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. GREEN ROOM GALLERY
2. TWO CENTS
3. NEW ARRIVALS
4. THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP
5. Shameless Plugs
6. Subscriptions

GREEN ROOM GALLERYwritten by Lightsong < PM: >

Alright, let’s get this thing going. As you might have noticed, the Green Room is mostly dominated by novel chapters. Some of them have been reviewed, some of them not. But it is okay for those freshly posted, but to those who have been in the Room for a long time? Those need rescuing! So, everyone (especially the Green Room Knights!), save these chapters! D:

Dreams of Stars Chapter 33 (Once Upon a Time)
by @Songmorning

This chapter is from a fanfiction novel based on the show Once Upon a Time, one that revolves around fairy tales’ characters. Due to this, it has a strong fantasy element. I have read some of the chapters, and the author’s skill of storytelling really shows in her writing. This chapter has been in the Green Room since March 23, and the thirty-third chapters out of thirty-seventh that have been posted. You can read the first chapter here
.

TACJ Part 1: 3 by @soundofmind @sherlockhson

This is the third fraction for the first part of TACJ, acronym for The Adventure of Clandestine and James. It is a fantasy novel as well as action and romance, and featuring a female protagonist with a unique name--and therefore, unique story as well! The Room has been home for this chapter since March 27. You can read the introduction (not the first part) here while the first fraction of the first part can be found here .

Heartbeat Academy: Chapter 39 by @tigeraye

One of the few novels with tenths of chapters, Heartbeat Academy is a realistic, teen fiction novel. This chapter is the thirty-ninth out of forty-first chapter, so reviewers should grab this opportunity to snatch this piece out of the malicious Room. You can read the first chapter here .

Cuddle Application 2: Fran's and Ex-Friends by @Linguistic

This is the second chapter of Cuddle Application novel, one that is about teen fiction and romance. As you can see, the title itself is intriguing. There must be a connection somehow between a cuddle and romance. Hmm... From April 7, this work has been relaxing in the room for far too long. You can read the first chapter here .

"Foxes and Rag Dolls": The Emphasis on Social Relationships in The Little Prince by @Jadefox

Diverging from the trend of novel chapters, this is an essay, a review for a literature titled The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A deeper analysis is made by the reviewer about the social relationships portrayed in the reviewed book, often categorized as children’s literature. Definitely recommended for those who are interested by The Little Prince and want feedbacks on that book. This essay has made the Room as its sleeping location since April 20.

A Pocket Full of Posies (7) by @Sins

Put under supernatural and dramatic genres, A Pocket Full of Posies has some of its chapter put under the spotlight. Having a ghost character in it, this novel is guaranteed to make your eyes widened in excitement (and probably fear!). This chapter has been watching television in the Room since April 24. You can read the first chapter here .

The Pilgrim- Chapter Four by @Catalyst

The current installment of The Pilgrim, this chapter is full with fantasy, action and adventure. It is the last out of the four chapters been posted, and has been bored in the Room since May 2. You can read the first chapter here .

TWO CENTS: POETRY ANALYSISwritten by Aley < PM: >

Sometimes when we're reviewing a literary work we forget what a review is to the rest of the world. A literary review is a piece of non-fiction writing geared towards delivering an analysis of how the writer does what they do, what they do well, and how it relates to what's already out there.

Some literary reviews focus on how two pieces relate to one another, which are a comparison, while other times they focus on a central thesis, or overall point. These two types of literary reviews are not speaking to the author, but describing the writing to a third party, the reader. They are a way for readers to get more out of fiction or non-fiction they're unfamiliar with, or explore new ideas in fiction they're intimate with.

To write a literary analysis, you first have to come up with something to say. For the most part, it's going to be a statement that you can prove, such as "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost is a poem about pets in our lives. and this is followed up by saying how those things are related, in a short, quick summary.

Another common type of thesis would be that Robert Frost is a writer of witty banter wrapped in beautiful language. and this is something which the writer can then support with poems from Robert Frost.

Just about anything can be proven through a thesis paper like this. So what's a thesis? It's not just a big scary word you'll never remember, it's a simple word which doesn't have much bite. It's just the idea you're trying to prove. This means that "Nothing Gold Can Stay" shows a dedication to life. is a difficult thesis, but a thesis nevertheless. However, we can take that same idea and say Robert Frost had a profound dedication to natural life. and that will be an easy thesis. The difference? One is a proof of the other. Or, one proves the point of the other.

The thesis you choose should always have one of the 5Ws to follow up and answered in your paper, maybe even more than one. For instance: How does Robert Frost have a profound dedication to natural life? Where do you see this in his body of work? Why do you think it's profound? What makes it any different than any other living person's dedication to life? These are all questions you can ask about the single thesis up above. The essay, is answering those questions.

The basics of an essay are pretty simple. You can think about it like a deck. Each time you make a claim, such as "Robert Frost's poem 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' shows a dedication to life" you have to back it up. Making these claims is sort of like building the horizontal part of the deck, the part you walk on. You need stairs to get down to the yard, and you need supports going down to the ground to keep it from falling over. That's going to be the rest of your paper. Once you make this grandiose claim at the beginning of your paper, you have to build the rest of it. To start, give the reader a quick idea, like a snap-shot, of what's to come.

