Young Writers Society

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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. You can also subscribe to the Squills Fan Club , or PM SquillsBot to receive a notification each time a new issue is published!

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

1. CHANGING IT UP
2. TWO CENTS: EXPLORING
3. ALMOST A YEAR ON ONE PROJECT
4. 15IN15: JANUARY BADGE WINNERS
5. ADVENTURES IN WRITING
6. NEW ARRIVALS
7. THIS WEEK’S ROUNDUP - 3/15
8. SHAMELESS PLUGS
9. SUBSCRIBERS


CHANGING IT UPwritten by ShadowVyper < PM: >

Spring is coming, and it's bringing lots of changes with it. Mothers will be chasing winter dust from their houses, teachers will be grading the papers they assigned to you three months ago that you're totally not just getting around to starting, the weather will finally get warm once more. Squills leadership will also be changing again.

As some of you may have noticed, I'm almost never around YWS anymore. It's an amazing site that has taught me so many important things (and dramatically improved my writing ability) and has allowed me to make a bunch of awesome friends (you know who you are) -- but I just don't have the time to invest in it like I used to way back when I was a little Shady-let. I definitely don't have the time to keep up with putting together this quality newsletter that you read every week, and I haven't been, so I'm not going to take credit for it.

Now, dry your tears, children. This isn't goodbye. You can't get rid of me that easily. I will still be lurking around the site whenever I can, bothering you with my shoddy stories and harassing you on chat -- and, as of now, I'm still going to be an editor of Squills, so you can still hit me up with questions or concerns whenever your little heart desires.

However, the real authority is going to be passing into the extremely capable hands of @BlueAfrica. This crazy chica has had my back these past several months, sending me reminders and filling in absolutely wherever @Gravity and I can't get something done. She seriously rocks, guys, and I know she's going to do an awesome job with the newsletter. Go bow to your new mistress.

~Shady


TWO CENTS: EXPLORINGwritten by Aley < PM: >

I've talked to a lot of people who haven't read a lot of poetry, so this Two Cents will be about my reading list, more or less. These will be the people I really like to read, when, and why. I'll be using books, but all of these poems are easy to find online. The purpose of this is really to just introduce some names for you to explore, and how I go about exploring a couple of them.

As cliché as it might be to love Frost, Robert Frost is one of the poets that I love to play with. For me, the real amazing thing about Frost and Poe is their mastery of language. They both are very keenly aware of just how to make a phrase sound the best that it ever could sound using the syllables, consonance and vowels to their complete advantage. Reading one of Frost's poems out loud just sounds beautiful. Here is an example. This is Frost's poem Sycamore as found in an anthology I have of all his work.






While perhaps not the best example, it is a short one which does illustrate my point. It is a short poem but the use of rhyme is very prevalent. With how I pronounce "Zaccheus" there is an internal rhyme even just right there, and then we have the vowel sounds echoing the "O" with "our lord to" while the middle line varies between clipped and soft words as a way to draw it all together. Listening to someone really read a Frost poem is a lot of fun, just like reading it yourself.

For me, poetry isn't always about getting some huge meaning out of it, but just about enjoying or feeling what you read, so to me, this is a good poem simply because it is enjoyable to read, and you can ponder about the last line of "-The New England Primer" as it draws everything back together again and has the concluding sounds.

As I said, Edgar Allan Poe is also great for this sort of sound manipulation regardless of how much you read into the thrilling narratives.

In terms of clarity of voice, or warming up to write, I like to dive into the work of Billy Collins, or one of the anthologies that Billy Collins has put out recently. Both are great ways to get into the flow of speaking with the audience directly and not really holding all the punches like some poets tend to do.

One of the reasons why reading widely is important is because writers read widely too, so when you're reading, you will catch references that might make something feel differently than if you hadn't recognized the reference when you first saw it. When I first encountered The Genius I had this experience. Near the end of the poem I found references to Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" and Robert Frost's Mending Wall. This could be because I was reading those two things recently, or it could have been intentional. The point is that I saw it when I read it and I liked the poem more because of that.






Both references happen in the 8th stanza, but if you look carefully at this poem, you'll notice other things, like the use of sentence structure, the word choice, the play on connotations and denotations, and the sparseness of periods or starts. The more you read, the more you'll understand how these things affect you as a reader, and the more you can apply that to your writing in a way that is deliberate to get the exact reaction you want.

While I'm not an avid reader of the next poets, I am an avid lover of some of their poems. I hope that you'll take the time to pick apart the list and finds one that you like, or don't like, and learn to expand your understanding of why you do or do not like the poems. It's okay to dislike something, but there is a reason why that something was sour to you, and you should do your best to identify it just like you should identify what you do like. Not only will this help you study the specific devices of your craft, it will allow you to analyze and review quicker and easier on YWS. Being able to analyze a poem for what you did or did not like, even if it is a Frost poem or a Collins poem, is a skill to develop. Without further comments, here's my list of poems.

