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. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: DARKPANDEMONIUM
2. PLANMO COVERAGE
3. POP CULTURE CORNER: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
5. TWO CENTS: EMOTIONAL WRITING
6. NEW ARRIVALS
7. SHAMELESS PLUGS
8. SUBSCRIBERS

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: DARKPANDEMONIUM

written by LadyLizzLovelace < PM: >

Our guest for the night is someone you've probably seen before. If not, you haven't been hanging around the review water cooler or chilling in stalking the people feed. As Squills found out in this somewhat exclusive interview, that this Pan is on an equal coolness level as the Greek god Pan. Who doesn't want to be compared to a rad, flute playing, goat like naturalist?
Anyways, here's the main show folks.


@DarkPandemonium: Well, first I wasn't really sure what was happening. I had all these congratulatory posts on my wall and I didn't really know what they meant! Then, when I looked at the topic and realised I'd been chosen, I was both surprised and elated. It made me ever so glad I'd returned to the site after my break.



D:I think I just really wanted to integrate back into a writing community. There's never been a time in my life where I've not been obsessed with writing, but my zeal for it has really increased over the last year and I've trained myself to write more regularly, so I felt like I was in the right frame of mind to come back. I think the reviewing is my favourite part of YWS now. I love giving feedback on work, and I love following novels as they unfold and seeing how writers improve.



D:I definitely like reviewing short stories and novels more than poetry, probably because I'm more at home writing prose and have never been an avid poetry reader. As for genres, I seem to gravitate to fantasy and sci-fi, though I don't mind too much.



D:Oh, difficult question! I think I'd have to nominate @BlueAfrica, just because I think they're an excellent writer and really encouraging.



D:Considering I didn't really know about FM until I got it, I'm probably not the best person to ask! But as far as improving reviews goes, my main advice is to be specific about what you liked and didn't, because generic advice doesn't help anybody. Also, never just see reviewing as a means to get points; above everything, you should be trying to help the writer. That's the most important thing.

(Also, thank you for interviewing me! )



Well that's all we have for today. Thanks for reading today and now it's time for whoever is coming after me to keep up your interest.

PLANMO COVERAGE
written by Kays < PM: >

That's right! With RevMo coming to a close and the nearing of our goal of 1500 reviews, this week we're going to be talking about next month's event: PlanMo.

I hear October is the month of PlanMo, but what exactly is PlanMo?

For those who don't know, PlanMo stands for Planning Month!

Planning for what, Kays?

Planning for National Novel Writing Month which is most commonly known as NaNoWriMo where writers attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. More information on that can be found on the official NaNoWriMo website although I figure most Squills readers already know or have at least heard of the event.

What will the site be doing for PlanMo? Will there be cake?

We'll be taking a slice of jams and workshops on brainstorming ideas and outlining by not only yours truly but other staff as well such as @BiscuitsLeGuin. The icing on the cake? We have a club where more fun activities and planning will occur such as the PlanMo Journal Challenge. A link to the Official PlanMo Club can be found here. On the topic of jams and workshops, our first event is the Idea Jam taking place on October 6th! To learn more about this, check out the poster on the wall of the club!

Am I invited?

Of course! Anybody can attend.

That being said, that's all we have to report on for now! We've reached our goal in RevMo and hopefully many can prepare for the oncoming NaNoWriMo this October in the month of PlanMo. Until next week, YWSers!

POP CULTURE CORNER: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

written by LadyLizzLovelace < PM: >

Warning: Everytime you see a spoiler box, there's a spoiler inside. Read them if you've already seen the movie or are just one of those people who doesn't like surprises.
Movie Talk
Guardians of the Galaxy. The title simply states the characters, the plot, the setting and gives us the question of, what has the galaxy done now?
In past sci-fi movies, we have found out that the universe collectively, does some pretty stupid stuff. Stealing from a country ruled by warlords with the ability to destroy you without blinking? Oh heck yes, let's do that. Angering the space version of Mirkwood elves (whose involvement in the first movie we'll get to later) and running halfway across the galaxy? Why not?

I think that the main decision that effects the characters in these stories the most is 1. when they don't have plans and 2. when they reply to really crazy and stupid plans with "why not?" They're destined to fail from the get go but we all still love the movies because the characters make mistakes. This isn't like when Superman catches the women and children falling out of an airplane. These 'heroes' are the people falling out of an airplane except it's in space so there's no air and they die. (They should die but Marvel always finds a loophole.)

