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.

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

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1. THREE GUESTS, THREE QUESTIONS: REVMO
2. YWS CALENDAR
3. THE WORD OF THE WEEK: BAILIWICK
4. EGALITARIAN VS. FEMINIST
2. THIS WEEK'S ROUND UP
3. SHAMELESS PLUGS
4. SUBSCRIBERS

THREE GUESTS, THREE QUESTIONS
REVMO

written by marms < PM: >

Review Month also known as RevMo is an event that takes place in September. The main goal is to clear out the green room and to help YWS as a whole by tackling 50 reviews in one month. Three participants in RevMo let me interview them; thank you to @saentiel, @demongoddess, and @Steggy.



Saentiel: Team Tortoise in July restored my love for reviewing, and I had tried doing RevMo last year. So I thought now would be a perfect time to try it again!

DemonGoddess: I joined RevMo because I thought it would be a fun challenge to do this year. I had missed NaPoWriMo and NaNoWriMo so I thought that I should do this one. Even though I couldn't do a lot with it, I still attempted as many reviews as possible.

Steggy: I decided to do RevMo this year because I had done it last year. I figured also that since it was coming up, I could get a head start on getting my five stars and if I got those, then work towards a blue star.



S: I think it's the sheer amount of reviews you have to do if you want to complete it. You can have individual goals, but being able to say that you wrote fifty review months is a cool thing to brag about. I've been struggling with that a lot this time around. You need to make sure you can have a day where you write multiple reviews, or be able to pace yourself.

D: The most challenging part for RevMo, for me, is finding enough time to DO the reviews. I can review no problem, but I have constant activities, such as high school marching band, band in general, karate, flute lessons, piano lessons, my writing goal of 500 characters a day, roleplaying... I'm just plain too busy. So far, I've only gotten three reviews done, and that's only because I snuck my computer yesterday when I was grounded to do a review. So yeah, pretty tough.

S: The most challenging part would be not wanting to review because I do want to review, it's just my motivation that is not letting me. There are days where I want to be active in helping review but I get distracted easily so often times during one day I could get one review in and then on other days, I get in at three reviews.



S: Quality over quantity is always a good one, but my personal favorite is to include some positive things about their work. While it's important to help them fix their work's flaws and suggest changes, it's just as important to have them be confident in their writing. A harsh review could really impact their ability to start something new. If those tougher reviews are your thing, just be careful. You don't want to stop someone from writing because they can't see any of their strengths.

D: Review tips? I would analyze different types of reviewing, like poetry reviewing and novel reviewing, and check out the style of the reviewers. Then try to combine the style of reviewing (say, putting sections in your reviews) or adapt a review style as your own (get permission first!). Also, don't focus solely on grammar. It doesn't help the author that much, especially if they're just typos.

S: Some helpful tips I have are don't rush and read thoroughly because when you are doing a review, you want to be placed within the author's seat and ask yourself some questions on what you can fix. When you answer those questions, it is important that you read the piece in depth because you don't want to miss anything important within your review. Anything that you see that needs correcting, put it in your review.



S: Of course! I've learned some useful things this time, and I want to try them out next year.

D: Yes, I would do RevMo again, I think, with a lot more time and stuff, maybe with the half completed reviews I always do and never finish, haha. I would love to do RevMo again, and hopefully get the 50 reviews for RevMo

S: I would love to do RevMo again! Personally, I think it does a double kill because it helps people get more practice with writing reviews and also clears out the GR. And there are also times where there are RevMo workshops that bring people together.

So that’s it for this weeks 3G, 3Q! If you have any questions about RevMo or are interested in it, check out the club by clicking this . I hope you all have a great day!

YWS CALENDARwritten by Aley < PM: >

In order to keep up to date on all of the goings on this September, Squills will be giving you a run down on all of the contests, their deadlines, and the workshops.

Contests

Poetry Writing Contest – Closed

If you haven't turned in your poems for this contest, unfortunately it's too late. If you missed your shot at joining, and you really want to see a new poetry contest, ask around! Maybe someone would be willing to host another one.

Poetry Writing Contest

Review Contest – Accepting Participants – Deadline Sept. 30

There are still no submissions for this contest and the deadline is within two weeks time. If you want to participate, it'll be necessary to put some pep to your step to get in line!

As it stands now there are no submissions, so submitting any review at all could garner you first place!

Review Contest

Workshops

Knight School – Poetry Review Workshop – Over

The Poetry Workshop has come and gone, but you can still participate if you missed it! In an understanding gesture, Lizz has made the workshop available through the Knights of the Green Room club forum!

Knight School
Poetry Homework

Knight School – Chapter Review Workshop – Over

The Chapter Workshop came and went quickly due to real life situations, but if you missed it like I did, don't lose hope! There is still a chance for you to participate in the workshop by taking part in the homework event. This is just like the poetry homework event where you can go through the workshop challenges and reviews at your own pace and in your own time, and post your results in the club.