One Art Elizabeth Bishop
This is actually a villanelle which doesn't follow the structure strictly, but is still considered a villanelle. It's also about loss and expresses that in a unique way exploring the act of denial.

The Cremation of Sam McGee Robert Service
One of the uses of poetry which is often discounted by schools is humor. This is a very funny poem that incorporates rhyme scheme, narrative, and character like any amazing short story, but it is a poem. The transient nature of poems and short stories is important to me as a writer.

To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell
This poem is somewhat like a bar poem, but if you just read the words, it sounds like a love poem. The time period was really good at making things sound good that really were not that good to say at all.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Dylan Thomas
Instead of listening to Good Charlotte, this was the poem I turned to when I just needed to have a reason to be sad. It's a very touching poem and it is referenced by a lot of people. This is also a villanelle, and one of the reasons why I love that structure.

The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica Judith Cofer
This is actually one of the newer poems I'm adding to this list. It's very down to earth and ethereal at the same time which makes it a wonderful poem to explore and read just because it's out there and available to do so.

Troubled Woman Langston Hughes
Though perhaps not his most worshiped poem, this one is very touching especially considering our advances in technology and how that makes us appear. I like this poem because it touches on observation and clarity in a different way than Collins.

In summary, there are a lot of really great poets out there, and you can find them simply by looking about. You don't need someone to come tell you what to read, just start searching. If you go to The Poetry Foundation, you can find poems through theme, or author, or just a search for a word. The more you read them, the easier they will be to appreciate and critique. If you read enough of everything, you'll start to see references and make the connections that will give you a good laugh when no one else gets the private joke.

Read Promiscuously.


ALMOST A YEAR ON ONE PROJECT

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

By the time you guys read this, the remaining contestants in the wonderful @Tenyo’s The Last Man Standing Contest will have been writing for fifty-one weeks. @AdrianMoon, @megsug, @Noelle, and @Widdershins are all hanging on. In the fiftieth week, AdrianMoon finished up her novel with fifty chapters! Offer her congratulations!

megs is still going with twenty-nine chapters. Noelle is continuing with thirty-four, and Widdershins moving forward with fifty. I asked them about their novels and their experience with TLMS a few weeks ago.



AdrianMoon: Silence is Silver

Widdershins: Wool of the Prince

Noelle: Across Worlds



AM: Rease, a non-verbal eleven year old, is facing the problems of life just like any other kid. Her dad dies, she is put in a new home, and she has a totally new life to adjust to. Oh, did I mention that her mother is plaguing her dreams and thoughts? Also, who's this author character...

W: It’s a story about how Jay meets this dude Shep in another world and they go looking for royal sheep and stuff.

N: …There are five worlds, each one home to a group of people with different magical abilities. Word gets around that people are losing their magic and the worlds are being destroyed. There are only two worlds left that still have their powers. The main characters find out that someone is taking the magic, hoarding it all for himself, and must stop him before there's no magic left.



AM: Probably those interested in YA Literature, realistic fiction, and if they like to cry. A lot.

W: All the classy ones
But more likely if you like fantasy novels, but are looking for a break from the really hardcore ones. It falls into the YA category a little bit too.

N: Anyone who loves fantasy and some action.



W: I thought I was closer to the climax a few months ago than I was. Then I realized that I had some stuff to do before my characters got there. But we're approaching the climax again... very slowly.

N: I'd say I'm fairly close to the end. I don't actually plan when I write, but I know there isn't much left before the story is done.



AM: Yup! I wanted to win from the very beginning.

W: I had hoped I would get this far, I had hoped I would actually finish a novel for once, but no, I can't say I expected to get this far.

N: Nope. There was a part of me that thought I could do it, but the realistic part of my brain kept reminding me of all the novels I hadn't finished. I've actually been doubting myself for a majority of TLMS.



AD: Hmm, competing against actual people is a big challenge. You think no one is going to submit, you think you have it in the bag, then... BAM. Everyone posts their chapters and you have to wait until the next week to see who doesn't post...

W: I am a terrible procrastinator, but until TLMS, I don't think anyone realized how bad I was >.>

N: The biggest challenge is definitely having to post so often. Usually it wouldn't be a problem, but there's a lot going on in my novel and I want to take my time and really think things out. I can't do that in one week. I also don't have much time to write during the week between work and school.



AD: Crushing everybody's dreams. Ruining my readers' lives. I also have a sort of schedule. I cram everything in on the weekends.

W: I haven't gotten stuck on the plot at all. I had a vague story line in my head when I started, and I stuck exactly to that story line. I couldn't believe it was possible to actually go where your brain wanted you to end up, but here I am.

