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!





Of course, our content can’t come only from our staff. We also depend on you to help keep Squills successful. You’re all a part of a writing community, after all. If you’re interested in submitting to Squills, pop on over to the Reader’s Corner to find out how you can get involved by contributing an article or participating in other Squills activities.

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

1. THE LAST MAN STANDING
2. HOT SEAT: THEWRITER13
3. HOW TO USE A WRITING PROMPT
4. ADVENTURES IN WRITING
5. ASK PRUNO
6. TWO CENTS: POSITIVE VOICE
7. KANOME’S RANT OF MEDIA
8. NEW ARRIVALS
9. THIS WEEK’S ROUNDUP - 9/14
10. SHAMELESS PLUGS
11. SUBSCRIBERS

THE LAST MAN STANDINGwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Hail, brave Knights of the Pen and Paper! Perhaps you have not yet heard of the challenge luring writers from all corners of YWS. Allow me to enlighten you.

YWS Contest Master @Tenyo started the Last Man Standing Contest on March 23, 2014. In this contest, participants battle the beasts of writer’s block and procrastination each week to complete the chapter of a new novel project. They must complete and post their chapters by the weekly deadline—if they do not, their chapters are abandoned in the wilderness to the mercy of scavengers, monsters, and highwaymen. In addition to the weekly chapter requirement, other challenges are posed for the knights along the way. For example, the Week 3 challenge was for a famous character from film or literature to make a cameo in the participants’ stories, while the Week 15 challenge was the old NaNoWriMo standby of incorporating a ball of yarn into the week’s chapter. There are also pep-talks, a place to sign up as a Sage, and a thread for unofficial challengers—those knights who arrived late to the Castle BlankPage and started their new novels after March 23.

Those who make the deadline each week receive a boon of 200 points and the wisdom of a reviewing Sage to guide their novel along its way. The winner of the competition will be determined when all the knights but one have missed a deadline and given up the Quest. This brave knight will win at least 5000 points and the people’s fame and ovation forever. As of Week 24, there were five knights left clashing swords for this honor:



How do you win such a competition? Well, it’s much like NaNoWriMo in that sense, though longer and focused on posting a chapter each week rather than a certain word count. The secret is to not care if the writing sucks, the plot makes no sense, and the characters get completely out of hand. As Tenyo says when welcoming these valiant knights to Castle BlankPage,






So battle on, brave knights! We’ll see you at the journey’s end.

Useful Links:

Subscribe to the Last Man Standing Club here.
Join the Unofficial Challenge here.
Become a Sage here.

HOT SEAT: THEWRITER13written by Aley < PM: >

Hello everyone! Today we have a special treat of a newer member who has recently gotten her work into the Literary Spotlight. The work is about living life to the fullest, and, last checked, had 19 likes already! This work is called It's Better and only encompasses 13 lines. It's a good read if you get a chance. Here's the interview with none other than @Thewriter13 herself!



Thewriter13: Sure!



W: Well I recently went to a football game for a high school my friend goes to. I could've talked to people there and made friends with some of them. They all seemed nice. Sadly, my shyness took over and I didn't talk to anyone. One boy I knew was there, and I didn't take the chance to catch up with him. Now I fear I won't get to see him again in person >.<



W: It does



W: I guess I've never really thought about why I write the way I do. It just comes naturally to me. However I do the indentation to make the line stand out. I repeat it for more emphasis. Since "It's better" was part of the message I wanted to convey, I repeated it several times for emphasis



W: I was very surprised. I hadn't worked very hard on it, sadly, and I was just putting it out there to see what kind of response it would get. When it got featured, I was grateful that people appreciated it, but I had no idea why it got there



W: Hmm, I'm not sure. I don't think we should write to try and get in the spotlight, but write for others to critique our work.



W: I find it as a small reward for writing something satisfying to others I do like it, but it's not purpose of publishing



W: I have indeed. I've submitted to contests that will publish your work as a part of the prize, which happened to me once.



W: I'd say write for yourself. Don't write for others or how you think other people will like it. If you write how you like it, I'm sure there will be people who appreciate it and will like it. Does that make sense at all?



