Squills 06/14/15 - 06/21/15

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!

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Editor-in-Chief
BlueAfrica

General Editors
megsug
Gravity

Friendly Neighborhood Robot
SquillsBot

Literary Reporter
AstralHunter

Community Reporter
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

Storybook Reporter
Kanome

Link Cowgirl
megsug

The Adventurer
BlueAfrica

Quibbles Columnist
Lavvie

Social Correspondent
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

Associates of Gruno and Pruno
Gravity
Blackwood

Media Critic
Kanome

Code Master
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

General Reporters
AstralHunter
Omni
Skydreamer

Past Editors-in-Chief
GriffinKeeper
AlfredSymon
Iggy
Hannah
ShadowVyper

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. Clubs!
2. Storybooks: Brand New, About to Start, and in Progress
3. The Writer's Tournament Checkup
4. Resources Relay
5. Library Loves
6. Two Cents
7. Quibbles
8. New Arrivals
9. The Week's Roundup
10. Subscribers

CLUBS!written by Skydreamer < PM: >

Clubs are essential to any online community, like forums, they bring people together, but even more so than forums, because they also help gather people with similar interests. A lot of YWSers have made friends or had fun conversations through the clubs, so let's not leave clubs hanging!

Without further ado, here are some of the various different clubs that we should be keeping an eye on. First, "The Unknown"; clubs that people haven't joined for some reason, or clubs where there aren't a lot of activity. Then, "The Beginners"; clubs that have at least a couple of members, and are pretty active, but are still relatively new. And last but not least we have "What to Watch For" is where all the various 'newsworthy', pretty entertaining clubs are added. Alright, let's get it buzzing!

The Unknown

Let's start with the beauty of movement with The Dancers of YWS!

This club, created by @WaningMoon, seems to have a serious appreciation for the art of dancing. It's a delicate and strength filled art form that deserves all the attention it could get. I think this club was just recently started, so it only has two members. If more people join the club wall could be filled with various different inspiring and amazing dancing gifs or quotes. Join whether or not you are a dancer if you love the art form.

From dancing to music, YWS Band club created by @SnazzyPencil, is another fun-looking music appreciation club for people who have joined a band, or are in a band, or who maybe would like to join a band.






What a sweet about page post, join the band!



The Beginners


What a lovely club the YWS Artistry Discussions is! Created by @Holysocks, it brings together a group of artists, or beginner artists who are hoping to be excellent, or appreciators of art in general, to have discussions concerning the topic. What could be better? It's a wonderful club to join if you feel like you're a hidden artist or you've been an artist for a long time, or even if you're just a creative!

Here's what the about page says:






Now, if you feel like you're a bit lazy, and you don't mind flaunting it, well this The Lazy Club is the club for you, then. It's just a fun little club created by, @Wonderwoman, it's meant to be a kinda chill out club. Sometimes it's okay to be a little lazy.


Another club is Bloggers/ Writers . Created by @RainbowPowerPonies, it's a club where if you are writing either off YWS or on YWS blogs, you can share them with everyone on here. It's great if you feel like your blog can really help someone or if you just want to get your name out there. It's also a great place to share links to what you're working on.

There you have it!

What to Watch For

Reasons to Smile Created by: @Deanie

Having a low day? Just head on over to this club and see some reason to smile. Also, want to cheer up someone else? Give them a reason to smile on this club!

Then, there's club, Poetry Created by: @PenguinAttack

Poetry is life, everything we do could possibly be turned into a form of poetry, or almost everything we do. It's important to stay in touch with your poetic mind, and join this club!

YWS Fashion Club Created by: Deanie

If you feel like you know yourself and your fashion pretty well, you should share it with other people and just give pointers on what you like and don't like to wear.

The Writer Tournaments Created by: @Aley






It is time for battle!


And that's it for the clubs update this week! Do check out the clubs tab, and have fun looking at the suggested clubs above or whatever club you'd like!