N: Actually writing the novel. I'm amazed at how easily it has come along. I just sit at the computer and pound out a chapter. Of course then I have to read back over it to make sure it actually makes sense, but the ideas are constantly flowing. I thought for sure that I'd be stuck for a majority of this.



AD: Tips for working on small projects! 1. Have little rewards along the way. 2. Have a deadline. 3. Just write.

I don't think I'm all that focused. Small things keep on slipping in that I do not mean to-- however, I do like to re-read a few of the previous chapters each time I sit down to write. It gets me in a mood that fits for the scene, and then I write on from there.

Hmm, maybe I'm not getting bored because I have so much left to write. I probably won't even be done with the story when it's finished. So I don't think there's room to be bored.

W: Competition brings out good consistency habits in me. I find that I'm a little prideful in not losing competitions (that I'm actually really interested in) by just being lazy. It doesn't take much to churn out a chapter, so why not make it a weekly then, and then make it into a contest to drive the rest of the laziness away?

N: Don't give up. I know, I know, one of the lamest lines of advice ever because you hear it all the time. It's true though. Just keep writing it no matter if you think you don't have any more ideas or you think your characters aren't perfect. I think one of the main reasons that turn people away from their novel is that self doubt. Once you accept that the first draft might not turn out perfect, you're on your way to success.

I'm super focused on my story because I absolutely love my ending. Like I said, I don't plan, but I actually came up with the idea for the ending fairly early on. The ideas are sitting there in a document on my computer and I just can't wait to get to the point when I can open it and write it all out. That is what's keeping me going. I have to get to the end so I can write it.



AD: Be creative! Don't be afraid to write! Be good! Don't take candy from strangers!

N: I'm so proud of everyone that's participated in TLMS! Whether you were out in the first couple of weeks or made it to week 22, you tried something different and out of the ordinary. It's something that is definitely a challenge and you stepped up to the plate. And of course we can't forget how awesome Tenyo is for organizing all of this.

15IN15: JANUARY BADGE WINNERS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

As you may remember from this article that @Skydreamer wrote a while back, #15in15 is a YWS New Year’s event. Created by @niteowl and posted through @Big Brother, this event had participants write for 15 minutes each day in January.

At the end of January, participants posted in the 15in15 Progress Thread to receive badges for various levels of participation. Basic bronze, silver, and gold badges were awarded for 1-10 days of participation, 11-20 days of participation, or 21 or more days of participation, respectively.



The Hot Streak badge was awarded for 7 or more consecutive days of participation.



Finally, the badge of the glory: the envied 31 Club badge, awarded for writing every single day in January.



The recipients of each of these badges were as follows.

Bronze Badge

Silver Badge

Gold Badge

Hot Streak

31 Club

If you haven’t reported your participation for January yet, you can still do so in the 15in15 Progress Thread in the Lounge. You can also edit your January post to include your participation for February, although there is no word yet on whether or not badges will be given out for February or the following months.

Congratulations to all of our January participants!

Did you win a badge in January but didn’t get mentioned here? Let us know how many days you wrote in January by PMing SquillsBot .


ADVENTURES IN WRITING
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

I meant to write an article about going deeper with character motivation, or an update on my description contest, or about how pleased I am to be the new Editor in Chief (very pleased), but it was a glorious day, I was distracted by the surrounding sparrows, and I ended up taking the first of what I hope will become weekly walks with a new friend from work.

On that note, I’d like to talk to you a bit about that.

Not merely because I feel I might be doing a semi good job at this whole “making friends” thing (quite an accomplishment when it involves people in real life) and want to talk about it, although that is true. But a blog post can take care of that.

No, I just want to talk about how this pertains to motivation. So once again, I will be breaking with the three-tip format. I know change is scary, and you’re already getting a change in Chief Editorship, but bear with me.

I am one of those people in real life whom random strangers talk to. Now, I don’t mean like “Hi, how are you today,” which is the kind of talking any stranger might do to any other stranger. I mean that I’m the kind of person whom random strangers will begin telling their life stories to. Especially old people, who--sad as it is to say--probably don’t have anyone in their lives who are willing to listen to them anymore. Or children living far away. Or--well, you know. They’re old.

I don’t mind it. Side note unrelated to motivation: Old people are a good source of inspiration. They have a lot of stories.

Anyway, today I found myself being that stranger to my new friend. I mean, obviously not exactly a stranger. We’ve worked in the same grocery store for two(ish?) years, and we’ve been hanging out in group settings for a bit now. But still. I am not good in group settings. Especially as a hostess, because I’m unaccustomed to being one. Example: the last two times people met up in our apartment, the sheer volume of guests made it so warm that I had to open the windows to cool down.

