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!

See an empty position you'd like to fill? Find position descriptions and instructions to apply here .

1. YWS CALENDAR
2. REVIEW MONTH
3. REVMO INTERVIEW
4. GREEN ROOM GALLERY
5. SOCIETY PAGES
6. MODS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
7. WORD OF THE WEEK
8. LINK ROUNDUP
9. SUBSCRIBERS

YWS CALENDARwritten by Aley < PM: >

In order to keep up to date on all of the goings on this September, Squills will be giving you a run down on all of the contests, their deadlines, and the workshops.

Contests

Story Starters Contest – Application Closed – Deadline Sept. 30

The Story Starters Contest has gone through a change of hands and now @Kays has taken it over as the creator, @Lareine had some real life trouble to take care of. The prompts were provided September 1st by Kays.

Anyone wishing to participate should speak with Kays about whether or not she will allow it.

Story Starters Contest

Poetry Writing Contest – Accepting Participants – Deadline Sept. 15

For poetry writers on YWS, this is a mid-year kick to remind us to write after the long sleep from April Madness. The contest is mostly empty as of yet so pick up your pens and get writing! There are no fancy requirements for writing or submitting, just toss a poem up in the thread before September 15th. Oh, and no swearing!

For more information contact @snowmonkey9 who is in charge of the competition.

Poetry Writing Contest

Review Contest – Accepting Participants – Deadline Sept. 30

This September as you're writing reviews consider showing off your prowess in this reviewing contest. The pieces that are to be reviewed are posted in the contest, and reviews should be PMed to @Aley the contest host. This competition is also in great need for participants and if you and two friends are the only ones who submit, you win! Sounds great, doesn't it?

Review Contest

Workshops

Kight School – Poetry Review Workshop –

The first Knight School workshop will be on Poetry at . Join @LadyLizzLovelace for an adventure in how to review poetry on that date, or participate later by completing the Homework given to the knights who couldn't make it. The homework will be posted an hour after the completion of the live workshop in the KotGR club forum.

Kight School
KotGR Club Forum

Have an idea for a workshop or a contest? Go for it! Workshops and contests are for everyone to create and enjoy, so the more contests and workshops, the better.

Until next time!

REVIEW MONTHwritten by Aley < PM: >

This month is RevMo, or Review Month, on YWS! What that means is that we are all going to be getting together all September and trying to write a lot of reviews. No, seriously, a lot of reviews. It's like National Novel Writing Month and National Poetry Month, but it's not national, and it's reviewing.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's basically that there is a set goal and you try to write that much within the timeframe. The traditional goal for RevMo is 50 reviews in a month. That works out to about one and a half reviews per day, or if you want to be on the safe side, two reviews per day.

This RevMo we have a new club to help participants encourage one another, talk about things they want to do, and create their personal goals.



We have badges we'll be giving out for people who achieve these goals.

There are several types of people who participate in RevMo and this year we will be encouraging all participation regardless of your type.

The Tortoise

Every month there is a Tortoise leaderboard in the Leaderboards which shows off people who have written a review every day of the month. The goal is to stay on that board all month. RevMo is no exception but being #1 on that leaderboard is harder to achieve!

The Hare

Just like the fable goes, if there is a slow and steady, there's also a sprinter. The Hare is for people who choose to race through all 50 reviews all at once! These people are the ones who you can see fly up the leaderboards in just a week, and then stop and rest for a while.

The SuperStars

During RevMo there are some people who like to show off their reviewing prowess, and they will be the ones who do above and beyond the 50 reviews that RevMo suggests. A lot of goals can be met by going above and beyond and YWS loves it when you do! Want to be a featured member? Try to really shine!

Now that you know what RevMo is, and you see some of the ways people participate, let's talk about a game plan for how to tackle 2 reviews a day, or 50 reviews in a month.

• Make personal goals
  This may seem obvious, but it is important to decide for yourself whether you want to go for a daily contribution, or if you want to limit yourself to just doing 13 a week.

• Talk about it!
  This RevMo season we have several fun wall banners, decorations, and even a club to talk about what we're doing, so if you're feeling like you just don't know how to review something, or you want to chat about something amazing you just read, do it! Don't be shy.

• One review in 30 minutes
  YWS was never supposed to have reviews that took an hour to do. The system is more realistically aimed to have reviews take 15 to 30 minutes each, excluding the time it takes you to read the piece if it is a novel chapter, short story, or something long. Review efficiently and don't spend too long on one review unless you want to.

• Use your resources
  The Knowledge Base on YWS is extensive and has several hundred articles on a wide variety of subjects. Chances are strong that whatever you have to say to a reviewer has already been said by an article and is explained in more detail than you can do in your 30 minute time frame. Link to articles you think could help a writer so they can read about the information at their leisure and you can move on to something more specific about their piece.