Have a good week!

STORYBOOKS: BRAND NEW, ABOUT TO START, AND IN PROGRESSwritten by megsug < PM: >

As summer comes into full swing for those of us in the Western Hemisphere, storybooks are starting up again. There are some just posted, others to join if you’re fast, and others still to follow as participants weave the story together. Yes, my dears, it’s storybook season.

@LittleSister posted Stablewright Boarding High School for Troubled Teens Friday. If high drama and angst is down your alley, I’d suggest you go straight to this storybook. Stablewright is for children with mental illness and drug abuse problems. Not only are these problem children having to deal with their own problems, counselors, and the day to day frustrations of school, but there are also drug dealers hiding within the school as well. So far, only two character profiles have been submitted. Check it out if you’re ready to get thrown into the (literal) insanity of Stablewright.

If things need to be a little more fantastic to suit your taste, I suggest @Wolfare1’s Immortal’s Reign . It’s been up since the last few days of May, but isn’t due to begin until Tuesday. With magic, immortals, tribes, and all the political intrigue a heart could want, the storybook seems to be of epic proportions. Four spots are still up for grabs. Reserve a spot and get the profile in by Monday, and you too can join in on the adventures awaiting. Hurry those spots may be gone before you know it!

Adventures and angst take time, so if your summer (or school for those of you in the Eastern Hemisphere) is too busy to participate in a storybook, you should read @Holofernes City of Brass . After a hiatus, it has been started again. Taking place in a world that seems to be a vicious criminal underworld, the characters are given a mission and form a team. With several posts from the first run last year, the storybook participants are adding more to the story now.

Whether you’re starting with a shiny new storybook, jumping in at the last minute, or following along, explore Storybooks and, if these three storybooks aren’t what you want, find one out of the multitude that is!

THE WRITER’S TOURNAMENT CHECKUPwritten by Pretzelsing < PM: >
For this week’s interview, I sat down with @Arkhaion (more like PMed her) a series of questions for The Writer’s Tournament. Ark is an active admin (oh, alliteration ) that writes the newsletters and hosts tournaments. There were some very interesting perspectives and answers that they gave:

Squills: Can you give us a basic understanding of what this club is all about?

Arkhaion: Overall, the club is focused on friendly competition. It's not a popularity contest; it's not a serious win-or-die situation. It's just a bunch of writers, competing to see who wins in a particular category with particular prompts or style requirements.

S: Are there any current tournaments that are running, or just starting?

A: Yep! Right now, the Realistic Fantasy Tournament is starting, and the Powers Tournament is heading into another round soon. In addition, the Haiku Tournament is heading into the second half and wrapping up, and the Instant Story Tournament (flash fiction) and Haunted Tournament are awaiting votes on the finalists' pieces. There are some tournaments in planning for late June and the month of July as well, so check in often to see if there's anything that piques your fancy!

S: What is your most favorite and least favorite part about the Writer's Tournament?

A: My absolute most favoritest part about the Writer Tournaments is that it inspires creativity not only in me as a writer, but in me as an organizer and tournament host. It's a constant reminder that sometimes the simplest prompts and themes can bring out a lot of amazing responses from competitors, while throwing a foreign element into the mix like flash fiction word limits or haiku structures can make for a very interesting competition.

My least favorite part? It's nothing to do with the tournaments themselves, simply that real life tends to get busy and I lose some of my strong competitors along the way. Dropouts are a pain, both emotionally and in the sense of re-organizing everything, and even more so when I know they'd rather stay in.

S: Where do users go if they want to sign up?

A: Every tournament has a main thread in the club forum, which contains details about the tournament such as the theme, starting date, and number of competitors the host will accept. If you find one that you'd like to participate in, signing up is as easy as making a post in that thread saying "I'm in".



