Young Writers Society

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Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!

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1. NAPO UPDATE
2. EASTER BUNNY EXPOSE
3. SOCIETY PAGES
4. POEMS, SHORTS, AND STORYBOOKS
5. RANDOMOSITY
6. WORD OF THE WEEK
7. GENRES GALORE
8. THIS WEEK'S ROUND UP
9. SHAMELESS PLUGS
10. SUBSCRIBERS

NAPO UPDATEwritten by Nikayla < PM: >

We're on the end stretch of NaPo and poets are beginning to ease out of the season, more completing their initial thirty poems and staking a checkpoint into the ground. Nonetheless, just because we're in the last week of April doesn't mean the poeting should, or will, stop! It's been a journey for many, this month, but it isn't quite over yet. There are still seven days left to defeat and conquer.

In April Madness, we're down to the final four contestants facing off against each other for the winning spot. In one round, we have @Lumi and @Audy matched up, and in another, @Willard and @PrincessInk fight for a spot in the finals. May we wish these four poets good luck in their endeavours to win this year's April Madness, and congratulate all those who participated in the tournament, being quite the brave feat.

As well as the news, I was lucky to snag an interview with the lovely @Aley! Here's how it went below.



Aley: Yes! I would be happy to help you finish your Squills article.



A: It's been okay. I have done plenty of poems for the date, but I'm falling behind on my personal goals.



A: I want to write a structured poem for each letter of the alphabet! I also want to finish Poet's Universe to get the relic badge, and do lots more comments to get the comment badge, and then finish up with the prompt badge. Basically I am badge hunting.




A: I hope so, but I'm quickly running low on time.




A: Nikayla is better at this than me. >3



A: Maybe.




A: XD Now we're just getting in a bickering war.

S: I suppose I'll end it here, then! Thanks so much for your time.

A:You're welcome! See you around.

And there you have it, folks! Once again, I thank Aley for the interview, because it definitely gave a lot of insight into the mind of a NaPo participant. Best of luck to the rest of you in becoming more in tune with your poetic muses!

EASTER BUNNY EXPOSÉwritten by Lumi < PM: >

Because of budget cuts, we couldn't license the real song, so...



Folks, it's time to talk about everyone's favorite pastel holiday. The time when pet stores want (and need) to temporarily stop selling bunny rabbits and eggs suddenly fill your yard. And, if you do it like we do it, a little aroma of vinegar permeates your grandmother's house for days on end. Why? Because the Easter Bunny has stopped laying his own eggs, and instead relies on us old folk to manufacture them. But are we complaining when we see the chocolatey grins on our nieces', nephews', sons' and daughters' faces? Not one bit! I'll tell you why, which is a lesson our grandmas learned around our age:

Seeing those proud smiles when a kid finds a tie dye egg in the yard is worth smelling all the vinegar you can find.

And, to me, YWSers, that's what Easter is about. I'm well aware that it is the celebration of life conquering death, but I offer this in loving query: as writers, can we see without unease that same celebration in our hatchlings enjoying the sun, enjoying confections, and enjoying time with their loved ones?

That, I believe, is what the Easter Bunny had in mind when he retired. But what are your thoughts? Join the conversation on your wall with #easterbunnyexpose and let us know what your Easter is all about!

SOCIETY PAGESwritten by EternalRain < PM: >

To start the week off, @Remembrance got a new necklace that says “I live by the sun and love by the moon”.

A new tag that has sprouted up is #fivelovelanguages , in which you take the Five Love Languages test and see which “language” you value the most. @primadonna’s results were tied with ‘quality time’ and ‘physical touch’.

@fortis’s finals are starting! Their first final was their creative writing one, which was basically just a bunch of big projects.

Another popular tag is #jumptheleaderboards , where you aim to jump ahead of someone in the all time review leaderboards. @ Nikayla wants to get to spot 61 by the end of the week.

@Steggy has is posting with their own tag: #funfactoftheday . One of them was:






@Love bought a new phone with a ton of battery, and can last for a long time without charging!

In the TV show area, @KaraStevens has just finished episode 4 of Stranger Things, and @Frinderman has created a new tag #tearjerker , where you list your movies/TV shows that make you cry. One anime on their list was Angel Beats.

@niteowl has a job interview on Monday, and @occymay got a their job. @ScarlettFire had a job interview for a lingerie store.

In other news, @RoseandThorn’s dress for her sister’s wedding has arrived, @Sheyren has decided that if @freakforchrist ever returns to YWS, the site would probably shut down, and @Sunshine1113 got inspired to write about superheroes from going to a thrift shop.

And that’s it for this week! Stay tuned!

