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. 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. Review Day Review
2. FM Interview
3. Mod Moment
4. Green Room Gallery
5. Two Cents
6. New Arrivals
7. Resources Relay
8. Round Up
9. Shameless Plugs
10. Subscribers

THE FEBRUARY 2016 REVIEW DAY REVIEWwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Three teams duked it out last weekend in the fight for the title of Review Day champion. Team Sinoper started the weekend off in first place, churning out review after review in an effort to clear the Green Room. Team Minotaur fell behind early on but plugged away until they had surpassed Sinoper. When the final reviews were written, however, the day went to Team #104E8B. #104E8B wrote 78 reviews for a total of 8303 points, to the other teams’ 59 and 64 reviews respectively.

Sadly, we neither cleared the Green Room nor made the month’s goal of 400 reviews, but the total review count was a respectable 236.

This week, our top reviewer and top typer for the February Review Day joined us for an interview. @ehobby1465 was the top reviewer with 14 reviews. The top typer was @HolographicLadybug. Read on to find out more about their experiences this Review Day.


ehobby1465: I was part of review Team Sinoper.
HolographicLadybug: Team #104E8B. I joined by a complete accident, but ended up being co-captain with SnazzyPencil, which was really cool and exciting.


e1465: I just joined YWS about a week ago, and everyone had been extremely welcoming. I figured I should try and be as kind and helpful as they had been, so I reviewed as much as possible!


e1465: I really enjoyed Forgotten Fire Chapter 9 by @Scout.
HL: I don't usually review something I don't enjoy or distaste (otherwise I fear my reviews will turn out overly negative), so I really enjoyed everything, I guess. But works like Young Gods by @Rubric, The Hunt Chapter Five by @NympheaLily, and Painted 1.0.1 by @Kaila really stood out for me. Young Gods is on the shorter side, but really poetic and creative. I love the language that Rubric used and how uniquely they wrote their story. The Hunt Chapter Five (I become Miss Universe) is part of an amazing, funny, creative novel that really allows for some awesome fantasy and interesting characters. In this chapter, the novel is really heightened and NympheaLily really took things a step further with their creativity. Finally, much like with Young Gods, I love Kalia's language inPainted. They have such an amazing rhythm with their story that makes good use of it, as well as some pretty cool ideas sprinkled throughout.


HL: I'm being forced to chose?! How is that possible?! Hmm.... After much careful consideration, I would probably have to say everyone's determination to clear out the Green Room. We came so close during last Review Day. (I think that there were around 160 works left?) The energy that everyone brings is so infectious that I ended up participating in the previous two Review Days, even when I did not plan on it. That's....a pretty strong force. Hmm..... I wonder if we could take over the world with that kind of energy......


HL: I'm probably going to go with that same old saying that gets shoved down our throats every Review Day (or for at least every Review Day that I've participated in within the four months that I've been here): quality over quantity. If I need to, I will tattoo the message onto your left knee and program it into your brain. It's so, so, so important to know, not to mention the best reviewing advice I have ever heard. The best reviews I have ever received must have taken at least an hour minimum and are probably over two thousand words long. While giving someone a review that boarders on the minimum review length is still feedback, and therefore better than nothing (unless they are being unnecessarily vicious to you), there's so much more that you can actually do to help the person. What are some flaws of their work that they could fix? What are some good ways to fix them? Do you have any suggestions for the author? While reviews filled with only good bits and/or nit-picks serve a purpose, there's nothing like a review that points out some flaws or things that could be improved and how to fix them. Teach the reader something and try balancing your review out with compliments and what to work on. What's more: enjoy yourself while reviewing. Push yourself! Try to type another hundred words or exceed the point limit. Don't rush either. Take your time and try to outdo yourself with each review. It will really work out in the end.



Congratulations to all Review Day participants! Join us at the end of this month for the March 2016 Review Day.

FM Interviewwritten by Pretzelstick < PM: >

I'm sorry that this article may be reaching your attentive ears a little bit late, but here I have the biweekly interview with our lovely, current FM @Meandbooks. We put her on the spot about the whole experience of finding out, expectations or not, and activity on YWS that mostly/basically every featured member goes through at one point or another.



Meandbooks: My mouth fell open. I just saw it in my notifications, and was really surprised. And then I went to the thread and read all the nice things it said and I just couldn't stop smiling.



