One kind of understood title that to my knowledge only three Knights have held has been that of Commander. First and foremost was Hannah, then myself, and when I retired Iggy picked up the mantle. I'm not sure if a new Commander has stepped up to fill the position, what with Iggy being a Global Mod. And it is an informal position, meaning I never applied to be the Commander, Hannah just got busy with life and I was really active and expanding the Knights' compound and Knights looked to me for advice, leadership, etc. But I think of what little whispers on the wind I've picked up on, it sounds like Mea might be candidate for fourth of the title of Commander.

So there you have it! The noble Knights and Squires of the Knights of the Green Room are dedicated to keeping our Green Room to a minimum and making sure everyone gets fair and honest reviews. Breathtaking! So many of our members are helping with this, and people such as Iggy and Dragon are stepping up and being the informal leaders to help. The activity of the KotGR has been up lately, with @Kaos and @Moonwatcher being two of the members participating.

Whether you're a new member, an oldie, a Squire, a Knight, or someone on the site, reviews are what people need, and this group has it covered. Thanks to @Hannah for forming this group. Indeed they need more attention, as their work has helped several users in reviews, and helped the site maintain order in the Green Room.

Society Pageswritten by Mea < PM:
>

And to preface this week’s round of gossip social news, we have an announcement! After some discussion and absolutely NO bribery, you have not one, but two reporters ready and waiting to bring you all the People Tab’s goodies. @EternalRain and I will be switching off writing Society Pages every other week, leaving us free to do a multitude of other delicious articles on our off weeks.

-We now resume our regularly scheduled program.-

We start the week off with @Dracula going to a duck race! Unfortunately, her duck didn’t win, but I’m sure it was exciting. And now I want to see a duck race. How do the ducks know which way to go?

@Lauren2010 has finished the third draft of her novel (which I’m fairly certain has no duck races, sadly), just two months after finishing the second, and is now researching literary agents! Big congratulations to her!

The big Dragons vs. Monkeys chat event causes @Steggy to realize that dragons are just dinosaurs with wings, while @Kaos shrewdly points out that us humans evolved from primates (aka monkeys HINT HINT). Meanwhile, general confusion results from @ Rydia changing her name from red to an even brighter shade of green than the JMs, at least until the chat event kicks off and all the other dragons are greenified, while the monkeys are stuck with a boring shade of brown. I call bias.

A few hours later, sappiness abounds as our little Yewis turns twelve and everyone wishes it a Happy Birthday and gives Nate an especially big thank you for creating this wonderful community. Amusingly enough, Nate’s cake day shows up in the feed.

Maybe @fortis is the reason confetti is still scattered over my wall, as she wishes experience operating confetti cannons would impress employers. We know it impresses at least two potential employers, because @Hattable and @Crysi would totally hire her. It remains to be discovered exactly how she gained this experience.

In the realm of writerly woes, @BlueAfrica is experiencing shipping crises... with her own characters. Meanwhile, @Sacredlege is annotating the Bible, and the results are about what you would expect: much hilarity, probably blasphemy, oh well, I’m still laughing.

@Sweater has published a book! An actual, real-life book called “Who Even Cares Who Cares”. Unfortunately, it’s not currently available in the United States. It hasn’t stopped several people from craving a copy anyway.

In other news, @StellaThomas hasn’t posted a literary work since 2014 and has since stuck a chest drain into a dead piglet, @niteowl is having success with job interviews, @Nate posted a picture of a lovely English gentleman that definitely bears no resemblance to a shark (and likes tea!), @Apricity’s Chinese exam is finally over, @Dracula went and found some Fantastic Beasts (presumably not ducks) and so has @JuliasSneezer), @Strange points out that toasters can in fact be hacked, @ChieRynn is doing something for school that we think *might* involve birds, and last but not least both @Autumns and @willachilles have made their return to YWS after a fair few months.

And that rounds it up for this week, folks! The lovely EternalRain will bring you next week’s gems, but in the meantime if you have any juicy not-gossip to share, get posting!

THREE GUESTS, THREE QUESTIONS
NANOWRIMO 2016
written by marmalade < PM: >


We’re half way through this year's NaNoWriMo so I took it in my hands to interview the hard working YWSers that are participating in this challenging event. Thank you to @Kaos, @haredrier, and @Steam








Steam: It's my third time actually, if you don't count Camp NaNo. I first did it back in 2013, and did it again in 2015. This July I also wrote 40,000 words towards a novel.





S: I find writing relatively easy because I plan so thoroughly the month beforehand. I've written every day but I've now technically finished the novel, even though it's not going to stretch to the word count, so I'm not writing at the moment.