• No seriously, use your resources
  There are also resources for you as a reviewer! The Knowledge Base has an index which has brought together all of the reviewing advice people have written over the years on YWS. If you're having trouble reviewing something, or getting motivation to review, then go searching through the YWS Resources in the Knowledge Base. Here's a link to the Knowledge Bases' YWS Review Tips

Now that you have tips and tricks about how to tackle RevMo, let's make this a great season! For more information on RevMo, you can check out the club, ask questions around YWS, or even contact a moderator on the unofficialYWS discord. Stay tuned for updates throughout the month of September.

REVMO INTERVIEW: LUMIwritten by Aley < PM: >

This month is Review Month and in order to tell us more about that, I got in touch with @Lumi to ask some questions you all may be asking too. Lumi was kind enough to sit down with me to answer them!

First, let's get some basics out of the way. Review Month is also called RevMo and we have the hashtag #RevMo that goes along with it. It is the month of September and everyone is encouraged to participate whether you're a new user, old user, or just coming back. If you review in September, you've participated in RevMo. For more information check out the other article about RevMo in this weeks issue.

Onto the interview!



Lumi: Absolutely! I've been waiting all my life for this moment, you know.



L: RevMo started a few years back to boost reviewing during the back-to-school dip. We decided to keep it up as it was a resounding success, and YWS seemed to love it!

The point is twofold: personally write fifty reviews in thirty days and get a massive prize; and as a site, have a massive review month with a goal of 1,500 reviews!



L: If you do the math, taking August's Review Day, we had a goal of 150 reviews. So RevMo is the equivalent of TEN review days!



L: Absolutely! If just thirty people write fifty reviews each, then we're totally covered. Or sixty people doing twenty-five reviews! Or my favorite: if 100 YWSers do 50 reviews...



L: Probably the fact that we have so much going on! There're the two main challenges, team tortoise, Knight School, and plenty of unofficial funsies coming from the Discord server!



L: Does...THIS answer your question?!



L: There is a badge for RevMo...for every. single. participant. And I'm so happy to give it. But to the victors of the 50 challenge go the massive spoils!



L: Those who win the Big Fifty will join a group for two weeks with a unique name color, setting them apart as monstrous reviewers!



L: Knight School is a series of workshops hosted by the Knights of the Green Room led by @ladylizzloveless! The courses cover reviewing poetry, short stories, novels, and others!



L: They, too, get a badge for coming to the workshops!



L: Wellsies, they're considering Grand Reviewer titles for those in the Big Fifty! They're playing with the idea of letting folks make temporary colors (saw that one today myself!) and they've opened a room where you can discuss RevMo all day everyday. And there's more to come, I'm sure!



L: It's a good time to realize that you can be helpful without getting bogged down with every detail--which is advice that can also help the author if they go too heavy on 'em.



L: It's a good time to farm experience points before the next raid boss! A great time to go star gazing! Or maybe you're like me and prefer to take a walk in the green forests. It's just a wonderful time of year!



L: Hehe. Hehehe. Maybe there's one. Maybe there are forty. Maybe. It's. You! Or, you know, the entire staff banding together for a huge thing. (Dark Lord @Kays must remain a secret...)



L: BOND LIKE HYDROGEN, BABY! I hope everyone has a fantastic RevMo. I imagine my commentary will not stop here, but for now...I am so happy looking out at the horizon.



L: I'm happy to answer questions folks have about RevMo! If you have questions about Knight School, hit up @LadyLizzLovelace. And, of course, if you have issues out in the review world, hit up anyone in green and we'll get you sorted!

And there you have it folks!

This year RevMo will have many goodies that you can collect including things for reviewing every day, participating in workshops, reviewing in general, getting all 50 reviews in the month, and if you just want to hang out and talk!

As this is a YWS wide event, you can direct your questions, concerns, or ponders to any moderator and we'll all be able to help you.

See you out there!

GREEN ROOM GALLERYwritten by JustPerks < PM: >

There are about twenty one works in the Green Room right now - not too bad, since we just came out of a Review Day! Thirteen have no reviews, which leaves eight with one. There are still about thirteen works from August, so hopefully we can review them soon, since it's finally RevMo! A majority of the older works are from multi-chapter novels, so I'm hoping I can get a few of your hooked and willing to read them from the beginning!

Chapter 4.1: Felaris by @Lightsong

Action, adventure, multiple perspectives, and a magic school are all woven into this fantastic fantasy story.

Catch up starting with the first chapter:

Chapter 1.1: Ilami by @Lightsong

Mixing Magic [Draft 2]: Chapter 13.1 by @Mea

A strong female head with a magical adventure ahead of her. Good world-building and interesting characters all around.

Start reading the first chapter now:

Mixing Magic [Draft 2]: Chapter 1 by @Mea

And finally,

Hell or High Water [Chapter V] [Pt 2] by @ScribbleInks

Who doesn't like a strong female character and a pirate adventure?

Start reading with the prologue:
Hell or High Water [Prologue] by @ScribbleInks

Hopefully these stories will kick start your RevMo goals! Good luck and happy reviewing!

SOCIETY PAGESwritten by EternalRain < PM: >

Let’s dive right into this week with some tags!