We're not writing a suspense thriller here, we're writing an analysis of a poem. They should be able to read the first paragraph and the last, and both of them should be saying pretty much the same thing.

How do you do this in practice? Write the first paragraph after you know what's coming in the middle. I like to write my thesis, then leave the rest of the paragraph blank. I start a new paragraph, and jump right into my supporting information. Later, when I'm done with my supporting information, and my conclusion, I write my first paragraph.

To be honest, I do the same thing with reviews. When I'm writing a long review, I don't start with writing the introduction to what I'm going to say, I read, and as I do, I write what I think of the poem, or my "readers notes" as I'll call them if I don't have time to edit it into a cohesive review. Then, I go back and write my introduction to what I'm going to say, and my positive feedback after I know what my suggestions are going to be to change the work.

Not only does this give you a longer time to see what you really want to say they did the best, but it gives you more ideas because they did everything good that you don't comment on.

In an analysis it's different. You start out with a thesis saying what you think about the work, and then go into your supporting evidence for why you think that. Sometimes it's hard to track, so oftentimes I will write a list of what I want to talk about and then come up with my thesis from that list.

In general, an average of 3 things is a good number for what you want to use as supporting information, however, if you need to support your supports, it can be more.

A support is something which expresses your train of thought. You have to be pretty detailed with these because it's not you who's reading it, it's someone else. That means they think differently than you. They don't have the same connotations, or denotations potentially, that you do for certain words. If you're expressing your views on something, or how you see two things relating, which you always are in some way, shape, or form, then you have to make it possible for someone else to follow that logical progression as well.

To do that, write out your train of thought, and anywhere that doesn't match up perfectly, support it with evidence. For instance, if I was going to argue the thesis I've gone into a bit earlier, that Frost is passionate about life, I first have to prove that how Frost feels is what he writes in his poems. This isn't always true. Writers don't always write what they believe. Because of that, I might end up looking for an interview, or an essay, or something supporting my claim that Robert Frost writes what he feels. If I find it, that's support number one. If I don't, I reword my thesis. In this way your thesis is sort of like your hypothesis, but you can tweak it if it's false.

The next logical step I need to prove is that what he writes is actually dedicated to life. To do that, I have to quote from the poem because how else am I going to show that it's dedicated to life without showing what it says? When I quote something however, I have to introduce the quote. You can add in-text citation here too if you want. This is basically explaining how the quote I'm going to use relates to the thesis I already have. Then, I put in the quote, and after that, I explain in more detail how it relates to what I had said before in more explicit detail. Explain the words and their particular meanings as they relate to you, and how that relates to your thesis

Sometimes, if you have multiple quotes, you need multiple paragraphs. Explaining one part of your supporting document can actually take anywhere from 1 to 5 paragraphs depending on how complex the explanation has to get. Chances are if you go over 3, you're getting into a different thesis, but that's not always the case. Whenever you start a new paragraph, refer back to what the point of the paragraph was, that way the reader doesn't get lost.

When you're totally done writing out all of your supporting information, write the conclusion. This is going to be a rough overview of how the supporting bits of information all fall together to create the domino effect for your essay, and, when it's all said and done, what your thesis is in total. At this point, they should believe your thesis, or, at the very least, understand how your thesis came to be. They should be able to follow your train of thought.

You may think that this has absolutely nothing to do with writing reviews, or that you really don't care about analysis, but, writing analysis is actually incredibly helpful for writers. When you can pick apart an essay, story, poem, or short story and discover what parts you like, and why certain parts make you feel certain ways, which you have to do for supporting a thesis, you actually can learn how to emulate that writing style yourself, and become better at writing through adopting some of the techniques your favorite authors use.

A thesis can be something as simple as "Opening lines should begin with an active voice," to something as complex as "Opening lines should begin with an active voice, single clause, in iambic pentameter."

Of course, most literary reviews are based around an idea such as "Robert Frost's writing is relatable" but the process is still the same.

Now that you know how to build a deck, try putting it to use. Take a YWS work and write them a literary review!

Until Next Time!

NEW ARRIVALS
written by Lavvie < PM: >

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

@MandlynProductions has earned their first reviewing star! Click to here to congratulate them on their wall.

@MysticWords has posted a short story. Click here to leave a review on Death Awaits. Warning: This work has been rated 18+ for language, violence, and mature content.

THIS WEEK'S ROUND UP 6/19written by megsug < PM: >

Advice, worldbuilding, strength, and sports. What else could you want in a weekly roundup?


@Noelle wrote a post discussing a panel she attended where three published spoke of the publishing process as well as writing in general. These were their best pieces of advice:







Check the article out for great detailed advice.


Love worldbuilding? Want to show of your talents? Now’s your chance. @haredrier is putting on a contest just for the worldbuilders out there. There will be a series of contests exploring different parts of worldbuilding, but haredrier explains the concept for round one:







Winners are decided by a voting process. Check out the contest today!


@Pompadour wants to create a space for bragging about what we’re good at when it comes to writing instead of another place to talk about weaknesses. @reikann said:







Brag on yourself a little. What are you good at?


Good at a sport? @Siddharth wants to hear about it. If you’re like me, you may not have much to add to the thread, but @Gymnast2801 has quite a bit to say:







What kinda sports do you participate in?

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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