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!

1. ADVENTURES IN WRITING
2. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: ARTEMIS15SC
3. NEW ARRIVALS
4. THIS WEEK’S ROUNDUP – 1/25
5. SHAMELESS PLUGS
6. SUBSCRIBERS

ADVENTURES IN WRITINGwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

A while back, we talked about different ways to describe characters without getting listy and dull about it. Since characters are an important part of any story, I’d like to move from character description to character development. But I don’t mean character development throughout the course of a story. You know the type: the witch who goes from rule-following A+ student to loyal friend and general BAMF; the unadventurous Hobbit who becomes a first-class burglar.

No, what I’m talking about is the development your characters go through from draft to draft. Let’s call it character revision, to keep it separate from our notions of character development. It’s an issue that’s been on my mind a lot lately, since I discovered a character in The Book Man who needed work. Even though I—and my readers—liked her in early drafts, I discovered as I wrote my most recent draft that I’d become bored with her. I couldn’t understand it. After all, I liked her in the first several drafts. What had happened?

This was similar to an issue I discovered with an earlier character, so it got me thinking about the reasons a character might need revision. All characters undergo a certain amount of revision as you go from draft to draft. It’s unavoidable, as your characters will necessarily change to accommodate changes to the plot, setting, and other characters. Sometimes, however, you stumble across a particular character that needs more work than the rest. There are several reasons this might happen.

They’re boxed in. This character has been assigned a strict role in the story. Maybe you have decided they will be The Love Interest. Maybe you intended them as a Strong Female Character. Whatever box you’ve put them in, you’ve taped it shut so tight that your poor character can’t so much as stretch. Instead, she’s fixed firmly in place. Her emotions and dialogue are wooden and unauthentic because you dictate every one of them, rather than allowing her to surprise you now and then as you write. For the same reason, her motivations are superficial at best.

For me, this character was Liza Smithson. I knew something was wrong with her from the beginning, but it was only after @Rydia pointed out that she was too good at everything that I realized what the problem was. She had been designated as a Strong Female Character. As such, she took everything in stride, never had any difficulties, and had the personality of a cereal box.

And I don’t mean the fun, colorful boxes that kids’ cereal comes in. I mean the boring boxes that hold high-fiber, heart-healthy cereal that tastes like cardboard.

Here’s a hint for spotting this character: you probably don’t enjoy writing her. You may feel like you want to, but you don’t, and you’re not sure why. That’s where reviewers come in! Even if you feel like the story isn’t good enough to be read by outside eyes, it’s time to show it to a few trusted friends. Ask them to think about this character. Do they care about her? Do they really feel for her? If not, why not? What could you do to make her more believable? Giving your readers a specific task and a list of questions can help them give you better feedback that will aid you in your quest to revise your character.

They’re stuck in the first draft. This character will not be spotted until you’re several drafts into revision. You probably enjoyed writing this character in the first draft. She was fun and interesting. But several drafts in, the character has become less interesting, even though she’s not any different than she was in the first draft.

Of course, that’s precisely what the problem is. While you’ve been busy beefing up the other characters, this character has remained in stasis. Although she was in a good place in the first draft, she now seems dull in comparison to the rest of the cast.

This was the case with my character Minerva. Unlike with Liza, I didn’t realize anything was wrong with her until recently. This is because, in the first draft, Minerva was the source of a lot of cute moments. That’s enough for a first-draft character, but after all the work I’ve done on Liza and the others, Minerva’s original character doesn’t hold up anymore.

Readers may not see anything wrong with this character, at least not until they’ve read the most recent version of your story. Until they have other highly-revised characters to compare her to, they’ll like her just as much as they did in the first draft—so it’s up to you to catch this character.

They just need a change. Sometimes, characters need revision for an indeterminate reason. Readers may never realize that such a character needs revision at all.

I know this is a vague, general point, so let me illustrate it with another example. One of my characters, an elf named Tirion, was originally a woman. Less than one chapter in, however, I decided I didn’t enjoy writing her. I just didn’t like her as a woman. So what did I do? I turned her into a man, without changing any of her previous dialogue or actions.

This is what led to the presence of so many queer characters in the story, but that’s an article for another time. The point is that changing this character’s gender took care of the problems I was having. So if you find a character who gives you trouble from his introduction, experiment with him! Genderbend him, change his occupation or family situation, or put him in a new setting. Changing just one basic aspect of who your character is can change how you feel about him.

However, such changes aren’t limited to characters who are giving you problems. For example, I changed the twin ringmasters in the story from male to female after @Hannah pointed out that there were a lot of men in my novel. This wasn’t a change that needed to be made—I enjoyed writing my ringmasters, readers enjoyed reading them, and their gender makes no difference to the plot. But, in addition to creating more variety in the story, making this change made these characters even better. Once the ringmasters were female, their backstories grew richer, their inter-character relationships deeper, and their personalities diverged and became more distinct.

Once you’ve figured out which characters need a change, it’s time to start revising. Next week, we’ll discuss tips for shaking your characters up and turning them into fully-fledged people who are fun to write.