S: If you're doing it and struggling, just remember you can write fewer than 2,000 words a day and finish on time. With regards to writing fast, the best thing to do in my experience is to outline where it's going first and then just pound frantically at the keyboard. If you want to do NaNo, just go for it. Honestly, there's no better advice I can give you. Get yourself a bit of an idea of how the novel will pan out, so you don't get disheartened, and allow yourself a few days before November starts to really get into the story. If you can't summon up any passion for the story, the chances are you won't finish.








Kaos: Nope. Did it last year.





K: Depends, really. Last year was pretty easy, but it was also time-consuming. I dropped out this year at 10k since I wanted to do other things more but I might try and do it some more. I'm not a proser, I do poetry, so that's my main problem with it now[i]

S: Do you have any advice for those struggling with NaNo or those who want to do it next year?

K: [i][[Don't.]] Joking. Take time out of your day to do NaNo is my main thing, get a specific time. Another thing is that you need to not edit and it's hard to not go back and edit but you just have to write without caring.








Haredrier: yes, it is





H: I haven't written every day but I'm hoping to make a comeback[i]

S: Do you have any advice for those struggling with NaNo or those who want to do it next year?

H: [i]I'd say to give it your best shot, and try to keep going when the going gets rough. Write like you're running out of time.
It's what I need to put into practice myself
also it's not about writing something pretty, just putting ideas onto paper. Editing is for after NaNo is done


Personally I’m finding NaNoWriMo is very challenging and I will definitely listen to the advice given. I wish those participating luck and hope more will join next year! Have a nice day~

All Things Books and Readingwritten by Pretzelstick < PM: >


Hiho! I am so excited that now Squills has posted twice this week, because that means twice the content for all of your loyal readers (shoutout for keeping up) Honestly, I deeply love journalism so much that Squills provides a well-needed outlet for me to scream about books on the internet.


This is a podcast that I have been listening since Day 1, because as some of you may know who “Modern Mrs Darcy” on the blogosphere is, she like The “Book Whisperer” and what I fondly call my “Book Mom” and she has an amazing recommendations podcast which I draw inspiration and recommendations from. What Should I Read Next.




Something I can't let go of:
Emma Watson Hides Maya Angelou Books On The NYC Subway After Trump Win







Hermione for the win! A day after the results of the election came out, she posted this completely inspirational tweet that she was going to put these books in the New York Subway. This is not the first time that she brilliantly decided to do this; earlier this year she apparently hid copies of Maya Angelou’s book Mom & Me & Mom on the London Underground.


I wish that I could have gone on a field-trip to the NY Subway, and I would have willingly went just to find one of her hidden books




What's New in the World of Books:

Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto
by Tilar Mazzeo
September 27th 2016












I had an experience, I had a dream about this book last night. It was the most surreal and bizarre thing because I knew that this had never happened to be before, so I now have an obligation to shout from the rooftops about this title.


This reading experience was deeply enlightening, even though it was quite difficult to get into that head-space. In my opinion, this should be a required reading, because it shows you that there is hope, that there is goodness in human beings even in the most bleak circumstances. Especially considering this current political climate, I really do think that this a valuable lesson to revisit, before history could repeat itself.


Amazon-- Goodreads




#Reccomendsday:


This is a write-in column where I use get your recommendation requests/questions.


The third person who wrote me to me is the lovely @manisha who is the starter of the 2015 and 2016 Book Challenge thread on YWS, so thank you for doing that <3









This was a little bit more difficult of me to find, as I haven’t read those books that you love, so I decided to jump start my recommendations on the word “unconventional” and hopefully for the best.


The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin



This book is about with reincarnation, the idea of past-lives what happens when children seem to experience almost out-of-body experiences at a young age. Contrary to what this may sound like, this book isn’t about spiritual, it’s more clinical and scientific. For example, the author offers excerpts and cases from Life Before Life by Jim B. Tucker as references.


It’s also the mystery of a disappeared child and how they fit in is simply fascinating. Definitely an attention-holder and tear-jerker for me, so you may want to schedule a block of time and bring lots of tissues with you while reading. Was highly impressed.




Amazon --Goodreads


A House for Happy Mothers
by Amulya Malladi



While scrolling through my “read” books shelf on Goodreads, this one just popped out at me which the label “unconventional” and I decided to go with it:


The book is trying to portray the surrogacy industry that is rising in India. Throughout the whole story, at least from my perspective I was appalled to see the demonstrated a women's unwilling exploitation of "renting" their body, which was something that I was completely unaware of going into it. Some themes are: motherhood, family dynamics, what would do you with your body to help your children, etc. It’s a very heavy topic, so be warned, because contrary to the title of the book, there are no "happy mothers" that live in this place; because it describes all of the shabby conditions that they were living in and how blackmailed and monitored they were.