W: Okay good



W: Hmm, I look up to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, a Florida writer. Most probably wouldn't know her, but she moved to Florida not caring that her husband would leave her. She did it for herself. She lived in a swamp where most wouldn't live and wrote about it, which I found quite beautiful. Her words are very poetic, so I guess you can say she is both a writer and a poet



W: I guess I would say this: Take chances and don't miss rare opportunities. Write for yourself

As a firm believer in taking chances, I was really excited to hear @Thewriter13 talk about what she feels is important and how she went about making such a great success. Without further hold up, I hope you too enjoyed this interview, and maybe next time, it'll be you in our hot seat!

HOW TO USE A WRITING PROMPTwritten by Defyingravity01 < PM: >

Writing prompts can be wonderful things. Sometimes it’s difficult to use them, especially if it’s on a topic you aren’t familiar with. But once in a blue moon, at school you get assigned a writing prompt that you just aren’t sure what to do with. Or maybe you’re having a hard time with writer’s block and you can’t seem to find a “good one”. This How To is all about how to use writing prompts and to get more comfortable with a wider variety of them.

There are many different kinds of writings prompts. The one I’m going to teach you about is the easiest and better known kind of prompt. The kind that gives you the plot. “Write about (insert something interesting here)”. Or sometimes it will give you an interesting scenario. It just depends.

Step One: Finding a Prompt
Sometimes one of the more difficult steps is the first one; getting started. Finding a writing prompt can be done in a few different ways. If you go to school, your English or literature teacher might have a few on hand from a past assignment or they might have some suggestions for good websites to find prompts. Or you can just google the genre of writing prompt you want. I’ll include a few links at the bottom of this article if you’re having a hard time finding good ones.

Step Two: Outlining the Characters:
In many ways, your characters can be the most important part of your story. Sometimes it can be difficult, however, to keep track of them all. Their ages, what they look like, hobbies etc. So in many ways, creating a character profile might benefit you. A character profile is just a piece of paper listing out the important information you need to remember about your main character’s as you go along. They aren’t hard to put together and can be very useful if you get stuck. Then, you begin writing. If you check out a plot diagram-you can just search one on google images- the beginning of every story is called the introduction or the exposition. This is the part of the story where you introduce the setting and your main character, which is why a character profile might be useful at this point. A character profile also helps prevent contradictions. For example, you might accidentally forget the age of your character and make them a year or two younger or older than you previously mentioned. It just helps little mishaps.

Step Three: Introducing Your Plot
This is where the actual writing prompt comes into play. Some writing prompts are more specific than others. For example, I found one online (one I might use) that says “At a garage sale, your character buys an antique urn which she thinks will look nice decorating her bookcase. But when she gets home, she realizes there are someone's ashes in it....”
So when you introduce your plot, (if you used this writing prompt) now would be the time for your character to be at the garage sale, buying the urn. Using a plot diagram, your character buying the urn and bringing it home would be the rising action.

Step Four: The Best Part
This is personally, my favorite part of writing any story. The climax. This would be where the “Action” takes place. The part of the book where your Mom calls you downstairs to do dishes and you beg her to give you time to finish the chapter. Don’t even pretend like you haven’t been there. This is the part the captivates the reader and gets the most reaction from them. Using the writing prompt I mentioned previously, the climax would be your character finding out the urn has someone’s ashes in it. This should, ideally, be the part of the story where your character is most in tune with his or her emotions. Describe the sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach when they find the ashes. Describe everything without having a Ray Bradbury(1) moment.

Step Five: Begin to Tackle the Problem
This is the part of the story where the excitement begins to make its way from your short story, so it’s important to make the falling action as interesting as your climax. Otherwise, you’ll have an audience who just don’t care what happens with your main character. This would be the part of the story where your MC is driving back to the garage sail to return the urn. Depending on the reader and the writer, some might identify this part of your story as the climax. It really just depends what parts of the story you highlight with the most action and dialogue.