Not many tags have been circulating, but there are a few that some members have used. It seems like #RevMo is sucking up everyone’s time.

Speaking of which, #RevMo has started, and you can use the #RevMo tag to update everyone on your progress towards 50 reviews, post some encouragement, or anything to do with RevMo!

Another tag this week, which hasn’t been used much, is #deliciouspoetry . @marms created this tag to share poems you like with others. So, if you have some favorites, let everyone know!

@GalaxyUnicornz has a tag #dailyfactaboutme, and one of them is that they don’t like “children’s food” like macoroni and cheese or fish sticks. A very interesting fact, because many people do love these things.

If you’re interested, it could be fun to use their #dailyfactaboutme tag, because it seems like a fun way to learn random things about each other.

@DarkPandemonium just finished the series The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, @RubyRed has finished Perelandra by C.S. Lewis, and @saentiel is rereading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. There’s been lots of updates on books lately, which is always fun! It’s great to see what others are reading.

@DragonWriter22 has come from Japan and is here in the States! They’re almost missing the humidity.

Just as the triple digit weather comes, @rosette’s family’s A/C breaks. It’s hot where @PrincessInk is, as well as where I am - so maybe the hot weather is hitting lots of places.

@Sheytato is lovely enough to remind us that if we’re feeling too proud of ourselves sometimes, we have to remember we’re almost genetically identical to yeast.

@NicolMemo is glad it’s the start of the month because their data is full, @Crysi has an idea for NaNoWriMo, @DreamingForever redid their room this week (and posted a picture of their bunny in their closet), and @Iridescence got the opportunity to write for his town’s newspaper.

Got any updates on life, school, work, writing, or anything else? Be sure to get sharing, and you might be featured in the next Society Pages edition.

MODS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN: THESILVERFOXwritten by LUMI < PM: >

Welcome to the Studio of Voice to Pixels where we are seated with a very special guest tonight to discuss absolutely nothing but them! That's right, folks! It's time to learn that Mods Just Wanna Have Fun, and our first guest educator will be the witty and wonderful, silly and suave @TheSilverFox!


Fox: I'm in a good mood, and I'm not particularly worried; actually, I dare you to try and see if you can get past my wonderful logic.


F: 8DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD, to put it shortly.


F: @@@@@@@@@@_@@@@@@@@@


F: Since I've only ever been a member of the SB Crew, that's the clear answer, unless one of the other teams uses their latest brainwashing machines and has somebody skilled in kidnapping people (psssht hint what hint).


F: I may or may not be the kind of person who spends my halloweens handing out candy, eating candy, and running up and down the stairs like a hyperactive toddler. <.<


F: Planks, in an emergency, can serve as fantastic surfboards.


F: Clearly! Now, I'll be taking that lollipop and heading over on my surfboard to that deserted island, if you don't mind.

And that's a wrap for this week's Mods Just Wanna Have Fun! Thank you for joining us in the Studio of Voice to Pixels, and until next time, readers, Know Your YWS!

THE WORD OF THE WEEK: GALLIMAUFRYwritten by megsug < PM: >
Pronunciation: gal-uh-maw-free

Part of Language: Noun

Definition: A jumble or hodgepodge; a disorganized medly
diced meat; especially a hash or ragout

Used in a Sentence: The quest goers were a gallimaufry of thieves, loiterers, and a singular murderer.

Origin: Galliimaufry was created in the middle of the sixteenth century. It is derived from the archaic French word galimafree, meaning sauce or stew or unappetizing dish. Galimafree is probably the child of the words galer, to amuse oneself, and mafrer, to gorge oneself.

Related words: None

THIS WEEK'S LINK ROUNDUP 9/3 written by megsug < PM: >

Closets and clauses and OCs oh my!


@GalaxyUnicornz has created a cool thread where users create a character together by choosing different physical and personality traits. Right now, the character is a Tunisian named Fairy Williams who wears gothic clothes thanks to @marms, @honeymoon, and @whatchamacallit. Of the 20 traits GalaxyUnicornz allowed users to pick from, only two are left: a special feature and any personality trait, so if you want in on Fairy Williams’ creation, you better hurry over with a creative idea!


@Kyllorac wrote an article about clauses and phrases, defining the two words and breaking both categories down into their subcategories. Why does that matter? Kyllorac explains:







There are examples of different types of clauses and phrases as well as explanations of what each does. It’s a great read for anyone struggling with clunky sentences who isn’t sure how to fix it.


@StellaThomas started a club for YWSers in their twenties to have a place to bond and discuss things with peers. Here’s the great graphic she made to help you know if this is the club for you:



The latest forum posts are about drinks, charities, and impulse buys. On the wall, users have been talking about their Friday night plans. Check it out!


@LucytheBrave has created a cool thread in Writing Activities . The point is to describe the closet of your character and have others try to guess what kind of personality your character has. LucytheBrave has an example







So describe a closet or try to discern LucytheBrave’s character from the closet she described.

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