Amazon --Goodreads




Quote of the Week:









Happy Reading y’all!


~Book Whisperer

On Imagery

written by Kaos < PM: >

Imagery is a broad thing in poetry, and some may not know how to use it well. It's the description, the metaphors, and the figurative language. The imagery in a poem is the flesh to the skeleton. The skeleton is the structure of the poem and the general theme while the descriptions help get this theme across.

Some may not know how to describe things in their poetry, and it is difficult at first. Think of it as building the structure of a building, but you have yet to fill in the walls and make the roof or building something simple and then expanding on it as you go on. Say you have your basic thought, and let's say that that basic thought is writing a poem about fire. Building around this basic idea is thinking with your five senses. What does the fire sound like, does it crackle? What does it smell like, is it a gentle smell or is it an overpowering smoke? What does the fire look like, is it spreading across somewhere? Is it dancing and growing larger and larger? Is the ash dancing through the wind? What does the ash taste like on your lips, is it bitter? Is the fire immensely hot? All these questions relate to your five senses.

Imagery isn't just meant to be something that's pretty in the poem. It should serve some sort of purpose or function to go to the overall meaning of the poem. You're planting little trees to make a whole forest. The imagery should help get through the points of the poem and the emotions. Rather than just saying 'I am angry" as a line, you /show/ that anger through the imagery to the reader. The reader won't care or have any emotional investment in a poem if you just say your emotions bluntly, so that's why you express them and try to get the same feelings through to the reader that you feel.

Use figurative language to your advantage when dealing with imagery. Along with the five senses, it's a whole new set of devices that helps get across what you're trying to say. With similes and metaphors you can help the reader relate the one thing you're trying to describe to something that they might already know or make them think about something in a new way. Nobody wants to hear the exact same descriptions.

On the subject of figurative language, it is often tossed around by different poets. Nobody wants to hear the same metaphor over and over again in different poems, so if you're going to use a pre-existing line, transform it into something that is your own. Expand on it so it becomes something of your own without it becoming stale. With transforming it, you can twist it to your advantage. Say there's the line, "absence makes the heart grow fonder", you could transform this line into your own thing or own thought, you can even twist the line around with something like "If absence makes the heart grow fonder/then maybe I should just stay away from you." This turns the line into something new.

Imagery may be a hard thing to tap into at first, but it does heavily affect your poetry and how it's viewed. It isn't just there to make things pretty, it's there to convey emotions in a way so they aren't just bluntly stated and so that they can be better understood by the reader. Imagery can be affected by things that you wouldn't really think would do anything real overall like word choice or using one description over another, but it matters more than you may think.

The bone structure of a person may tell how tall a person is or their figure, but the flesh of a person has many different layers, and that's what imagery is. It's a topic we hear a lot in poetry, but you don't talk about the bone and not the flesh unless you have skeletons.

NEW ARRIVALS
written by marmalade < PM: >

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

@Sumac joined the YWS family on November 15th and @Fathima97 joined on November 14th and they both already have three reviews! Two more and we’ll able able to chat with them on the chatbar. Keep it up you two :b

@Adah already has twelve posts and just joined on November 13th!

@Tiptoe has eight posts and six reviews, and they just joined on November 13th! Cool username by the way.

@rapmon8965? Do you happen to be an ARMY/BTS fan, if so the Kpop Fan club would be a great club for you!

@felidae joined on November 11th. They’ve posted seven posts and five reviews. Now we can chat with them in the chatbar!

@WhosabellCanWrite has gotten four reviews! One more until they get the chatbar. They also joined on November 11th.

@ZeldaIsShiek has 17 posts and 17 reviews, and they just joined on November 9th!

This Week’s Link Round Up 11/20 written by megsug < PM: >

Speak up about different aspects of YWS and listen about the ongoings of Nano in This Week’s Round Up!


At the beginning of the month @Kaos put up a poll for users to vote in trying to determine what the populace are interested in: contests or workshops. Or both. Or neither. Those voting have overwhelmingly cried for both, but Kaos doesn’t just want a simple vote.







This is your chance! Let a mod know what you’d like to see.


@marmalade wants some help coming up with ideas for her Squills column, 3 Guests, 3 Questions. @Mage came up with a really good one:







Can you beat that idea? This week’s 3G, 3Q was especially timely. It was about Nano.


@Lumi wanted to hear who was participating in Nano this year and what their goals were. @LeftyWriter sounds pretty brave:







Everyone from Nano newbs to veterans posted, describing goals and products a little.


Have a club! @StellaThomas created a club for community and encouragement. @ChildOfNowhere is issuing daily challenges, and people are posting their word counts and milestones. @jumpingsheep has a reason to celebrate:







On time too! Congrats and good luck for the rest of the month.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!