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. Green Room Gallery
4. Ask Gruno
5. Resources Relay
6. Quibbles
7. New Arrivals
8. This Week's Roundup
9. Shameless Plugs
10. Subscribers

REVIEW DAY REVIEWwritten by megsug < PM: >

The Green Room took another blow last weekend. Three teams chopped at the undergrowth until only 180 works remained. The brave reviewers triumphed in 224 battles collectively with Ochre Orchids coming out on top with 113 reviews. Team Batman just fell short with 101 reviews, and Green Room Lawn Mowers stalled out with only 30.

Team Batman didn’t even have a team captain, but @writerkitty thinks:






Team Batman’s @Ellstar took the place of top reviewer and top typist, but he told Squills that even though he has been in the top for every Review Day he has participated in:






Ochre Orchid’s team captain, @lizzybookclubqueen1 was the fourth most proficient typist. She gives this great advice to users who want to succeed in next months’ Review Day:






The users interviewed seemed to be most concerned with getting users good, useful reviews. Ellstar said good reviews:






Even with all of these well-intentioned reviewers, the goal of 400 reviews was not met. Ellstar just wants to see the Green Room cleared out because:






With this Review Day, the Green Room was beaten back some, and users did get reviews on works they had thought were forever lost. Three cheers to a successful Review Day! Clear your calendars for the next one on May 1st, so we can dive into the fray once more. Perhaps this is the day the Green Room will be cleared once and for all.

FM Interviewwritten by Gravity < PM: >

It’s that time again, another FM has been chosen. Some of you know them as the reviewing troll who lives under a bridge, others know them as the useless fact memorizer. This person has been known as a chat lurker, the creator of RED and the notorious hater of orange juice. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s @AdrianMoon!



AdrianMoon: Of course.



A: Uh, it feels great! Being FM is pretty cool.



A: I was browsing on YWS, checking my notifs, and I saw I had been mentioned in the Featured Member thread xD Also, two of my friends sent me a message on Skype about it. Er, my initial reaction was probably bouncing up and down in my seat, flapping my arms around, and generally being pretty jittery for a little while.



A: Uh, there really isn't a favorite part. I'm still just a regular member -- it's not like there are any added duties to being FM xD Although, it is really nice.



A: @Ellstar! They've been really active with reviewing, SBs, and a friendly face to see around the site. There's also the added fact that their profile is space themed.



A: Er, I guess it's one of those things that you hope for in the back of your head but never really fixate on. Honestly, I've never thought of myself to be active enough in any area of the site, so it was a really pleasant surprise.




A: Uh, I'd mention all of my friends but I'm really afraid that I'd forget a few xD



A: No problem

No, you did not misread what I wrote about Adrian earlier. AdrianMoon legitmately does not like orange juice. What is this. This is NOT NORMAL.

Head on over to AdrianMoon’s wall and congratulate them on their success.

This article was written by Lydia Morzinski under the username "Gravity" due to site guidelines.

Green Room Gallerywritten by Pretzelstick < PM: >

Hello everyone! Pretzel is taking over Green Room Gallery, while juggling all of my other favorite columns. Just a heads up, that I won't be doing this every single week, but what I have laid out should keep you busy, or even if you surf on there by yourself. I hope that this remains going strong and informative to all interested reviewers out there that are just still lurking.

There are 83 works with 0 reviews and 105 works with 1 review in the Green Room. If these numbers or statistics concern you in anyway, then now's the time to take action by helping clean out the Green Room! As you well may know, there are various clubs and contests, such as #TeamTortoise and R.E.D. and it's never too late to join them. (well Team Tortoise one review everyday since the 1st, but there's always next month, right?) For your reference, here is a helpful resourceful link Green Room Sorted by the Oldest

Anyways, let's get right into it, shall we?

Dreams of Stars Chapter 21 (Once Upon a Time) by @Songmorning

A fantasy fanfic based off the show Once Upon A Time! This chapter features Storybrooke.

Fanfiction-Chapter 3 by @Dracula

Another fanfic! The TARDIS arrives in Camelot.

Heartbeat Academy: Chapter 35 by @tigeraye

Realistic Teen Fiction. Toby and Mr. Tyler hunt down the missing necklace, being forced to cross paths with the menacing Hamstein.

In the Absence of Stars - 2.2 by @Jericho
A sci-fi novel, where:the wonderful things that happen in the middle of nowhere.

The Thing with Wings by @Ellstar

Supernatural Literature where: A thing with wings comes to the hospital, and it wants to cut them off.

Tips for Taking Over Summer Camp Chapter 23 by @HolographicLadybug

An action adventure novel, unedited chapter. After freaking out, Molly must turn around and keep trying to find camp.

Typo Alley~M Part One & Two by @r4p17

A fantasy, action/adventure novel. The Typos finally unite and are ready to take on Chaise. But are they truly up for the challenge?

