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. FM INTERVIEW
2. POST-CHAT
3. REVIEW DAY REVIEW
4. SOCIETY PAGES
5. HOLY SPAM
6. THIS WEEK'S ROUND UP
7. SHAMELESS PLUGS
8. SUBSCRIBERS

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: STORMCYCLEwritten by Mea < PM: >

@StormCycle whipped up a storm last week when she was announced as the latest in the cycle of Featured Members! Between her awesome reviews and friendly personality, it’s no wonder she was chosen. And, of course, your friendly Squills reporter has seized the chance to interview her about her new claim to fame. Without further ado, let's see what she has to say.



StormCycle: Well, I just got on for a quick visit to see if I had any notifications. I can't remember if I actually went to my notifications or if I saw it down below on the recently posted thing. But I found the forum post and saw it. It was amazing.



S: Yeah. I had no idea I had actually thought a while before it happened ‘what if I was ever featured member.’ But I dismissed that thought pretty quickly.



S: I guess I was pretty new, so when I became active on the site people noticed the new name.



S: I actually was looking for a chatroom for writers. I found this and joined but I couldn't find the chatroom, so I didn't come back for a couple days. But I did, and I'm happy I did.



S: : Hmm. I love the reviewing system. I love that people are encouraged to write helpful, detailed reviews. But the community definitely ties. Everyone is so great, and I don't feel shy or nervous about talking to people.



S: : That's the same for me, but chat is why I came, and the community is definitely why I stayed (though those are very similar).



S: : Well, I model my reviews after @ Apricity's in the format that I use and I write them as I go so I don't lose any train of thought that I might have. Tips... Well, sometimes you have to go searching for something that's wrong with a piece. Once you do enough of them, you kind of find your groove and it's a lot easier to keep going. My best tip is to find reviews from people who you love getting feedback from and model yours after theirs. Originality in your reviews will come later.



S: : This is really embarrassing, but as much as I've heard about the event. I don't know what it's for at all. So I have no clue.



S: : Okay. Then dragons definitely.



S: : No problem!

And that wraps it up for today, folks! Be sure to head on over and congratulate StormCycle on her feature! And meanwhile, I’ll be making a meal out of her food for thought on reviewing.

POST-CHAT: CASANOVA INTERVIEW written by Aley < PM: >

One of the new things going on in the new year of YWS is that chat was closed. For people who have been here for a while, this was a huge change. After writing several reviews, a private chat bar used to unlock on YWS to allow you quick access to anyone who had the chatbar active. From the get go, you could also access a public chat which had a private chat feature as well.

Today, these features are turned off, and while the public chat could come back on occasion, like on Review Day, it's mostly going to be off and only will remain on while moderators are present to moderate chat.

The change came about due to liability on the part of the site for things which happen in chat, and a decision passed down by Nate, the owner of YWS.

This week, I decided to go talk to a former chat local @Casanova about how he's coping with the change and what he sees the future being for YWS post-chat.



Casanova: Yeah, I'm free for a bit


C: At first I couldn't believe it, I thought my friends were pranking me when they told me. Once I found the thread about chat closing, I was in complete shock. Chat was practically everything to me then, and I miss it dearly.


C: I would say my activity has slowed a bit. I'm not reviewing as much, posting a lot, or chatting with random people throughout the chatbar. Whether that's because chats gone or work has picked up, I couldn't tell you.


C: I think the Discord chat is the best we could do at the time. It's nice for the old YWS chat regulars to stay in touch, and some who come and go, but it doesn't have the same vibe. There's no blue background colours, no random quotes at the bottom, and hardly ever do newbs find us right off the bat- considering you have to make an account and find the link as well.


C: There was a link posted, but I think it's set to randomly generate links now. I would say ask about the YWS community, or post, about wanting to join, and someone from the discord site will PM you a link so you can get in. You can't randomly enter anymore- we had some issues with that so set it up for random.