A: First, I make a lot of plans. And I mean a lot of plans. Not all of my tournament ideas make it to the club—there are plenty that have died on the pages of my notebook while I try to evaluate if the prompts I could offer would help or hurt. Others have died after I talked them over with friends and decided that they needed revamps. So to make up for the ideas that don't make it, I keep a few plans ready for the next couple of months to keep the club active, hopefully running alongside other hosts' tournaments as well.

Second, I try to stay energetic. There are some days when I'm really tired and just can't handle putting my energy into formatting things and being all "exclamation points!" and such, but when I can, I do. And I really enjoy interacting with people in my tournaments and competing against them. I love that I can go up against some of the strongest writers I know, and I love that every angle I see people write from is so different—it's really an eye-opener, seeing how varied the ideas are.

Third... Organization. Tons of it. I'm the sort of person who usually opts for organized chaos, but when it comes to the tournaments, I need to know one-two-three-four-five things lickety-split, so I keep myself organized to the point where I can find these things easily in my notebook or my WFP. That way I can get my formatting done for posts and newsletters, write my own entries for tournaments, and still have time to partake in my favorite pastime—planning even more, of course.

If you are interested in joining one of the upcoming tournaments, here are the links to them:

The Realistic Fantasy Tournament hosted by @ForgottenMemories

The Fairy Tale Tournament hosted by @AdrianMoon

The Review Tournament hosted by @Aley

Also, I am sure that the staff of the tournament would really appreciate if you all took the time to vote for the finals of the IST tournament between @niteowl and @ChiravianSkies. There haven’t been many voters, and the score is tied.

And also the Haunted Tournament finals between @Arkhaion and @Strange with only one vote so far.

To wrap it up, The Writer’s Tournament, is an awesome club to be part of. With 55 subscribers, there is lots of ink to go around, and stories to read, share and vote on. I would highly recommend taking a look at this wonderful growing place for writers.

Resources Relay 6/14written by Pretzelsing < PM: >
Yo, welcome to another week of Resources Relay. (This is actually the third edition YAY!) Today I wanted to round up 4 links for all YWSers to check out. From description help, to the difference in spelling, the links here are in need of reply and likes

1.Why would he?

@raevynstar has a plot hole in her novel, she doesn’t know what would make a nice man, do a particular deed. This is in need of help, so please go and help them out with this novel.

@Arkhaion replies to her with some practical advice:





Help her find out how her MC should adopt without the other spouse knowing. And his in the world would he pull this off?

2.How do I describe?

@DamienCyfer is a new member on the site working on writing a story. He wants to know how to describe without overdoing it, and not making it boring.

@Kyllorac gave him a look into what a description really is, and how in-depth it’s actually supposed to be:






Description is a very important aspect of the book, so click on the link to help a new writer accomplish this in his short story
3.How to make unique characters

@Lau2001 wants to know how to give personality to a character, and make then less cliche and similar to other characters in her novel.

@Arkhaion points out something that goes on during the story when the character changes and develops by the events:





Do you know how character development is supposed to flow? If so, please click on the link to help this writer. (a little bit of rhyming there: flow and so;)

4.The Difference between British and American spelling

@godlypopo and @steampowered created a thread with a list of words that have a difference in spelling. For example: realise (British) to realize (English).
@Zolen explains a little bit of the history behind this, that he researched:






If this poses as interesting to you, then click on the link to find a list of differences, listed as British and English.

To wrap up this week’s relay, I encourage you to check out the helpful Resources thread of our website. There you can get valuable writing information, that's often overlooked like at the Knowledge Base that’s filled with a wealth of article by experts.

I hope that these links kept you interested, and have an awesome productive week on YWS! See you next time!

LIBRARY LOVESwritten by OliveDreams < PM: >

So after a long hiatus of figuring out lots of new, exciting life roles, I’m back to write my favourite article for Squills; Library Loves.

I sought out my pal, @Tuesday to share her books with us this week!

Here we go!

