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.

Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!

1. AN ARTIST ANSWERS: SOUNDOFMIND
2. NOVEL INTERVIEW WITH SCRIBBLEINKS
3. HONORABLE LITERACY MENTIONS
4. PEOPLE OF YWS
5. POP CULTURE CORNER: SO BAD IT’S GOOD
6. HOW TO START A WRITING PROJECT
7. THE EPICS: SONG OF MYSELF 3, WALT WHITMAN
8. SHAMELESS PLUGS
9. SUBSCRIBERS

AN ARTIST ANSWERS: SOUNDOFMINDwritten by neptune < PM: >

Last artist interview article, we had @Wolfical answer a series of question about her and her art. This time around, I’ve invited @soundofmind to answer some old and new questions. Let’s get right in!



soundofmind: Sure! I’m down.



s: I remember enjoying making art and drawing since I was a little kid, but I think at first it started as me wanting to copy my older sister. She liked to draw at the time and I really admired her. I ended up surpassing her in interest, pursuit, and skill though (that doesn’t sound vain, does it? I think even she would say so). I kept making crafts all the way through my elementary years but didn’t really start taking it seriously until highschool. That’s when I really wanted to get better and knew I really loved it I guess.



s: You know, that’s a really hard question for me to answer, lol. Cause I rarely keep track. I’ve followed a lot of artists over the years - a lot of them arr school students doing what I would’ve wanted to in the imdustry if I were more passionate about it. But to name one: Grace Liu (grassflu on instagram) is an artist who I really love. The fluidity and confidence of her lines and gestures something I really want to acheive, along with a simple, stylized look to character design.



s: (Oof, just re-read that and that’s a lot of typos, sorry). I most enjoy drawing people! Definitely in a more stylized cartoony sort of way, but realism is fun too.



s: Since a lot of what I draw is people, and those people are usually my characters, a lot of my motivation and inspiration comes from my stories. If I imagine a scene or a particular moment between one or two characters I'll want to draw it. Or if I have a clear outfit or design in mind, sort of thing. Otherwise, I'll just want to make art when I feel inspired by looking at someone else's art in hopes to emulate it. Or I'll see someone or something I really want to capture - even if it's just a little detail like a color or texture or shape.



s: I don't know if I can say commissions are really easy consistently. Sometimes it really just depends. The way a character is described or the references that are provided are either really inspiring or feel dull. Then I kind of just have to pull inspiration out of thin air and just draw.

Usually, because of the limitation I put on myself for commissions, the content I'm asked to draw isn't particularly challenging in itself, it's just a matter of being able to communicate it how I think it should be.

So what's hard? Getting it right and pushing perfectionism aside just enough so I can actually get it done.

What's easy? Those few golden moments where me and the commissioner are on the exact same page, and I get the character just right. Even if I'll hate it in a few days and eventually see all of the flaws (inevitable, with me), it's great for the brief moment.



s: Oh! Oh! So music!

Unfortunately, when making music - or writing, really - there's not much of a process. If I sit down and say: "I'm going to write a song," it doesn't usually happen. In a way, I just have to wait for inspiration to happen - or rather, keep feeding my creativity so it comes. And when it does I grab a hold of it. Sometimes it's two lines of lyrics. Sometimes it's a melody line. Or a chord progression. And I take that, and I run with it. And the rest of the song just... comes to me.

There are times I get stuck, but it's not often. Usually if I start writing a song I finish it in one sitting. Not saying that's the best way to go about it, but... I'm afraid the fire will die out if I don't keep feeding the flame til it's finished sort of thing lol.



s: No problem!! Thanks for your patience with me!

That’s a wrap on this week’s artist interview! I hope you enjoyed this issue. See you next time!

NOVEL INTERVIEW WITH SCRIBBLEINKS

written by EternalRain < PM: >

This week I had the pleasure to interview @scribbleinks about her novel, Hell or High Water, that she’s been posting on YWS for a year now. I was also able to inquire a bit about her project for the fourth round of LMS!



scribbleinks: Hello! And I'd be happy to! Haha, who doesn't like to talk about their projects?




sc: Hell or High Water is about a girl (Star) who loses her father after an ambush by a Big Bad pirate known as The Mask. Shortly after his disappearance, she sneaks away to go after him and begins an overseas voyage. She meets someone named Alejandra on her trip, who she becomes fast friends with, but they're soon captured by another crew of pirates. But after getting to know some of the crew, it quickly becomes apparent that something is amiss with these pirates.