C: I think some will go without a second thought. Chat was a way to welcome new members and inspire them to write- without that there some may leave. But others will be captivated by our forums, posts, works, and blogs and stay to help out/participate in it. It's really a fifty/fifty shot, and I can see many being happy with the site and others growing bored after a time.


C: I think I'll find a way to stay interested. Reviewing is a good way- I like helping people. But most of all poetry and lyrics keep me going, and the YWS community is there to help me through my editing process. I would hate to leave YWS all together- everyone here has been like family to me.


C: I would say it might be. It would be the main way to keep in touch and help out- and chat is coming back for that day and other events so that would be a real plus.


C: It's not a problem! Thanks for having me in the interview!

All in all, activity in forums has increased, and people are finding new avenues for communication like discord, the people tab, and so on, so the site seems to be handling the change like taking off the training wheels.

Here's to the future!

A REVIEW OF REVIEW DAYwritten by Mea < PM: >

Multicolored dots by everyone's names, a giant header at the top of each page, and the People Tab filling up with reviews? That's how you know it's Review Day!

What is Review Day?
Review Day is an event held on the last Sunday of every month with the goal of reviewing as much as humanly possible in just 24 hours. And with it comes some friendly competition - each member can join one of (usually) three teams, which then battle it out to see who can earn the most points.

The Teams
This month, February 2017, the teams were season-themed, with the original names of Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Of those, only Team Winter elected to change their name, and thus Team Glow Cloud was born.

The stage was set. Team Autumn, captained by @EternalRain, Team Spring, headed by @Mage, and Team Glow Cloud, jointly led by @Nikayla and @crobbins. The time drew near. The site tensed.

The Battle
And they were off! In the first hours, Autumn and Spring fought neck-and-neck, with Glow Cloud only a few hundred points behind. But as the hours wore on, Glow Cloud fell further and further behind. For a while, it seemed Autumn might eventually catch up to Spring, while Spring's members slept. But it was not to be, and by the time the clock ticked over, Spring had widened their lead and secured the victory. A hearty congratulations to them!

In the end, Spring won with 9399 points and 90 reviews, with Autumn in second place with 90 reviews, but merely 8852 points, while Glow Cloud finished with 49 reviews and 5405 points.

But the story is not over! The greatest deed has not yet been told. As the teams fought, the Green Room dwindled and dwindled, until, with hours to spare, there were only a dozen works remaining. But these were mighty beasts, and our reviewers were tired. Still, a brave few ventured forth and slew them, one by one, until none remained.

That's right! This February Review Day saw the Green Room conquered, saw our favorite knight raising his sword in triumph, a sight seen rarely more than twice a year. For a time, not a single work on this site had been given less than two reviews. That's pretty awesome, if you ask me.

Many a thanks to everyone wrote a review! You are what makes these Review Days amazing.

(And thanks to @voiceofdragons for posting the stats on Team Autumn's wall. To be slightly melodramatic, you made this article possible.)

Society Pageswritten by EternalRain < PM: >

With a week without society pages, we’re back at it!

To start it off, @Poopsie has figured out you can send PMs to yourself. Guess lonely issues can be solved - just PM yourself!

@Frinderman has created quite the interesting tag: #myfuneralsong . Theirs was Dear You. Basically, the point is to pick out a song that you think you would play at your own funeral. Creepy, but gives you something to think about!

@Noisette is taking suggestions of characters to write about for her lit magazine. Let her know if you know any awesome characters she can write about.

@featherstone9086 made a hashtag called #OCsinasong . The point is to assign a song for characters you have created! @Mage has connected the song “Caged Bird” by Lindsey Stirling to her character Kane Thompson.

In work related news, @Sachiko is starting a new job on Monday!

@Sheyren has finished their last middle school play - and apparently everyone backstage was crying.