Step Six: The Resolution
This is the part of every story that the reader either really loves, or really hates. Sometimes (even in a short story) it can end with an implied ending or a cliffhanger, leaving your audience to guess at what actually happened. In other words, how is the conflict resolved? Or is it resolved at all? I would choose to resolve the story with the main character bringing back the urn, and then having an old person come outside and tell a really interesting tale about how the person in the urn died. This is the part of the story where you can be the most flexible with your writing prompt and make it your own. This is the time to include a plot twist and be original.

If you would like to use the writing prompt I used in this article, that’s fine. One important thing about writing prompts is you either have to make your story seem so original, the writing prompt has almost nothing to do with your story, or you have to cite where you found the prompt. I promise, no one will judge you. It’s just common courtesy (and the legal courtesy) to give credit where credit is due. So I bid thee farewell until next week. Happy Writing and enjoy the listing of writing prompt websites I shall provide below.

XOXO,
Gravity

1. Ray Bradbury was an author who was very popular in the 1950s and passed away in 2012. He was known for lengthy and sometimes over the top descriptions in his sci-fi pieces.

Generic Short Story Prompts
Horror Writing Prompts
Writing Prompts About Romance
Sci-fi Writing Prompts

ADVENTURES IN WRITINGwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

I am so very tempted to write about National Novel Writing Month this week, but I solemnly swear to you that I’ll hold off until October.

At that point, you’re at my NaNoWriMo-crazed mercy.

In lieu of talking about my favorite month-long, writing-related holiday right now, I’d like to spend September talking about writing a synopsis for your novel instead.

What is a synopsis? A synopsis is a one- to two-page document showing the narrative arc of your story. While it includes a summary of the plot, it differs from a summary in that it should include emotional twists and turns and show the changes the major characters undergo throughout the story. Now, you might think that writing a synopsis is something to do only once the novel is finished, but it’s always a good idea to get some practice writing one. Here are three reasons to starting writing synopses now.

To show to agents. Yes, this is the first and foremost reason to get into the habit of writing synopses for your stories. If your query letter catches someone’s eye, she might ask for a synopsis next. Not all agents will want to read one—but it’s best to have one on hand in case they do.

To check for major plot holes. This is one reason agents who are intrigued by your query letter will request a synopsis, and it’s also why I’m writing one for The Book Man right now. Since a synopsis shows the narrative arc of the story in a shortened form, it’s easier to see where character motivations are unclear or the plot doesn’t make sense. Once you can see these issues, you can go back to the novel and figure out how to fix them.

To prevent writer’s block. Now, I’m writing a synopsis before beginning my next draft so I can see if the changes I plan on making will make sense. If they do, the synopsis I’m writing now can help me in another way—it’ll act as a guide while I’m drafting. Because I’ll have a clear idea of how my story will progress, it’s less likely that I’ll get stuck while writing it. However, because synopses do not cover every detail of the story, I’ll still have wiggle room to make changes here and there as I’m writing. So if you’re opposed to any sort of pre-planning for a novel because you feel it bogs you down and keeps you from veering off into different directions, writing a synopsis—rather than an outline, for example—can give you more leeway while still preventing writer’s block.

Now that you know what a synopsis is, we can start talking about how to write one. Join us next week for the next installment of Adventures in Writing.

Useful Links:

Writing a Synopsis for Your Novel: A Scary But Useful Exercise

ASKPRUNOwritten by Blackwood < PM: >

Welcome to Ask Pruno.

This is my last week of my short holidays before I am back to the university of Pruno, so although there is much I have to do, I took some time to drop by my favourite fans and write my responses.


Dear Pruno/Gruno
Hi,
I have been having a lot of concerned responses to my writing and I feel it is getting worse. You see, I am only ever able to write dark pieces, especially poetry. I am not depressed any more but apparently my writing indicates I must be. I don't know why I can only write dark and emotional pieces but when I try to write happy things they come out so insincere and I never like them (if I even finish them). Should I keep trying to write happy pieces? If so, how? Please help.
Sincerely, A Freak.