sc: It certainly isn't something I thought I'd ever write until I started it! And for LMS- I think the plan (hopefully) is to write as much as I can beforehand, and then juggle both of them when it starts. I've been bumping up my word count goals to try to get ahead for Hell or High Water, but I think I'll see how everything pans out. The Hero's Brother (LMS Novel) will take priority over Hell or High Water after LMS starts, but I also don't want to stop working on Hell or High Water until the first draft is complete.



sc: It'll be a challenge for sure! And right now, I'm aiming for 2000 words of my novel a week, with at least 100 words a day. I have most of my goals over in the Accountability Club, but I also have a journal where I write down what I've done and how much, with some extra little goals to achieve for myself, and then once I've completed one of those goals, I mark it down and move on to the next one. If I have extra time in the week, I work on other stuff like short stories, mostly just for fun (or fun things like playing games, watching stuff, or getting to listen to my podcast)! It's really hard to get into the habit, but it gets easier once it becomes routine. Plus, I always feel really accomplished, especially if I can exceed my goals!



sc: Of course! The Hero's Brother is about a stablehand, Carter, whose sister suddenly vanishes one day with only a vague note left behind for him. Shortly after, two people pop up who claim to know her, but Carter has never heard of them and they've never heard of him. But just like him, they're looking for Shiloh, his sister, too. In a spur of the moment decision, Carter makes a very Un-Carter-like decision to venture into the dangerous world to go with them to find her.



sc: Oh, that's a hard one! The first thing that comes to mind is horses that come into the story haha. But I think I'll have to go for the characters and how they're all going to interact. But also the horses

If you’d like to check out scribbleink’s story Hell or High Water, you can read the prologue here . And if you’re interested in learning more about her LMS novel, check out her thread! .

HONORABLE LITERACY MENTIONSwritten by elysian < PM: >

With over 100,000 literary works posted on YWS, many works can go without mention. This weeks article will include noteworthy works throughout all forms of writing; highlighting both thoroughly viewed works and those that are still trying to break through the holds of the Green Room. So, if you’re interested in reading something for fun, or if you have an itch to review, keep on reading!

Novels:

A Rare Normal by @killeham

A Rare Normal is about a teenager struggling to find herself in a world filled with supernatural beings. She is one of the few ordinary people among the very large population involved with magic. Kille nears her graduation with both anticipation and apprehension because her parents seem to have very different ideas for her future. She’ll have to wait and see what happens.

The Charm of Deception by @ShadowVyper

The Charm of Deception is about Rana Elstan, the sixteen year old problem child who refuses to conform to societal expectations. Arranged marriages are rampant, and she isn't thrilled with the prospects of any of the parties trying to become arranged. After a terribly botched visit with a suitor that reveals his dark secrets, the neighboring county tries to advance with an already-rejected proposal. When their schemes leave Rana in a situation she never dreamed of being faced with, she must rely on an unlikely friend to help her survive.

Shorts:

on the wire by @Pompadour

On the Wire is meant to be surrealist fiction, interwoven with metaphor. Essentially, though, it revolves around a phone call and a death that may/may not have been a suicide; it's about coming to terms with a death you have mixed feelings for, rejection (from others + the self) and the recurrence of nightmares in isolation. it also deals with themes of conflict and confusion, and the dulling of certain experiences into apathy.

Eleven Days by @ReeseSD

14-year old Rosie didn't remember ever meeting her cousin; maybe years and years ago, but she definitely couldn't recall it. So she didn't know what to think when he was sent to live with them after something strange happened. She and her friends want to figure out her enigma of a cousin; but in the process of solving him, they might've broken him down as well.

Poetry

an honest lie by @scribbleinks

an honest lie is about two sides of one coin. It's the side of longing and desire: what the writer wants, what they can't have, and what they are unable to say. The other side is the mask, the front put up to conceal those desires. It's inspired from my own experiences, the bad habit I have of not being honest with people, and my own frustrations of never saying everything that's on my mind. There's a fear of how the outside world will react to individual truths, so it becomes easier to hide it behind a 'fanciful mask'. But even though with the safety of that 'cocoon', it gets incredibly lonely sometimes.