POEMS, SHORTS, AND STORYBOOKSwritten by OreosAreLife < PM: >

Poem, Shorts, and Storybooks that's what's happening!
I'm gonna let y'all in on a little secret.... There are great poems, shorts, and storybooks out there by some pretty great writers. And here you shall find just a few! So go ahead and read and after you finish you'll want to go check them out.

Poems:
Romance by @KaraStevens
This is an amazing poem just full of emotion. It takes you on a rollercoaster ride of feelings throughout the poem. It flows great and will keep you entranced to the end. Also it is relatable. Can you relate to this, maybe. Go ahead and take a look at this wonderful poem. The writer did a magnificent job at writing it, and I bet you'll like it to. Don't forget to like it and leave comments and review for the author.










A quick word from KaraStevens:






The Whispering Pine by @midnightdreary-
This poem has such amazing detail and imagination to it it feels like you are actually there with the writer. The writer make the words your reading flow so smoothly together you are surprised when the poem ends. Also it makes you feels a calm emotion that you might not feel often. It transports you to a whole other world. And don't forget to like and comment and review after you read it.









Shorts:
28 Years by @DarkPandemonium -
This short keeps you on your toes. It's amazing! The writer does a great job with describing the scene and the story without giving it all away in one go. You really get a feel for how the main character feels and thinks throughout the short story. Go check it and and review and or comment. Also don't forget to like it!










Here is a quick word from DarkPandemonium:






Foster by @WrittenEdge- - This short was amazingly funny and keeps the reader interested throughout the whole thing. The details are so good you can actually picture yourself there with the characters. The writer does a great job of keeping it suspenseful so you don't get bored and then really bringing you what is going to happen at the end. Go check it out, review, like, and comment on it!










A word from WrittenEdge -






Storybooks:
Reapers by @Craz -
This sounds like an interesting and exciting storybook full mystery and action. With ghosts and monsters and has to do with the question each storybook gives you: "What would you do?" Take a look at it, it just might be up your alley! This storybook is accepting so join now!











The Dreams of a Human Child by @Sheyren -
This is a unique storybook. There are no characters. It is based on the dreams of a boy! How will this turn out? Tis up to you! Go, see, and try it out. After all it might just be your cup of tea!










These are all for this week. But there is always next week! Who knows you just might get featured? Until then, keep writing and I hope to read more of your guys' work!

RANDOMOSITY: USERNAMESwritten by Lumi< PM: >

Welcome to Randomosity With Lumi, where we grab up a couple of scragglers from a seafood buffet and ask them questions about anything YWS in a delightful park atop a picnic blanket with tea and assorted fruit. (In full disclosure, the majority of the fruit is strawberries, but I was remiss to tell this to my guests.) Here's what they had to say!

My first guest on this wonderful and totally authorized wordsmithing is the benevolent archmage, archbishop, Pokemon trainer of Kindness and reviewer of words aplenty, @Sheyren!



Sheyren: I'd change @Sacredlege's name to Sacrebarrel, because we all know what happens when Sacredlege's taste for mayhem takes over. Next, I'd change @Lumi's name to Lumiface, since it just works. Lastly, I'd change @Tortwag's name to Uncle Twaggy, because who doesn't want that?



Sheyren: black to become as powerful as the overlord Nate Probably a green-blue, like this, because it is an objective fact that the Snake Faction was the best, and shall live on!



Sheyren: I'm gonna guess that, no, there is no secret message or anything of the sort in freakforchrist. I doubt it's anymore than just a nickname... Wait. Oh my Lord. It all makes sense.

Look at freakforchrist's name. There are three words in it. Three. What is the first digit of pi? Three. You use pi when solving length values of circles! The biggest, most well known circle is the sun. The sun casts its light upon everyone, providing the daylight. Without daylight, society could not exist. Freakforchrist is hunting that they are the being which casts light upon humankind, allowing our society to exist! How could I have been so blind?!



My second guest is @chibibo, self-proclaimed 'fun guy' and mushroom enthusiast! So hello, chibibo! You're live and on the air; or rather the earth--I do not imagine you are standing on air at this particular moment.

chibibo: o hai



chibibo: Ok well. I think the first name that would have to be changed is the name of that insane-in-the-man-brain @Lumi because just now we did a joke where his name was Lumi-wan Kenumi and he was someone's only hope so that would have to be a thing.

The second name to fall under my tyranny would be that of @Big Brother. Why would they take their name from a defunct reality show? It's ridonkulous. I would bestow upon them the far superior name of Jersey Shore.