M: No, I really wasn't. I thought maybe, if I kept doing RED and Team Tortoise really consistently for a couple months, eventually it might happen, but definitely not when it did. Like I said, it was a huge surprise.



M: I actually really like to review prose, and the more I review the more I enjoy it. I just get to read so many interesting things from people, and it really inspires me to see how much creativity there is on here. And even if the person never sees my review, reviewing helps me read works critically, and then I can look for those flaws in my own writing. I also really enjoy chatting with people on the chat bar - you can really get to know people individually that way and it's a lot of fun. That's something I've been trying to do more.



M: I like writing science-fiction and fantasy, and although a novel is a bit daunting, writing one is also really cool. I've only started one, but I'm planning more. I dabble in poetry a bit too, but I'm primarily a prose writer. I write short stories occasionally, but not often.



M: I really like A Rundown on Reviewing , because it's covers all sorts of things for both beginning and experienced reviewers. I also really like Linguistics and Dialogue, Intro because I have problems writing good dialogue and this has helped me more than once.



M: Umm...I almost got killed by squirrels once. I'm not even joking.



M: Review a lot! Or well, just generally try to be active and helpful and friendly.

Those articles have been coming up a lot around my media coverage lately, and since I adore reading them so much I would definitely reccomend going to check them out and maybe, hopefully letting their influence improve your daily writing.

Until Next Time,

~Pretzel

A Mod's Moment: Lareinewritten by Pretzelstick < PM: >

Welcome to another edition of AMM, where we interview mods about their YWS life and the work that they contribute to this site. Remember the offer that I made last week that this was a chance to actually reccomend someone for the next week article? Well, a certain user, you chooses to be anonymous has spoken up and requested to the lovely, queenly Lareine to be on the seat today.

I really quite enjoyed getting her insightful answers to the questions, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy them you. Let's just jump right into it!



Lareine: There really isn't a "worst" part for me. I'm just doing my job around the site, being friendly, helping people out to the best of my ability. As for the best, though—I love the sense of gladness knowing that I've helped someone else, that I've impacted them positively and they've thought about something else or considered an alternative that they might not have known about if I didn't speak up. It's just honestly really gratifying to know that people appreciate your presence.

S:Can you tell us about any funny/embarrassing "moldy" mistakes that you have made?

L: Oh gosh. I don't think I've made any real mistakes, per se, but I am so that person who keeps asking "is this okay to do? what about this? is this in my jurisdiction? wait what now? what about this?" I remember getting so afraid that everyone would be tired of me within a few days.

S:What advice would you give to a blue member who wanted to be turned into green someday?

L: Just do your best and be the best person you can be around the site. That doesn't necessarily mean "be active in every single area" or "push yourself to be so active you burn out"; just figure out where your strengths lie and use those to help other people and the community of YWS as a whole. Remember, being a mod isn't really about the power you have, it's about the influence you have as a community leader and an example for the other members on the site.

S: Which "team" are you working in and what do you do?

L: I work on the Resources team! This means I do anything from answering the highest and loftiest of questions, to scribbling down my own Knowledge Base articles and helping other people edit theirs, to mopping out the back corners of WRFF. (You do not want to see the back corners of WRFF.) Basically, my purpose on the site is to help out as much as possible, from premise to first draft to publishing!



L: Ooh, tough question. I will say that two that have inevitably helped me a ton are @RacheDrache 's Linguistics and Dialogue, Intro and Linguistics and Dialogue, Application - dialogue is a beast, after all. @Snoink 's What isn't a good critique? is also brilliant!



L: Well, I've always been open to new ideas, and I've always loved being active in the Resources area of the site. My love for getting things to click into place for other people probably helped a little, haha.



L: Nothing. Well, not quite nothing. I do a lot of writing on my own, in addition to being a full-time college student and otherwise-applied artist. I try to share a lot of stuff on YWS about my writing process, which is mostly "I have writer's block, time to go to another one of my projects" and "have this cool cover I made instead of writing today!", but a lot of stuff inevitably stays close to my chest. I also watch a bunch of reality competition shows, because I am addicted to displays of skill under strenuous conditions!



L: Way too many. Way, way, way too many - right now I have something like eight or nine novels in the planning and writing process, as well as a number of short stories I'm working on and a bunch of other things. Obviously, I'm not doing everything all at once, but whenever I hit a block on one project, I always have another ready to let me get ahead on that instead.