Knight School
Chapter Homework

Knight School – Short Story Review Workshop – Pending

Keep your eyes sharp on the Knights Wall to ensure you don't miss this exciting chance to hone your reviewing skills with an all new workshop based on how to review Short Stories in the most effective manner. Venture into unforgotten territories and strive to find your best blade for this new challenge.

Knight Wall

Have an idea for a workshop or a contest? Go for it! Workshops and contests are for everyone to create and enjoy, so the more contests and workshops, the better.

Until next time!

THE WORD OF THE WEEK: BAILIWICKwritten by megsug < PM: >
Pronunciation: bey-luh-wik

Part of Language: Noun

Definition: One’s particular area of expertise, interest, skill, or authority
The jurisdiction of a baile or bailiff

Used in a Sentence: The wizard never worried about pretending to be an expert outside his bailiwick

Origin: Bailiwick was created in the 1400s by merging the archaic English words baile and wick.

Related words: subbailiwick, noun

EGALITARIAN VS. FEMINIST

written by marms < PM: >

I’m a very independent person who has many ambitions and strong opinions when it comes to equal rights and such things like that. Personally, I think I was shaped this way because of the elementary school I attended and the community I grew up in when I lived in Europe for five years. It was an international, secular community that accepted everyone with open arms. It was a place where you peacefully worked together and learned together. It didn’t matter what language you spoke at home or what religion you practiced because the school was about education, whether that was learning the basics like mathematics or learning about each other's cultures. Sounds like heaven, right? In some ways it was but like any other place of course we have disputes and arguments, so don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t that great, but still it definitely taught me to have an open mind and to be respectful to everyone unless they do something to lose my respect.

I think the fact that I left that bubble and moved to America is the reason why I’m who I am today. This summer I had a chance to revisit my old community and I realized that the people around my age were not in the same egalitarian mindset as me. Majority of my friends were either ignorant to how the normal world is or were feminists (and some to the extreme). Now don’t get me wrong, if you are a feminist then that’s great. I used to be too. Personally, I believe that all people rights and chances to have a better life. I can’t deny that there are women who are being oppressed in the world and I want those women to have a chance to be free to learn and to live and to worship whoever they want. The difference between feminism and egalitarian is that I want this for everyone not just specifically women. If you find yourself arguing that feminism is not about women then I promise you, you’re probably egalitarian (because I’ve been there).

The differences between egalitarian and feminism is sometimes hard for people to understand, so let me explain the best I can.

Feminism is defined as,

the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

In my own words, this means that feminism is speaking up for women with the intention of women being equal to men. Yes, equality is mentioned here but feminists are advocating for women, not everyone.

Egalitarianism is defined as,

the doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.

In my own words, this means that this is a set of beliefs that all people are equal and deserve the same rights and opportunities in life. This definition is pretty straight forward. Some of you also might have heard the term equalism, which is pretty much the same thing as egalitarian, but it’s actually not in the dictionary like egalitarian is. I personally prefer the term egalitarian because of it’s not a new word, but I don’t mind the term equalist since it’s very straightforward with its meaning.

I tend to be quite passive unless I feel like people are being extremists. I can be very passionate about the topic when provoked, haha, but I try to be knowledgeable and I try to constantly be learning and changing. Stagnant minds are ignorant minds, or something like that. Anyway, these are all my personal opinions so you if you want ask me some questions or something, feel free to PM me. I’m open to discussions as long as they’re peaceful and respectful. I recently got in a conversation with some friends of mine over feminism and that’s why I decided to write this. I hope you all have a nice day!

This Week’s Link Round Up 9/17 written by megsug < PM: >

Muppets, journals, college, and games. This Week’s Round Up has some fun and some work.


@Lumos wants to know who listens to music while they write, since she doesn’t really. @GlamazonianGirl345 certainly does and offered her favorite song of all time:







Whether you’re as zealous as Glamazonian is or not, talk about it!


@LittleFox has been considering writing a short story in a journal style but is afraid the technique is tired. Both people who’ve answered so far are all for it. @Tenyo going so far as to say:







Tenyo also added that it may be overdone in online fiction because baby writers find it easier, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing it right. Agree? Disagree? Let LittleFox know.


@writingleos7 came from NaNoWriMo and started a thread for college students to complain about college life. @IcyFlame summed up the general feelings of the thread so far:







The thread’s been pretty dead since school started (coincidence?), but maybe some student could take a study break to stir up some conversation.


@Carlymillie started a game in Randomosity . This is how it goes:







The last word of the conversation, said by @CarryOnMrCaulfield was 'unhealthy.' Join in the fun now!

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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SUBSCRIBERS

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