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: ARTEMIS15SCwritten by Aley < PM: >

Our Featured Member this month is a member who joined us back in 2011 when she started working on Legacy , her first of many attempts to write a novel all the way through. She almost joined us again in 2013, with Intertwined , but the fanfiction died after a short run of six chapters. @artemis15sc finally reclaimed her place on YWS in 2014, with encouragement, by writing book one of her Alpha series, Alpha: The God's Song , which is now complete, and the sequel of the young adult series. With bookishly long reviews and a bright love for Review Day, Artemis has claimed the spot of Featured Member and joined us for an interview about the experience, and about herself.



Artemis15sc: Yeah, so, I remember I logged on and was confused by all the notifications, and then I read the FM article, then sat and stared at my laptop screen for like five minutes just saying "What? Wait? Really? What?" Over and over again, out loud. It's a good thing my roommate wasn't there.



A: Yeah it's been fun. It's allowed me to meet new people on this site, which is always nice.



A: That and seeing my name on the home screen, which is still kind of weird.



A: Review Day. It's like my new favorite Holiday. Not including actual holidays like Christmas and Halloween, of course.



A: I'm crazy competitive, for one thing, and I love finding an old, un-reviewed story in the Green Room.



A: Yeah, so when I was fifteen I went crazy about writing. I definitely loved the reviews I got here. Then I got to my Junior Year of High School and died. I was dead for a while, but after I finished my first Novel I decided to come back. That was about six months ago, and I've been crazy ever since. I definitely regret losing those three years or so, but all it means is that I've got to make the most of my time now.



A: Every review you give and every review you receive will make you a better writer. You can learn so much from the writers here and you have so much to teach them too. It's not a resource you want to waste or take for granted, by any means. I'm not sure there's anything else out there quite like it.



A: Oh, not at all. I love writing and will probably do it until I die, especially since I really want to write all eighty of my book ideas. I've decided to do everything in power to become a published, professional writer, so at least I can live without regrets even if it doesn't work out.

S: What do your books center around?

A:[i] Well, I want to be a Young Adult urban fantasy writer, but I keep coming up with these weird ideas for medieval romance novels. xD



A: Umm... if anyone asks about my name, 15 is my favorite number, and sc are the initials of my favorite fictional character (but don't tell my other babies), and then Artemis because she's awesome.



A: I haven't written her story yet, and I actually changed her name to Jessica Rose, but S.C. still refers to her.



A: Thanks so much!


And there you have it. Right from Artemis15sc's own lips, Artemis is awesome, 15 is her favorite number, and S.C. still wants her story written. With more excellent reviews, and a book's worth of chapters, we've got plenty of reading material to tide us over.

Until Next Time!

NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

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

@Sarah12 joined Team Blue Moon for this month’s Review Day and has so far done two reviews to help her teams efforts! Go to her wall to say hi .

@AlyssaB506 is working on a novel about a 14-year-old boy who gets pulled through a door into an alternate world. Go here to leave her a review .

@Dorsia has received some attention for her avatar, a character from “Black Butler.” Check out her post in this topic .

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 1/25written by megsug < PM: >

I’m pretty sure something ridiculous goes here… Four links! Here! Now! Get them!


@Tenyo wrote an article on when to share your work and how to develop a skin that can’t be hurt by criticism but also be able to soak in the helpful tidbits. There’s a great line in her article where they’re talking about being perfectionists in our writing:







Check it out for all the lovely Tenyo wisdom in there


@TheArchon needs to know how to stick to a story without betting bored or distracted with another idea. @TriSARAHtops gave him some great advice:







It’s not an instant fix, but it’s probably the best one there is. Click the link to find more lovely tips from multiple users


Well… Maybe one love and a grudging necessity. @mosbiusdesigns isn’t sure how to balance school and writing to form a lovely harmony of pleasure and education. The answer is similar to the question in the last link. @Rosendorn told her that writing in small chunks works:







See what other people think and more of Rosey’s advice in the thread.


A new activity is upon us. Create Your Own Adventure has taken root in the Lounge. @CYOA explains it… kind of… here:






Basically, the point is to be ridiculous and have fun. Read the thread for a clearer description and join the club to post commands.

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.

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A poetry-inspired contest

@TriSARAHtops has started a short story contest which finally brings prose and poetry together. All you have to do is write a short story based on a poem - Check out the forum for more info! Entries close March 31st, so be sure to enter for the chance to win!

The Sims: YWS EDITION

This club is about bringing people together under multiple different roofs, and simulating a family, much like the SIMs game, but instead of being the controller of all the world, you're a SIM! When you enter into the month long family set up, you're put into a family with other users who you then have to deal with for the next month, like any other family. In these families, you give gifts, write reviews, talk to each other, encourage each other, make a family tree, and potentially even a family narrative. The best part? The family sizes will be between four and six members from all walks of life. So if you're ready to get three to five new friends this month, sign up for The SIMs: YWS Edition !

For more information visit the FAQ in the forums of the club.

That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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