This is the sequel movie so maybe we should talk a bit about the major players that stuck around from the last movies and the ones that didn't quite make it.
Peter Quill
Leader of group and somehow the child of a planet/god. Almost died of suffocation in space because he's in love with Gamora.
Gamora
Adopted daughter of Thanos, the man he executed her entire planet. Saved by Quill from dying in space. Way out of his league by the way but it might work out.
Nebula
Another adopted daughter of Thanos, kind of cyborg and her adoptive father probably killed her entire family as well. Such a nice guy.
Ronan - Thranduil
Wants to destroy the world but is a bit too big for his britches and can't dance to save his life. Pretty sure he's dead after the altercation with the infinity stone but as we found out with Phil, Marvel has a way.
Rocket Raccoon
A talking raccoon whose best friend is a talking tree with a limited vocabulary. Very frustrated with humans and has a knack for building bombs.
Groot
Before mentioned talking tree with a limited vocab who dies at the end of Vol 1 but not really.
Drax the Destroyer
Just watch the metaphors go right over his head as he tries to catch them. Ronan killed his family and now he wants revenge but sucks at it.
He also half died in the first movie.
Yondu
Has a last name but he's so cool he doesn't need one. He might need a lesson in "Humans are friends, not food" but besides that he is cool. Father figure to Quill. Hired by Quill's father to transport him to the God/father. (I'm sorry.)
Kraglin
Yondu's right hand man. Stays loyal through all of Yondu's crazy plans including the last one in the second movie.


And finally the new guy who was fully introduced this movie and everyone hates...
Ego
His name really says it all. Quill's distant father who is sort of a planet with a mind and he can control the entire universe with these little plants, that he's been dropping off for millions of years.


Bottom line:
Basically no one in the Marvel universe ever dies.

The Plot

This story is about a group of heroes, who aren't superheroes, but not in the Deadpool sense. Where as Deadpool has superpowers and is an anti-hero, these guys are average humanoid beings with some ninja skills, and definitely on the side of good. While they occasionally operate in the grey area, it's important to note that it's not their home address.

I find that these lighter hero teams are more enjoyable over the way DC has built up Justice League or even how Marvel built Avengers. It's all business all the time. Where they need to be more like Ash (SPN) and wear their hair business in the front and party in the back. Remember when Stark was a rich kid with anger issues and a hatred for his father, who just partied all of the time? Me neither. That's why I enjoy the atmosphere of GotG so much.

Rolling back into the DC comparisons. The two frenemies of Justice League are 1. Batman who has money for fancy inventions and 2. Superman gets power from the sun. Who really needs Robin when you've got such a dynamic duo already?
On the Marvel side, we have a team with two leaders who also have a strained relationship but don't have the cool powers, so how do they get by? Well Peter Quill has a Walkman and Rocket Raccoon has Groot.

As an overall umbrella of how I see the two franchises, read the following statement.
In the D.C universe, most of the heroes are more united under Justice League, but in the Marvel universe, the plot is like the writers threw all the plots they had in a blender.

A final note about this movie before we move into more serious matters and spoiler territory. Following in usual Marvel fashion, GotG plants Easter eggs to past and future movies, allowing veteran fans to laugh at things newcomers might not. There's always that factor to consider when watching Marvel films and I do truly hope, that you all enjoy this one.


Movie Talk
There are 3 things I love in this world: movies, music and books. And GotG 2 finds an intersection between these three things, sort of. Without spoiling anything, I'll try to get through this complicated matter, where the cameos turn from "yes" to "why the heck was that guy needed?" Stallone was definitely surprising, though it's not hard to imagine him as a leader of a space biker gang. David Hasselholf shows up as himself but not really, a stating that will first take your mind for a quick spin and hopefully push you towards watching the movie.

Baby Groot in this movie continues to be the character we think is going to kill everyone before the adventure even begins, and then has a big role in saving the day. Kurt Russel's character (Ego), brings out memories of cheesy action movies like Big Trouble in Little China, but Russel's character being reversed from that plot line.