Something New:

The Hidden Assassins by Robert Wilson

Tuesday A book that I would recommend is The Hidden Assassins by Robert Wilson. Yes, it sounds like it reads. I enjoyed the case to find out who had killed and left faceless corpses around the city of Seville. Also within the first few chapters, be warned as it is PG-13. If you enjoy murderers and mystery cases, it is a good read.

Something Familiar:

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

T: A book that is in a mainstream genre, that I enjoyed, would probably be The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Probably since I had enjoyed reading it and the characters seemed to develop more. Also, I enjoy a good Sci-fi novel once in a while.

Something Loved:

The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

T: My most loved book would be The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. It is an old book, mostly got it from a resale shop, but I enjoyed the main character Robin, her finding the Velvet Room but how she must choose between either her family or the Room itself.

Thanks Tuesday! I’ve never read any of these books so you’ve definitely shown me some new paper avenues to walk down. Have any of you read Tuesday’s favourites?

See you next week! xD

TWO CENTS: EXPLORING WITH WRITINGwritten by Aley < PM: >

There's a debate going on between two sides of a single sphere about what makes good writing. One side believes that good writing is writing which comes from reality, things that we really feel, see, believe, and experience. They believe that writing is only about reflecting what is actually going on, whether it's fantasy, or non-fiction.

Writers like Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman, are examples of this category. They were instrumental in creating the belief that writers should write what they want, and then find the audience for that post-writing. From this comes new, transformative writings like the unique style that Whitman brings to the table, being one of the first to push free-verse into a reality. He was so transformative, that no one loved his work then, but they eat it up now. His poetry was so rejected that he ended up writing a poem as a warning against people liking him. You can see this clearly in stanza three of the poem "Whoever You Are, Holding Me Now In Hand" which is a beautiful poem about Whitman's reflections on his own poetry.

The other side of this sphere comes from people who believe that writing should be about making the audience react, and not about the truth, or any high motivated plots. They write because that is what they do. Some of these people are like how Sherlock Holmes and "The Raven" came into existence. Writing to make something of yourself is still clearly a frame of mind as we see re-makes roll off the production line and a clear direction towards making box office hits rather than wise, intellectual shows. What sells is what they want and when you get bandwagons to jump on, people load on heavy until the axle breaks.

The middle ground of the sphere, and why I am calling it a sphere, is everyone else. People who just write to write, or write because they want to get a response when they share their truth. For some people writing is cathartic, like breathing, and for others, it's a chore, like work. These things all show us a unique side of ourselves which we deal with as writers.

This Two Cents, I would like to challenge you to explore writing in a new way. If you usually write for an audience, write for yourself. If you usually write for yourself, dream up an audience and write for them instead. Produce a short story, a plot, or a poem trying to change your patterns and see where that takes you. Perhaps you'll find that with the little bit of exploration, and permitting yourself the chance to explore, you can come up with a more stable, fun platform for writing.

The biggest thing for this challenge will be to remember that you are doing something out of your typical habits to see what it's like, not to frustrate yourself, or hate the product. Instead, you're doing this to, hopefully, gain an understanding for the other side of your location on the globe.

Best of luck!

QUIBBLES
Ogling the Oxford Comma
written by Lavvie < PM: >

In the last Quibbles, Sashaying with Split Infinitives , I briefly mentioned the relevance of the oxford comma (also known as the Harvard comma or the serial comma) and how it is nigh impossible to debate said grammatical rule. This week, I return to shed some light on both sides of the ridiculously redundant controversy and tell you why the oxford comma should always be employed.

Stance #1: Over with the Oxford Comma
Most of the argument calling for the eradication of the oxford comma is on the basis of word economy and clarity. Fair enough.

The banquet organizers invited the ship’s captain, the wine taster (as long as they arrived sober), an exotic dancer, George Bush, and Leonard Cohen.

The argument here is that with the comma before the word and, it seems that George Bush is the invited exotic dancer. However, this is an easy mistake to fix: simply move around the names and the different roles. No harm done.