Keep in mind that:

a) this was back when it was still below freezing outside, and
b) “the sheer volume of guests” means there were exactly six people in our home, including the two of us. Six is a lot for me.

Anyway, this was the first time we hung out together one-on-one. I’m always afraid I’ll be really, horribly awkward one-on-one, to the point where I was trying to plan conversation topics ahead--making friends feels increasingly like dating, the farther I get from my actual days of dating, and the fact that this particular friend is male doesn’t help.

(It feels like dating with females, too, but since I’ve never actually dated any females, it’s not quite as bad.)

Needless to say, once he actually showed up I reminded myself that it was the same way with my other friend when we first started seeing movies with each other all the time. So I actually managed to keep a conversation going and not to feel too terribly awkward when silence fell now and then.

(Even with my other friend, I sometimes have to remind myself that a silence is okay, because we are friends.)

But now and then I found myself talking at length (too much length?) about my family, the house in the country, 4H… We saw a cool deck built onto the second story of this house, and I went on a whole tangent about decks and my dad being a handyman before he moved into an apartment and then I stopped and went, “I have no idea what I was talking about before this.”

I also have no idea why I started talking about this. Obviously the deck was a tie-in to some memories, but I’m a pretty closed-off person. I don’t know the last time I talked at such length about my family with someone, and not in a “I’m going to see my family soon” or “my family is awesome” kind of way, but in a reminiscent way. Usually, memories of the good old days stay shoved down where they can’t do any harm.

That’s why it was so gosh diddly-dang hard for me to write that “Where I’m From” poem a while back, if you kept up with the struggle.

No idea why it happened. Maybe it’s because he is simply the kind of person I assume strangers see me as: someone who is willing to sit quietly and listen to your life story, even if I’ve got things to do, even if I have no idea who you are. Maybe because I need to talk about this stuff and never do. Maybe because it’s sometimes easier to talk about things to people you barely know than to people who know you too well.

The moral of the story--which I admit it has taken me a while to get to--is that, as writers, we sometimes think that our characters need to have very clear and clean-cut motivations for absolutely everything they do. While it’s true that such motivation is indispensable to driving a plot, sometimes people do things because they just do. There may be some deep, psychological reason behind their actions that they don’t even realize. That’s fine too. But don’t feel a need to give readers an in-depth explanation for everything your characters do.

As Neil Gaiman says in Neverwhere: “Sometimes there is nothing you can do.”

Sometimes, people do things because they just do things.


NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

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

@RituparnaBhowmik has posted three chapters of a novel called Fire and Ice. Go here to read the prologue and chapter one , and then consider reading on and leaving a review on the two chapters in the Green Room.

@TheGirlNextDoor has already earned her first review star. Head to her wall to congratulate her !

@Paprika has been pretty active in the forums for a member of only 24 hours! You can see her response to the Singing Game here .

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 3/16written by megsug < PM: >

Social media, wishes, characters. Oh my!


@murtuza is intrigued by the role social media has in how we interact with the world. Some have said it has made the world smaller. Another view is that it has driven a wedge between us and those already around us. @AttackOfTheFlash has an interesting view of this discussion that might not have been obvious at first:







What do you think? Is social media pulling the world together or driving people apart?


@Snoink made a thread honoring Sir Terry Pratchett who died March 12. People have been sharing how he affected them through his books. @TheWanderingWizard had a rather fanciful idea that’s kind of nice:







How did Terry Pratchett touch you?


@pretzelsing created a game where you get to name the wishes one of your characters would have. The number of wishes your character has available is determined by the amount of review stars you have. @AlexSushiDog has some interesting wishes for his character:






What does your character desire?


@TheArchon needs some help with staying true to a character’s voicing as well as really knowing how to write a character so that they come off the way they’re supposed to. They got some great advice from a few users. @Arkhaion has one really nice tidbit that could make a big difference.






If you have something to share you should! But it’s also great for anyone else struggling with writing a character.

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.

Code: Select all

Place advertisement here. Make sure you include a title!

The Adventures in Writing Description Contest

@BlueAfrica is hosting a contest based on her Squills column, Adventures in Writing. For contest details, check out the forum ! The deadline has been extended to March 31st, so if you haven’t entered yet, you have plenty of time!

A Short Story Tournament

There's a new tournament in town! If you love to write short stories and want to challenge yourself to write them on a deadline, please check out The Writer Tournaments new Found Object Tournament ! This tournament will be starting near March 22nd or when enough people have signed up.

For more information about The Writer Tournaments club, please check out the FAQ.




That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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Do you, too, want to be enspoiler-ed and receive a personal weekly notification when the Squills newsletter is posted? Shoot a PM over to SquillsBot to let him know, and you'll be pinged along with the next issue!