The New Generation--Chapter 16: Hope by @Artemis28

Action, adventure, and fanfiction.Leia and her friends discover a portal that might lead to their destination.

The Chronicles of a Public Bus (part 3.13) by @Buggiedude2340

Mystery, suspense, fantasy novel. Martin finds crucial information.

Astorian Tales - Part 2 by @Messenger

Fantasy action/adventure novel.Follow the Crimson Archer.

Words Written in Lightning: Chapter 5 by @BlueJayWalker10

This work has been rated 16+ for violence.

Action/Adventure and Fantasy novel.
At the brink of war with the kingdom of Trysting, the crown prince of Rhylath must search for the Goldstorm Archive to prevent a Rylian bloodbath.

The Remarkable Blossoming of Lola - Chapter 4 by @EternalRain

Realistic dramatic novel. Lola is having an introductory conference with her school counselour, Ms.Olsen.

1.Welcome to Chagrin Heights by @IceWinifredd

Supernatural, action/adventure, first chapter of the new novel.
The Fischer family become Chagrin Height's new residence. Little do they know that the horrors unleashed is only the least of their problems...

~Until Next Time

Pretzel

ASK GRUNOwritten by Gruno < PM: >

Welcome to Ask Gruno, the advice column in which stuff happens. Gruno will answer any questions you throw at him, be it advice, personal opinion, solutions or philosophy. My cousin Pruno has been busy at the wonderful school for Pruno people, so I will be taking over the column. Every now and again, Pruno may make an appearance, so never fear! May the question answering commence!

Oh My Questionable Liege
If you were to take over the world, and prices were raised due to rebellions destroying crops, then how many bagels could little Timmy destroy before probed by aliens?
-Mega Serious Questioner

MSQ,
Obviously, it depends on how purple the rebellions are. I mean, all my supporters are green but if the rebels are super purple than they’re deadly. Then if you tried to destroy bagels, (particularly the kind with purple pickles) aliens would probe sea turtles. It would take them a while to come after you, though, sea turtles are way cuter.

Love,
Gruno

Dear You,
Does Pruno come before Gruno or does Gruno come before Pruno?
-Me

Dear You,
Obviously Gruno comes before Pruno. Duh.

-Me

Dear Woof,
What do I do when my owner is too busy submitting G&P questions or browsing YWS to take me on a walk?

-The Annonymous Riddler's Sad Pet Labradoodle

Dear Dog,
First off, you keep submitting questions because that’s wonderful dog/owner quality time!
Secondly, you buy your owner a sweater with green and purple stripes. You then put it through the washer and the dryer and spray it lightly with diet soda. Lightly, mind you, lightly. We aren’t savages.

Next you get their shoes, but them in gumbo and pour the gumbo around a tree and then say “I am King” as you trot around the willow tree three times. Twice clockwise, once counterclockwise.

Lastly, you jump into bed with your owner, lick their face until they get up and then walk over with your leash in your mouth and whine adorably.

Love,
Gruno

Sadly, that is all this Runian has for this week! We need your questions to keep this column going so if you're interested in submitting, click here.

Resources Relay 4/10written by Pretzelstick < PM: >

Yay! The weekly consistent Resources Relay that's expected is here and ready for your reading eyes. This week a few highlights of this edition are blood magic, meaningful review, and something completely new and wacky featured in #4 that you'll have to check out yourself.

Without further ado, let's dig right into it!



@Sagitta is asking for historical uses of blood magic, because they want more information on that topic.

@Rosendorn provides some starting point research that I think all fantasy-writers should look through and consider:






If this proves interesting to you, then you should go check it out as there is a dump of links that Rosen left in her posts, as starting points.




@seeminglymeaningless, an oldie has returned, and with an impressive 370 reviews that were written by her, you want this reviewer critiquing and all over your work. I thought that her intro was quite unique:







Ohh, this offer is good for those works that are sitting in the Green Room with a total of 0 reviews. So head on over there and start pouring business into the thread!




@Wunderbar opened a thread that is giving away help to writers that may be conflicted on how to portray this short of different aspects in their own writing. As a preface, here is their introduction and qualifications:







If you want to help from them, then you should go on over and any questions you may have on the topic.



For the fourth one, I decided that I wanted to do something at least a little bit different, and so for this week I am featuring the Miscellaneous section of YWS, something that's often not looked out in the Knowledge base of the Resources Section, but all the while very useful.

Here are some guidelines on How to Submit Articles which have been enforced by the active Resources crew in October.

And here's something to look at the top of every single category in the KB, the handy-dandy index that BigBrother collects all the articles and creates order to these type of sections. Miscellaneous Article Index

This is definitively one of my favorite parts of YWS, because I don't have to thoroughly research these topics, talented writers and contributors put this information out there, for me as the consumer and member to pick up and read!