The New York Times in 1937 also argued that the oxford comma can cause clutter for readers. They say it slows readers down. That being said, sometimes it is good to slow down in order to reduce later confusion.

Stance #2: On with the Oxford Comma
Personally, and for many other grammar fanatics, the oxford comma reduces confusion. It’s the same argument posited by those who are in opposition, but I genuinely feel that more harm is done when the oxford comma is forgotten among lengthy lists of roles and people, which often causes ambiguity. For example:

At the first table sat Kanye West, a British knight and sheep farmer.

I have purposefully excluded the comma before the word and (the oxford comma). However, obviously there is some confusion because we aren’t very clear about who is sitting at the first table: is it Kanye West and a British knight and a sheep farmer or is it just Kanye West who also happens to be a British knight and a sheep farmer? Because we know better, it is obvious that there are three distinct individuals sitting at the table and since the oxford comma has been allowed to fall by the wayside, some very criminally serious ambiguity has taken place. Let’s fix this:

At the first table sat Kanye West, a British knight, and a sheep farmer.

This makes much more sense grammatically – realistically, I’m not entirely sure whether Kanye West would actually sit with such a motley group of people and even whether such a motley group would all attend the same banquet. However, that’s another discussion for another time.
Three dogs, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro were on the airplane.

Either the dog owners are very staunch communists or, yet again, a comma has been disastrously forgotten.

Three dogs, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Fidel Castro were on the airplane.

This sounds much better (and makes much more sense) with our beloved oxford comma in its rightful position.

Ultimately, you can argue that the oxford comma causes clutter and creates confusion, but let’s be honest: how much of that argument depends on things that can easily be manoeuvred? Confusing sentences where George Bush is also an exotic dancer can be remedied with some quick moving around of words. Also, a comma is very tiny; there is no clutter. It’s like a grammatical toothbrush: small thing and kind of a nuisance on rushed evenings but when totally removed, can cause a great deal of trouble.

@AdrianMoon says, “I love the oxford comma.” They’ve taken a step in the right direction, but have you?

NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

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

@disillusioned has posted a poem called oculus reparo. Click here to check it out .

@NicolMemo is fast approaching his second review star. Head to his wall to cheer him on .

@MelodyMartin is back on the site after a long period of inactivity. Check out her post in the Welcome Mat to say hi .

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 6/14written by megsug < PM: >

Whole new worlds and Disney quotes. Smiles and suicides. This roundup has the most positive and the darkest of YWS. Dare take a peek?


@Nate wants users to share any experiences they’ve had with other writing sites. Several users had accounts to tell, some good and some bad. @ChiravianSkies describes the reviewing system of scribophile :







@AriaAdams notes that scribophile’s free version isn’t very helpful. Many websites have been mentioned so far, so this thread would be good for anyone looking for another writing community. What experiences have you had outside of YWS?


Over a year ago, @Deanie created the Reasons To Smile club. Subscribe, and you know when pictures are left on the wall, listing reasons to smile. The most recent pic is:







Soft serve definitely makes me smile! If you’re feeling down, subscribe to the club to lift your mood.


Not to dampen the mood, but @mephistophelesangel wants to discuss why we try to stop suicides. She argues that people should have the right to their own lives and wants to know what reasoning allows us to take away that right. Several people have answered with different reasons. @StellaThomas is the most succinct:







What do you think? Why do we stop suicides? Some users think that in certain circumstances, suicides shouldn’t be stopped. What do you think?


@SARAHJO created a game where a user quotes a Disney movie and the next user has to guess which movie it came from before posting their own quote. Turns out people really know their Disney! With quotes from Find Nemo to Aristocats to Hercules, references have ranged from well-known to obscure. @JKHatt was the last to post:







The quote is said while the character is sleeping. I obviously don’t know Disney as well as I thought I did! Do you?

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!

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