Those who've seen me around YWS, know that I value rock music above every other genre, which makes it easy for me to fall into the crowd of liking this movie. (That and Chris Pratt of course.) Awesome Mix Vol. 2 contains music from Glen Campbell to Electric Light Orchestra, which I look at as a pretty far span. (Both favorites of mine.) Some songs are repeated throughout the movie (Brandy-Looking Glass) and first seem out of place but are then later explained by characters.

This movie is a lot about waiting, enjoying the jokes as they pass you by and then letting the deeper meaning sink in later on. It's also darker and more serious than the first one, which I've seen reviews deem as good and bad. Bad because some people just like a light movie and GotG Vol 1 was most definitely lighter than the rest of the superhero movies at the time. That's part of GotG's identity, where it sticks out from the pack, most notably from this quote when Quill justifies why he wants to save the galaxy.

It's good because it gives the storyline more meaning and establishes more of a base for the next movies (crossover or not) to jump off of. Vol 1 held loosely together at the end with the mystery of Quill's father but Vol 2 leads us into a resolution where things are more stable. And more importantly, the characters are more at peace with themselves.

And now ladies, gentlemen, others, and all the pets reading this along with your owners, it is spoiler time. If you would actually not like to know the summary of the plot from my perspective because you don't like it or you haven't seen the movie, shield your eyes.



Alright jumping back into the part where everyone can read and be free to complain about how this is not actually a review.


Watching the Movie
If you've somehow managed to avoid spoiler about GotG 2 up until this point, continue to live in your cave under a rock, then get yourself a copy from redbox, the library, etc. This movie fits in to several different types and tastes, so there's probably something in here somewhere that you'll like. If you're not a fan of superhero movies, this one is a great place to start. You don't necessarily need to know the backstories and previous plots unlike some other Marvel creations (*cough* avengers *cough*) There's also that whole light/dark balance that I mentioned before.


Now get out of here before I end up spoiling something unintentionally.

TWO CENTS: EMOTIONAL WRITINGwritten by Aley < PM: >

This week I ran into a bit of a problem with a fellow member when we were doing a jam. You see, the problem was that despite writing, this member was still feeling the same thing she had been feeling before. She was writing poems and had written a lot of them, but she wasn't really feeling any better. Usually when someone comes to me saying they're feeling really happy, really angry, really sad, or anything which would qualify as a "really" statement, I tell them to write about it, to capture the feeling with words so when they feel some other way later, they have something to reference as they write their current feeling. In this situation, it was more of a tool for venting feelings.

So what do you do when you still can't get rid of a feeling you want to get rid of through writing? Well, usually that means you're not done writing yet. If the feeling still haunts you, chances are, it would still haunt your character too! Something isn't resolved, so you keep going.

In this case, my friend had written multiple poems which were all starting with the same stanza and all went in different directions. I suggested she start with a different stanza as the beginning to mix things up. In the end, it was successful because she was able to start with this fast paced stanza that really showed the vivacious nature of the emotion, and wind it down to a mellow statement. My theory behind telling her to try something different was simply a quote I heard, an idiom we can try to live by.





Some of you might recognize the quote as one attributed to Albert Einstine, but he's not the originator, even if he did say it. Actually it probably has better origins in places like Addicts Anonymous groups, or books on the mind. Either way, I think that goes for writing too.

If you're trying to get rid of something like an emotion, and you keep repeating what you've done before, you're not going to get a different result. The result remains the same because whatever fed into feeling like it's still there, is still feeding into it.

A great example of this is writer's block. I find that whenever I get stuck on a story, usually I have to erase the past scene and try it again in a different way. Usually the characters are acting off, and there needs to be a change in order to proceed.

The same thing happened with my friend. Once something changed, things got better. That won't always be the case, but if you don't like the change, you can always go back, and you can always try something else again. After all, if a hammer doesn't work to fix a problem, grab a different tool.

The poem that our lovely @marms produced actually went on to become a featured literary work, go check it out! vacant lot

NEW ARRIVALS
written by EternalRain < PM: >

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

@wendylau98 has a nice amount of 12 reviews in the short span of time they’ve been here! Reviewing is a great way to hop into the community.

@Carlymillie has been extremely active on the site so far! So far, they have 26 forum posts and 18 reviews in only a few short days. Future RevMo-er, perhaps?

@fantasywestern, a returning member but with a new profile, has a work up to be reviewed! Finding Home is a supernatural short story.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

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SUBSCRIBERS

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