Finally, I would make it a priority to change the name of a particularly obnoxious member who needs to be taken down a peg. That's right. The name of @chibibo would have to be changed to... frick I dunno, something like... Duck Soup. Duck Soup? What the heck is that? What was I thinking?!

chibibo: Well, you're the boss, Master Kenumi.


chibibo: Too bad it's not as efficient as the weather service.


chibibo: Blue. No question. Gotta go with blue if I want to rep the fastest thing alive, the most useful engine on Sodor, and the power of the triceratops all in one go. Oh, and the world's foremost authority on cookies. Never forget the cookies.


chibibo: Ooh, what flavour is that text?


chibibo: Let me tell you something, Lumi-wan. I have been working on this for a long time now, and I'm pretty sure I've cracked it wide open.


chibibo: Let's start by converting the name "freakforchrist" using a substitution cipher in which each letter is replaced with its own position in the alphabet. This gives us the digit string of 0618050111061518030818091920. We then have to apply a different operation to each pair of number/letters. The first two, 06 and 18, were easy as 18 divides by 6 to give us 3. Then 18 and 05. I could subtract 05 from 18, but that would give 11 which is a two-digit number and that just steams my hams. So 18 divided by 5 is 3 with a remainder, so let's lop off the remainder and just call it 3. The next pair is 05 and 01 - add them together to make 6. 01 and 11 - 11 is written as two 1s, so we'll go with 2. 11 minus 06 is 5. 15 divided by three is five which is 1 less than 06. 15 sounds slightly similar to fifty, which when divided by 18 gives an approximate result of 3. 03 minus 18 is negative fifteen, and negative one plus negative five is negative 6, but because we only want numerical digits we won't add the negative symbol, so it can just be positive 6. 03 plus 08 is 11, which as we discussed before is written as 2 ones. 18 minus 08 is ten, and if we remove the one we are left with 0. 18 divided by 09 is 2, but since there are already two 2s in the sequence we'll just say it's 8 because we haven't had one of those yet. 19 plus 09 is 28, and two plus eight is 10... no wait, that's still two digits, um, let's make it 4. 19 and 20 are next to each other in a sequence of ascending (or descending!) integers, so I guess the answer is probably something stupid like 9. This new sequence of numbers reads 3362513620849. Now, if you call that number on a non-functioning 1998 mobile communications device, you'll be able to order the greatest Chinese food you've ever eaten, and you won't care anymore about some defunct user or their prefunct name.


chibibo: Now on another note entirely, I think Nate is hiding something with his deceptively simple username -



So, to all you YWSers out there, I think we can agree that the lesson to take away today is to avoid seafood buffets, as something in the crab meat, which both attested to ingesting, seems to have driven them, or at least chibibo, into a mathematical craze...and really, who wants that? Tune in next week, when we search for our gleeful goofs at a secret screening of Juno by the old pyramid we tried to build that one time. Until then, see ya!

THE WORD OF THE WEEK: Idyllwritten by megsug < PM: >
Pronunciation: ahyd-l

Part of Language: Noun

Definition: a serene, happy episode or scene characterized by its idealization or unsustainability
A short description in poetry or prose of pastoral scenes or any quaint episode
A short romantic affair of little consequence

Used in a Sentence: The forest provided much needed refuge for the travelers, an idyll the wizard would look upon with great longing in the times to come.

Origin: Idyll came about in the 1500s from the Latin word idyllium which comes from the Greek eidyllion which literally means a little picture. Eidyllion is the diminutive of eidos or form.

Related words: None

GENRES GALORE: FANTASY


written by Princess Ink < PM: >

This is the first article for a series of articles I’m starting. For the first topic, I’m going to talk about fantasy. I happen to love to read and write fantasy myself, and I also notice that many novels posted here are fantasy!

Fantasy, the supernatural. It can be wild with magic and magical unicorns, or unusual worlds with unique potions and flying carpets. Many of them are in an imaginary universe bursting to the brim with awesome world-building—and, of course, the beloved magic. I haven’t read a fantasy novel with no magic (no matter how minor) yet!

Fantasy is heavy on worldbuilding since creating an imaginary world is a new experience, especially for the reader, who doesn’t know anything about the world until they pick up the book and start reading. Or if it’s set on earth, weaving in the fantasy elements is as equally important.

Certainly, they are countless fantasy yarns. If you want to write a stunning one which readers will remember, you’ll have to draw them into the story so far they can ignore reality and believe in the world you’ve created. This is called suspension of disbelief, and it applies to any work of fiction. Obviously, achieving it is difficult. But is it possible? Definitely! Just grab a couple of your favorite novels and analyze what "magic tricks" the author used. And don't forget details and backstory too.

Now, since I've given my own opinions, it's time to turn to others: @Mage and @featherstone9086, two fantasy novelists. I sat down with each of them to ask them a couple of questions about this genre.