Overall,that is generally a wrap-up for this week's edition of my newly favorite column. Hopefully, if there's time than tune in next time for another one of those juicy interviews. Thank you for reading to the very end, and if you finished strong then please feel free to click the like button, and that is always greatly appreciated for the Squillsans.

Until Next Time,

~Pretzel

GREEN ROOM GALLERYwritten by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Hey, Squillsamigos! Although the Review Day participants put a good dent in the Green Room over the weekend, the numbers are up once again. There are currently 105 works with zero reviews and 131 works with one review in the Green Room. Check them out!

Forgotten Fire, Chapter 10 - Verdict by @Sagitta

Fantasy/action. Aleksandar can fight Faihrah or be killed outright. It’s his choice.

The Hunt: Chapter 5; I become Miss Universe by @NympheaLily

Fantasy/action. A woman appears to help Rowan realize the full extent of her powers.

Cynder Rosetail and her Journey: Prologue and Chapter 1 by @Cynder

Action/fantasy. When Cynder turns one hundred, she moves to the adolescent dormitories with the other young dragons.

Beyond -- Chapter 2 by @SemperAugustus

Fantasy/mystery. A fisherman remembers an old story of his grandfather’s while caught on the sea during an impending storm.

Five Essential Souls (No. 4) by @DoubleOJell0

Action/humor. Can Ring escape capture? Or is his number up?

My Life in a Bizarre Town: Chapter 5 by @kman134
Rated 16+.

Teen/supernatural. Haru gets laps in gym class. Karma, or an angry coach?

Blood Haven: Chapter 10 by @anabelsinclair
Rated 16+ for mature content.

Mystery/supernatural. Blood Haven will soon open its doors.

Aftermath: Chapter 3 - Chaos by @BornLoser

Fanfiction/action. Jay regains consciousness with a broken arm and the realization that Hayley is dead.

Dreams of Stars Chapter 15 (Once Upon a Time) by @Songmorning

Fanfiction/fantasy. Bridget tries to deal with the aftermath of Doctor Hooper’s decision.

War of Legends-Chapter 1, The Beginning by @Ivywater

Supernatural/humor. Eros is a wise-cracker, but the other gods don’t appreciate his humor.

TWO CENTS: PROSE POETRYwritten by Aley < PM: >

I'm going to be starting a series of articles all about different types of poems. I'll be covering a variety of them including some which already have "Poetic Forms" information in The Knowledge Base. . My shameless plug of this amazing resource is, of course, here, so you can check out the index to find all of the helpful articles on writing poetry, and among them, are those which I am referring to.

We're going to start this series with Prose Poetry which might look like prose, but is actually poetry. For many writers it is difficult to determine what actually makes poetry what it is, so when they see that not all poems have to have stanzas or lines, they get a bit confused. It's like something breaks, and they have to redefine colors again.

In a way, that's what prose poetry is for. I'm not going to go into a diatribe about where it came from or how it began because I'm not knowledgeable about that, but what I will go into is what it is, and when it's best used.

Prose poetry is a poem that is written using poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, rhyme, and beat, to create a poem that is in the general shape of a paragraph. This is probably something you've encountered without realizing it can be considered poetry because oftentimes there are 100 word "drabbles," or "short-shorts" which can be considered prose poetry. So what makes it one thing versus another? The short answer is, the author. That's the simplest way to say it. An author will decide how they want to present their work, whether it's prose poetry, or poetic prose, and that's what it's called.

When you're reading a good book, often the language will draw you in and capture your imagination in much the same way that a poem will. This isn't prose poetry because it's written in a novel, and considered a novel, but if it was taken out of the novel, and presented as poetry, it would be classified as prose poetry. You can identify prose poetry by how an author is presenting it as well.

Some of the minute differences they'll use to present something as a poem instead of prose include things like punctuation, and capitalization.

For punctuation, they might not include any, or, they might include it to help regulate the breathing and reading of the poem. If the capitalization is off, or at odd places, chances are they're presenting it as a poem. If the capitalization and punctuation are following "standard" English rules, then they could be presenting it as either.