Before whenever by @TriSARAHtops

I originally wrote this poem for NaPo, where I was trying to have a recurring travel theme, and I pretty much wanted to write about the experience of meeting someone you really connect with whilst travelling, but knowing that you'll have to part ways with them before long. It's a mixture of my own experiences and also inspired by the film Before Sunrise (as the poem's title pretty blatantly suggests!). Unlike a lot of my poetry, it's not about a specific person, rather I wanted it to be something of a love letter to the bittersweetness and intensity of the relationships I've developed with people I've met travelling, and the way that my memory of places is so often shaped and almost inseparable from the people I met there.

I have read and thoroughly enjoyed all of the works above, and I know there are many more stories on the site that haven’t gotten the spotlight they deserve. One way you can discover more amazing stories is by heading to the Green Room and helping to clear out the many works that don’t have more than 1 review. A group that motivates and rewards writers that review Green Room reviews is called The Knights of the Green Room . To learn more about joining, head to The Knights of the Green Room Information . Remember, you can also earn 25 extra coins when you review a Green Room work! Also, if you see any works around the site that you believe doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, shoot me a PM and they may appear in the next edition of Squills!

PEOPLE OF YWSwritten by BiscuitsLeGuin< PM: >

Since the unfortunate (but understandable) death of YWS Chat, the people tab has been one of the main sources of socialising onsite. I thought today I'd give you a round-up of some of my favourite trends I've seen in recent times amongst the people of YWS (totally not ripping off Humans of Tumblr).

1. #LMS

While LMS discussion at the moment often leads towards the Writers Corner, there are often updates on the people tab. Among my favourites this week: @soundofmind being driven crazy by their characters, @Rosendorn offering to incentivise interactions on LMS threads and @Saen’s awesome drawing including one of their LMS characters .

2. Write-ins

I mentioned write-ins last week as one of my favourite new things that has developed on the site in recent years. It's so wonderful to see everyone supporting each other as they write, finding the perfect balance between distracting our friends and keeping them sane. If you haven't seen the kind of thing I mean, take a look at one of the busiest examples from the last week.

3. Sharing recent life experiences

I'm not going to give examples for this one in case people don't want their personal lives publicised wider than the audience of their followers, but I do want to mention how awesome it is that people talk about their lives in the people tab. We used to use chat to just talk about the kinds of things that have been going on for us, in the way that normal IRL friends do. This was how we became friends, rather than just virtual writing colleagues. I was really worried this would go away, but seeing friendly conversations in the comments constantly reassures me that we have plenty of ways to stay a friendly, welcoming environment, as long as we use them well.

I'd just like to round this off thematically by quickly promoting the unofficial YWS discord. Like the people tab, it's a tool we've been using to continue socialising now that we lack Chat. It's basically a Chat 2.0, except it has approximately one thousand different channels to talk about stuff in. The other big difference of course is that it is completely unofficial and zero responsibility goes back to Nate, which is how we're able to use it in the first place. We've even opened it up to non-YWSers and converted newbies - for example our own current Featured Member! If anyone would like to come join us and hasn't already, it probably isn't worth linking in this article since the link will expire fairly quickly, but PM me and I'll get you an invite.

So get involved - tell the people tab what you're excited about, start your own hashtags, join the discord. Basically, get as involved as you can in this pretty awesome community.

POP CULTURE CORNER: SO BAD IT’S GOOD

Written by LadyBird < PM: >
This is a concept that we’re starting to see a bit more in pop culture, where artists may purposely make things very bad in some ways, that then makes it extremely funny in others. To do it purposely, takes a lot of planning and being precise over whether that cliché pie thrown at that cliché clown, will draw laughter from the crowds or not.

On the silver screen, comedy is much easier to see. You can tell with the little acts that they do and the lead up, what’s most likely going to happen in that moment. The two love interests finally settle down, get a moment alone from whatever fire in the distance, and you know they’re going to be interrupted. They’re always interrupted, it’s how this kind of set up in fiction works.

Now if we look at literary fiction that is clearly a comedy but goes for the equivalent of a deadpan tone, two series that come to mind are Key Weird and legit anything by Carl Hiaasen.

Key Weird has the premise of:

What do you do when you lose your possum ranch, all your money, and the Dalton gang is on your trail?

Then add in the fact that the MC’s name is Taco Bob, and this story is clearly a comedy. But it employs that deadpan look and Taco Bob’s narration is extremely serious as he works through each run in with the mob that he messed with in prison.