Featherstone9086: Why? Honestly, I've never really thought about it. I've been raised on fantasy and science fiction, so that's played a large part. Also, ever since I was a little kid I had a pretty wild imagination. Fantasy has always been enchanting (get it? enchanting?) to me. I love how it has no bounds - here, I might be limited, but there...I can do anything. I love the ability to create my own world and characters and pantheons and physics and gods and creatures. Everything there is a part of me, and I love that.

Mage: I write fantasy for two reasons - it's the majority of what I read growing up, and, if the username didn't give it away, I love magic! It's always a lot of fun getting to come up with magical concepts. I also really enjoy getting to escape from the real world and have a little fun with the world that I would love to live in.



F: World-building and creating lore. I can make races, and I can make magic, and I can make characters, but world-building....there's just so much. The pantheons are very hard for me, but I'm finally stopping my procrastination and just sitting down and writing it. The reason it's so hard is because there is just so much - gods, legends of creation, personalities of the gods, names, etc.

M: I think the hardest part is also the most fun part. It's awesome getting to look back on the world that you created, but the process of world building is pretty difficult. You have to solve the problems that you've created in the mechanics of universe. I think sci-fi writers would probably feel the same way!



F: Hmmm...advice...I'm really bad at giving advice, but I'll give it a go

I'd give the same advice to a fantasy writer as any creative writer: use music and let the story come to you. Find soundtracks or instrumentals that suit the situation to get into the mood. When writing Shadowsong, I turned off all the lights, lit a candle, and dimmed my computer.

When you have writer's block, I find it easier not to fight it. If it's there, it's there, and you just have to wait it out. I had writer's block for Shadowsong for the longest time, but the story just came to me yesterday when I was roleplaying.

For fantasy in particular? Don't limit yourself. This world has no bounds - the only thing limiting it is you. It's magic, it's fantasy, it's impossible; but at least to me, it's very real.

M: I suggest that you devour any kind of fantasy medium you can find, whether it be books, movies, TV shows or podcasts! Those are all great ways to get ideas for your own works. I also suggest checking out Writers Corner - it's an awesome part of the site where you can run your ideas by other people.



F: Oooh....that's hard. Either David Eddings or Tamora Pierce. Probably Pierce. Her stories are what inspired me to start writing my own fantasy. My favorite character of all time is Beka Cooper, a guardswoman in her medieval fantasy land of Tortall. She's strong and smart but also very shy. Gah she is so amazing. I love her ^_^ I love Pierce's characters and their strength. I love Eddings' characters and their dynamic. It's so entertaining ^_^

Also, on a different note, before I go, I wanted to share a quote from Dr Suess with all you fantasy writers out there:

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at the world through the wrong end of the telescope."

That's all. Thanks for having me, PrincessInk!

M: My favorite fantasy author is Jonathon Stroud, the author of The Bartimaeus Trilogy and Lockwood and Co.. Though the latter of the two is definitely more geared towards the paranormal, Bartimaeus showed me the wonders of world building. Stroud does a great job with introducing things about his world while also telling a captivating story. Plus, he has a knack for very entertaining narrators.

Thanks so much for interviewing me! <3



It seems as though Mage and Featherstone9086 share a common difficulty: worldbuilding! Through my own experiences, it’s a tricky element of fantasy as well.

So that’s it for today! I'll be covering more about fantasy next time, and feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions or want any aspects covered in my next article.

This Week’s Link Round Up 4/16 written by megsug < PM: >

We find out YWS’s poems can be used for than writerly mayhem in This Week’s Round Up.


@Holysocks came up with a cool idea. Taking a page from the popular “the user above you” threads, she put an artist’s spin on it and made one for the Art & Photography forum. Draw a character based off the last poster’s description and then leave the description of your own character for someone else to tackle. It’s interesting to see all of the different takes of different characters, but my favorite was @soundofmind’s version of @MeatBunCat’s character Mist:



Check the thread out and leave a sketch to see what others envision when you describe your character.


@JuliasSneezer knows someone who has social anxiety and wants to befriend them but doesn’t know how. @outvaders, @RoseAndThorn and @Tenyo. All three gave tons of pointers, but I like this one from Tenyo:







Check the thread out if you’re in a similar situation to JuliusSneezer or if you have a tip to add. This thread is a great example of how the YWS forums can be used for more than just writing related topics.


@Feltrix wanted to start a discussion about whether humans were still capable of evolution since natural selection isn’t as powerful a force in modern society. @MJTucker said no because:







Others think we’re definitely still evolving and @Zolen thinks even adapting is too strong a word, preferring simple ‘change.’ What do you think?


@RoseAndThorn is half way through NaPo and said she was going to try a lighter approach this year and then promptly ignored herself by poem 4 which is:







Lighter tone or not, I think it’s beautiful as is the rest of her poetry. Check it out!

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