In the end, it's safe to assume that if it is a short piece of writing, somewhere under 1,000 words, it is being presented as prose poetry simply because flash-fiction, drabbles, and short-shorts are an up and coming area of writing, and prose poetry has a larger time which it has been around. That being said, it's always best to never assume, like we never say never, so ask the author.

On YWS we have the benefit of seeing if something is in the poetry, short story, or other categories, so if it's in other, it's a drabble, flash-fic, short-short, etc. while if it's in poetry, it's prose poetry.

Prose poetry does have to have some distinctive poetic devices used. You can't take a paragraph out of any novel and call it prose poetry. You have to take sections that are poetic in nature. This means that they pay attention to the rhythm of the words, the words are well-chosen and interesting, and often evoke some sort of emotion. If you want to go simpler than that, you have to look at what is a poetic device and how they're used. When you identify poetic devices, you've identified something that, at its core, makes up poetry, so it is easy to classify things which have poetic devices as poetry, but not all poetry uses poetic devices because they're not the limits of what make a poem, a poem.

It's complex because poetry is difficult to define.

In some ways, a poet has to decide for themselves what makes something poetry, and from that definition, move on to classifying prose poetry among the ranking of current things that are called poetry. For instance, I may not consider lyrics very good poetry, but because other people consider it poetry, I may have to consent that it is, indeed, a form of poetry.

In summary, prose poetry is a poem, structured like prose, but sounding more like modern poetry. It's made up of poetic devices, sometimes, and really the main way you can tell it is poetry and not prose, is because the author says it is. Just like some poems won't have poetic devices but be in a poetic format, some prose poetry is the same. It should sound like it's paying attention to flow, imagery, emotion, and so forth like other poems, but whether it uses devices to help with this, is up to the individual poem.

Next Stop: Haiku

NEW ARRIVALS
written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Resources Relay 3/6written by Pretzelstick < PM: >

Welcome to this week's issue of Resources Relays, where I, your host will inform you of any and all new progressions in that underappreciated section, that I personally immensely admire and appreciate. This week, we will explore topics ranging from dragons to horses, and new WRFF threads, so there's bound to be something that you will use!



The expert @ehobby1465 has gladly opened up a new thread to us all, where you can feel free to ask any and all things about equestrian. There has already been an amazing reply:






And ehobby goes on to skillfully describe all of the other types of trots that there are to riding a horse, and also the length of time that a horse can sustain a rider,etc.



It's always such a joy to see new members eagerly open their WRFF threads, as the readiness to review is quite contagioius. @TwinCityKitty opened a new thread very recently, just today in fact, and I'm sure that it would be greatly appreciated if you went on over and requested something. Just to give you a whif of their intro, choosing what was in bold:






That approach is definitively very inviting for all types of genres, so let's make this happen and start requesting up those reviews.



@MadWriter7 is recently starting to write a new novel, but is asking advice/tips for the outlining process. There are many major tips in the replies, and I would encourage you to go and read those, but I couldn't choose between which one should be featured, so I have just decided to include some links to the methods that user have used.

@Lareine linked the Snowflake Method , while @Carlito linked @Rydia articles entitled Plot Your Way . I found that both methods are quite intruging, and worth a trial run!



Here is a short experct from @Lareine Writers Corner thread, about her novel. Enjoy getting this glimpse:






If you want to read some quotations that come directly from the writing, then there are some included in the thread. Please note that some of these things are under construction and waiting to be straightened out.

Phew! That's all that I have for this week's edition, I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. It was my pleasure, and I would encourage you to dig up some Resources posts, as there are many hidden jewels to be found.

Until Next Time,

~Pretzel

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 3/6written by megsug < PM: >

Mingling, suggesting, photographing, and poeting. That’s what people are doing in this week’s Roundup.


Introduce yourself again with a list of fourteen questions. The fourteenth is definitely the most random. What would you name your sixth finger? @Meandbooks has a great answer:







Let us know more about you~


According to @BasicPiper. She says it’s the most underrated book of all time. It has a beautiful relationship between brothers and parental drama. She explains it here:







Piper wants to know if you’d read this book. Talk to her about it!


@SkyeWalker has been posting pretty floral pictures. The ones of ivy are my favorite. This one is beautiful:



Check her pictures out!


@Aley has put together a pretty comprehensive thread for editing poetry. There’s ton of great advice out there, but I think some of the best was how to see what your weaknesses are:







Great, helpful read for all of the poets out there.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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