Apparently @Snoink’s daughter loves “Jesus songs” - particularly an old Roman chant. @Wolfical’s song of the day was “The Sound of Silence but every time they sing "silence" it gets faster”. The memes are making their way to YWS!

@Autumns had a strange dream where they wrote poetry in their dream! The one line they remember is “Pickle me, my love, pickle me.”

Math, math, math! @Falconer is on her mathletes team and is headed off to regionals - hopefully to get into state.

In other news, @LadySpark has changed her major from psychology to anthropology, @FairyLight has noticed the (nice) effects puberty has had on Zac Efron from High School Musical 1 to HSM3, @AllisontheWriter knows what the combination of the Joker and Wicked Witch’s voices sound like, and @Hattable has added a few sentences to his NaNoWriMo project.

And to end this week off, some especially exciting news! @ElizabethLovelace has gotten herself a pair of cool looking golden snitch earrings. What can be better than that?

Exciting week - and to put the cherry on top of the cake, there’s review day! February is also ending - so start posting those March status posts!

HOLY SPAM: SUBJECTIVENESSwritten by Holysocks < PM: >

Our world is so subjective, when you think about it, and I want to take a moment to look at habits to explain my thoughts. Habits are strange things. Some of them are good, and some of them, well, not so much. For instance, I have a habit of wearing clothes most days- that would be viewed by some, as a good habit. But not everyone would think of that as a good or necessary habit- some people might even think it’s a bad habit, I’m sure- certainly some forms of clothing could be viewed as a health concern.

So if a habit can be viewed as both good and bad, even something we may view as incredibly essential for conversing in our friendly neighbourhood, what really IS this crazy world we live in? What are the rules? What IS good and bad, if everyone views good and bad as slightly different? When people view good and bad differently, it makes it hard to relate to people. For instance, someone that grew up wearing clothes in public might find it weird, and even awkward, conversing with someone that grew up, er, not wearing clothes in social situations. In fact, aside from finding it awkward, that person might think lower of the other person, because “they must not know to wear clothes!” or “doesn’t he know that’s rude?” but the funny thing is, what do you think the nude individuel is thinking? They’re probably thinking “I wonder if that clothed fellow thinks he has something different under those pants than the rest of us…”

We have more in common than we think we do with those around us, despite appearances. If you find yourself thinking that the world is a morally-skewed place, stop for a minute and think about your own morals for a minute. Realize that not everyone shares yours because not everyone has had the same life as you. From our individual point of view, it’s easy to think that we’re the protagonist, and people that think differently than us are the antagonists, but the world isn’t that straightforward.

This Week’s Link Round Up 2/27 written by megsug < PM: >

Be inspired by This Week’s Round Up.


@GoldenQuill wants to discuss Over the Garden Wall, a Cartoon Network miniseries about brothers trying to find their way back home with lots of songs. Apparently, it’s a little deeper than it first appears. GoldenQuill said:







If you’ve watched it, go say something in the thread. If you haven’t, make like @Lumi and myself and watch it as soon as possible!


@Basil is helping to inspire the masses. Post on the thread, and you’ll receive a picture decided on by Basil’s whimsy, and then you’re supposed to write something inspired by it. Simple, right?

@Vellichor’s picture was:



Are you ready to be inspired?


@ChildOfNowhere has rebooted the Ask a Mod thread. In this thread, users can post questions from “How do I become a mod?” to “Where does the no swearing rule apply?” to “Where should I put a thread about this subject?” The mods are telling all.

@PrincessInk asked:







ChildOfNowhere led them to the site policy and explained that all rights to any material put on YWS remain the users’.

What burning question do you want to ask? Now’s the moment to find out YWS’ deepest secrets.


@Megrim has gifted YWS with another fabulous article. This one is about the many different types of publishing, specifically traditional, self, and indie. They said about working with a publishing company:







This article would be great for anyone who thinks they want to be published and may be familiar with the different options but doesn’t understand the specifics of how one is different from another. Check it out!

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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SUBSCRIBERS

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