That's all! Please give me some feedback via PM on the different newness of my #4 point if you are available to do so, and maybe you can even request a specific section for next week. That would be very helpful, because as you all that I grow on feedback, almost everyone on YWS. Anyways, I'm going to stop rambling and let you get on with the rest of your week!

Until Next Time,

~Pretzel

QUIBBLES
Dating the Dictionary
written by Lavvie < PM: >

With the advent of the Internet which has brought us social medias and online forums like YWS, words are rapidly changing or new ones are being defined. A lot of the words are slang, but there are some special ones that have made it into the Official World of the Dictionary. But have you ever asked yourself how this happens? Certainly a word does not make it into the Oxford Dictionary simply because of popular opinion.

First of all, there are actually many different types of dictionaries. You might have a much smaller, more concise dictionary when you were a child. Maybe you took a language arts class and had a translating dictionary. The most complete dictionary out there is the twenty-volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary and it includes not only words that you hear and write on a daily basis, but also those words that have not been able to withstand the passage of time. The Oxford English Dictionary contains a multitude of words that are not actually searchable on online platforms, like Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster Online.

The most modern dictionaries are not simply guidebooks on every word existent in one particular language. In fact, a dictionary is more of a record of language than anything else. By way of definitions, a dictionary attempts to keep up with the description and evolution of a language. This means that there is not really a panel of judgmental editors passing or failing a bunch of words; the editors make decisions based on the usage of a word – and this does not necessarily mean that the popular usage of the internet slang “bae” will make it purely based on the fact that millions of people employ the term. Instead, the editors employed by a dictionary company will often spend their workdays reading many publications, from newspapers to books of all kinds to assorted media, in search of new words, new usages, new spellings, and so on. Any words that jump out the editors are immediately noted, along with their context for further investigation. Because of this process, words that make it into a dictionary might not necessarily grammatically acceptable but their usage so widespread that it they have now become ingrained in the society’s language. This is why profanities and words like “irregardless” can be found in the pages of a dictionary.

Eventually, the new word will make into a computer system and editors will create a citation. The citation contains the word, the word used in context, and bibliographic materials related to its source. However, it’s important to know that when a word gets a citation it is not necessarily a valid word yet. Instead, think of the citation as a name in a tournament: the word must prove itself before making the giant leap into a print dictionary. Once editors compile enough sources to prove the word’s usage and viability, the word will finally be added to publications like Merriam-Webster or the Oxford Dictionary. Of course, if all the sources for one word come from one place or are unique to a specific field, then the word is not likely to make it into the general dictionary.

A good example of one such word is “webisode”. Many legitimate online platforms began to use the word and soon it spread to print publications, like newspapers and magazines. Because of the words extensive use over an extended period, it was only a matter of time before editors made the move to include “webisode” in the dictionary.
Keep in mind that simply because a word is included in the Oxford English Dictionary, it does not mean that the word is necessarily right. That is why there are style guides – or usage guides – like The Chicago Manual of Style and Modern American Usage. A lot of these guides might actually deter you from employing “irregardless” in writing, despite the fact that it is recognized the dictionary powers that be. The role of style guides is to refine your writing and speech, whereas the role of a dictionary is to list, define, and describe words that you are likely to run into throughout your life.

NEW ARRIVALS
written by Lavvie < PM: >

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

@g1ldv has already earned their first star. Go to their wall to congratulate them!

@Mahvash has posted a poem called “Magnetic field”. Click here to read it and leave a review.

@TribeofArt has posted in the Welcome Mat asking YOU questions. Welcome them with some interesting facts of your own!

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 4/10written by megsug < PM: >

Poetry, pictures, errors, and celebrities. This week creates an intriguing round up.


@Autumns is starting NaPo off right. He’s got beautiful content like:





Autumns poetry is very visual. You should read every image he paints with his words. Highly suggest.


@MialyNire has another photography thread up. This one is experimenting with light and all the pictures are pretty abstract. I like the one with the theme of memory:



Check out all her pretty pictures about light with accompanying lyrics.


@Nate explained that YWS was down April 5 because an upgrade caused the cache to fail. Nate says:







People have been reporting a few hiccups like usernames redirecting to the front page instead of a user’s wall and some funkiness with the like button. Both have been resolved. If you think you’re experiencing something that’s individual or unrelated to the cache failure report it in Report a Site Bug .


@BigBrother started a game two years ago that’s still going strong today. The idea is to identify what the user before you is known for. @Watchdog1324 said @Zolen was known for:







Zolen had just accused @r4p17 of not being a sandwich. Right now @StupidSoup needs to know what he’s know for. Post and see why you’re famous.

Click for more information about the exciting new Squills contest!

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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