Dear Freak
What you are inspired to write doesn't necessarily make you what you write. Although lots of authors have strong tendencies to agree with their characters viewpoints and motives, if I was what I wrote, I would belong to a group of homicidal serial murderers. But alas, I do not (Yet).
I know I personally write a whole range of stuff, but one characteristic of my work is it always ends in death, and that's a lot to say since I consider myself the most life-loving person I know. Just write what you feel like, it doesn't mean you have to sink into the mood you enjoy conveying.
-Pruno



Dearest Pruno/Gruno,
]I am aware that your favourite colour must be purple/green. But what is your second most favourite colour? Do you like each others colours?
-Pruno&Gruno Fan

Dearest Fan
I am not sure about Gruno, but my lost of favourite colours from most downward is as follow.
Prune
Blue Prune
Reddish Prune
Magenta violet
Almost pinkish
Dark indigo
Darker indigo
Lovely Violet
Blue but still a little purple
Dull Prune
Brighter Dull Prune
Prunish Sky
Muddy Prune
Over-Ripe Prune
RottingPrune
Rotten Prune
Healthy Lavender
Purple gemstone
Amythyst
Chinese Violet
Boysenberry
Blueberry
Not quite Lavender
Orangy-Pinkish Purple thats not purple
Super dark Purple
Even darker pruple
Slightly lighter redder purple
Darkest Black Purple

-Love Pruno.



Dear people that remind me of grapes,
I am curious as to what happened to the option of "I eat balloons" on the ask boxy thing.
-Contemplattive about balloon eating,

Dear Contemplative
All of those who ate the balloons suffered a high casualty rate.
-Pruno



O wise one,
the house's electricity has been knocked out three times in the past two days. How does one have fun when the internet isn't around?
-In the dark

Dear in the Dark
Pretty much mope around and do nothing. Your life is over.
-Lots of love, Pruno.



Remember, ASK PRUNO/GRUNO a question for NEXT WEEK by clicking the link below.

TWO CENTS: POSITIVE VOICEwritten by Aley < PM: >

How many times has someone said "Quit being such a negative person," to you? Ever wondered what it really meant? Regardless of external connotations of the word, there is actually something to speaking negatively or positively. Most sentence can be written in a positive or negative voice. This is because words such as "not" modify verbs, and sentences have those.

To understand what the "voice" part of that means, we have to look at positive and negative in a way that goes beyond good or bad. If we look at positive and negative in terms of Business Communication, a positive message is a message we want to hear, and a negative message is one that we don't. This could mean overtime, getting fired, or even just news about not getting that raise we've wanted. This positive and negative relies heavily on the listener's values. If they value time at home more than extra money, then overtime is a negative thing. If they really want the extra money, then overtime is a positive message. Is this what they mean by positive and negative people?

In my opinion, it goes down farther than that. Look at math. In math you can have positive values and negative values. These values can act as taking away, or giving back. Mathematicians like to use metaphors to explain it, such as if you have a negative value, "it's like you owe something at a bank, you still have the debt until you can accumulate enough to get back to zero." which explains how you can go into negative numbers for them. If you're taking away something negative, then you're, in essence, giving something positive, like taking away pain, gives you less pain. They use this to explain "subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive." Really they're just being cheeky, I'm sure.

Likewise, in writing, we have positive and negative words. I don't mean words that connotation something good or bad either, I mean words like "Not." Did you notice that the sentence I just wrote had "not" in it?

To write something in a positive or negative voice means to take advantage of these positive and negative words. You can say anything in a positive tone, without saying anything necessarily good. For instance, "I am going to destroy that," is a positive message. "I'm not going to let that stay undisturbed," is a negative message. Here are some more examples of negative messages, come up with a few yourself too:



Here are some examples of those sentences in a positive message:



Now that you get the basics of positive and negative speech, try it out. Write a short blurb, poem, or short story in which you write in only positive or negative voice, at least as much as you can, and then from there, reverse it! See if you can do it and what the affect is on the story. Comparing the two side by side can be eye-opening.

Not only will this give you a cutting edge, but next time someone says you're being negative, you can tell them "No, I'm just not being positive."

Squills does not endorse antagonistic activities.

Here is my attempt at the challenge to write a negative and positive light.





See you next time!

KANOME’S RANT OF MEDIA

Written by Kanome < PM: >

Hello. Kanome here. I have been away for some time now because of personal reasons, but now, I am back and ready to talk to you about my review, YWS members.

While I was gone, I did start playing a really good MMORPG game on the computer. You can pretty much let your character be what you want to be: such as a blacksmith, a duel-wielder, or even your basic mage. I am talking about the one and only Runescape.

Runescape is one of the oldest MMORPG games out there.
I consider it to be one of the most best games that I ever played in my life as a gamer.

There are a set of missions to accomplish on the main story line, but at the same time, you can master the skills that you want in order to be a successful Runescape player. That’s right, Runescape is based on skills, not level, which is the first time I ever saw a game like this.



When I first started playing, I was confused, like any other gamer should when they play a new game, PC or a different system.
The different kind of skills, which is down below.


Each skill can help you become something that you want to be, like I said before.
Skills list:


All these skills can also be mastered in such a way that you can earn an achievement if you master all skills, and not just the set you seek out to master.

Runescape is a wonderful game, overall. You can achieve many tasks on your own, or even just do the main missions. Either way, this game got my attention. It’s addictive.

If you want to learn more about the skills or even the game in general, simply go to this wiki below.
Runescape Wiki: Skills

I was recommended this game by my lover, and now I recommend you, YWS, to play this game. You’ll love the experience and addiction of this game. I am sure of it.

If you have anything to recommend me to review, simply just PM me or write on my wall. I will take any recommendation. Thank you.

Kanome

NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

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

@Swavvy123 has already completed ten reviews and earned their first review star. If you like teen romance, check out the first two chapters of their novel The Sun Will Rise Again .

If you want a vampire story that offers a different take from the currently-popular paranormal romance, check out @posh’s work The Story . He hasn’t been too active around the forums yet, but he’s quite friendly and eager to meet new people around the site. Be sure to say hi on his wall .

Fans of steampunk might enjoy the prologue to @Shadow61099’s novel BlackWing . They have completed five reviews and posted about killing zombies on their wall.

@DestinyXx has been pretty active around the forums already! They have posted only one literary work so far, but they love poetry, so be sure to say hi on their wall if you are also a poet.

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 9/14written by megsug < PM: >

Do you like links? Do you like the forums? Do you like rhetorical questions? Then welcome to the Link Roundup~


@wunmi asked for a few pointers on poetry structure and how to make a poem easier for readers to understand. @Aley and @Meshugenah came to the rescue and gave her a few tips that would be helpful for any poet. The one I think is most applicable for the newest poet to the oldest is Mesh’s bit of advice:







Swing by to enlighten your poet side or leave a note of advice for wunmi.


Are you tired of your same old boring music day in and day out? Are you looking for something a little different to excite your musical pallet? Have I found the link for you. @Gringoamericano has created a music exchange linked to his club, Music Buffs . Two people with different musical tastes are paired together to share their music. The point is to:







Now, get to broadening! Join today~


@ddman wants to get the Cloakroom in chat busy and wishes to have a week of chatroom fun. To do this however, he needs your help. He needs people to help him host some of the events, and even more people to be interested enough to come! It promises to be a fun event.







If you have any ideas for fun things to do in chat, let him know! He’s still got slots to fill.


@Snoink posed some interesting questions about abusive relationships in the SD&D forum :






Everyone who’s responded so far has had some interesting interpretations of all of these questions. @StellaThomas would only liked to be approached by a close friend. @Zolen thinks that the last thing someone should do is argue with someone in an abusive relationship about the status of their relationship. @windrattlestheblinds agrees with Zolen and thinks you need to show real concern to make them realize something’s wrong. @EscaSky thinks one party manipulating another creates an abusive relationship.

What do you think?

SHAMELESS PLUGSwritten by SQUILLSBOT < PM: >

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