I was reading Double Whammy by Hiaasen a few nights ago, and the setup is kind of outrageous, but he says it in the most serious tone possible.
- introduces a character
- show how outrageous this character is
- kills this character
- quickly shifts to introducing the next character

Part of what puts this book in the so bad, it’s good category, is that it’s just very streamline. But these two books are still clearly comedies, and the funnier part of life is when something tries to be serious, and just completely fails.

In movies, if you present a serious concept, you’re more likely to get a serious response. You’ll see in the Alien franchise how they have one joke for every 50 F bombs, it’s all for balance in their eyes. You show that the people are human being and know how to crack a joke during wartime, but it’s still war. A serious movie is better at keeping a serious cloud over the audience, than a work of literary fiction, which depends on lot on how the reader interprets the same cues.

The best and most recent example I have of this is the Geographer’s Library, which is a book that prided itself on the realism and the historical fiction aspects, but I’ve read the whole thing and seen little of each. I’ve been reading this off and on with @blueafrica, and really for the past few days I’ve just been texting her the summaries of chapters. It’s not that long of a book (375 ish pages) but it takes so long to get through.

It takes so long, because the writer thinks that he’s being so serious but we just laugh at like every single line. He’s trying too hard. That’s what makes this book so bad, that it turns out good for the audience.

I could type a full book report here but let’s just look at a couple of select quotes, that show the point of, he’s trying too hard.

[I’ll also add in the point that a book as idealist as this, could have only been written by the author, who perfectly fits the profile of a white, cis, hetero man, who for sure went to Ivy League and thinks he’s traveled, because he moved to England from New York. The author is the same as his main character.]

We arrived at their car: an unmarked blue Crown Vic that, in fact, could not have been more marked if someone had spray painted FUZZ across the hood.

Albufaz’s butterfingered half Windsor was the knot of someone who nominally accepts but never enjoys wearing a tie, who believes that excessive attention paid to attire signifies dandyism or effeminacy, and who thinks that by paying evidently minimal attention to his knot, he shows his tacit contempt for it.

Mrs. and Mr. Tawell had been known to spend a weekend afternoon checking the tenants transparent recycling bags and pointing out the bottles of alcohol to each other.

The horn was whining and ineffectual, producing the sound of a goose trapped somewhere deep within the exhaust system.

Reverend Hampden took off his mitten and laid his flabby hand in mine like a dead carp, not even returning my grip, then hastily regloved his hand.

Tonight the lead story was the opening of a fancy new grocery store two towns over, which meant that weekenders no longer had to bring their quinoa, frisee, and coffee chocolate myrtleberry stout with them.

And there were many, many more quotes that I would have loved to share, but they weren’t exactly Squills appropriate.

If you like books that fall under “ugh it’s so bad, but it’s also good”, consider talking to Blue and I about the Bad Books Critique Club. It’s not a legit thing on yws yet, because we don’t have any members, but we’d like to make it into something else.

I didn’t have much to talk about this week. Mainly just how stupid this current book is and advertise my club. I’ll be back next week with a look at some specific literary characters.

HOW TO START A WRITING PROJECTwritten by Kanome < PM: >

Have you ever wanted to start a project, but have issues on how to go about it? Well, this might be the tools you need to help get started. Today, I will provide you the steps and information you need on how to start a writing project, at least in my perspective.



Usually, when it comes to planning, the first thing you need think is: “What would be a good plot that no one has never heard of?” When I think of a plot, I take whatever I think of and write it down on paper. If you are able to write down your ideas and try to tweak it to where it would work out in a story, then you have your plot. Here, I will provide you an example of creating a plot.

Example: Sonic fanfiction: featuring OC, Suki the Hedgehog, she has been told to be the key into finding the chaos emeralds and she has lost her memories of the past.

This example is actually based on a project I am working on now. What I did was write down the thoughts I had and piece it to where it can work. Since Suki is the key to finding the emeralds, this can be used to where the major plot is where she joins Sonic and friends to find the emeralds, while her other issue, memory loss, can be used a subplot to where it can be connected with the major plot.

You could ask yourself these questions when coming up with a plot:
Is this [plot] something I would want to commit to?
Is it original?
What kind of genre would I want to write with the [plot]?



This part of the planning process happens to be my favorite, since I love creating new characters to tinker with. Moving on! Character creating is essential, especially when it comes to the plot. So let’s take the plot we got here from the first step. The plot is that OC, Suki the Hedgehog, travels with Sonic and friends in search of finding the chaos emeralds while trying to restore her memory. Now, for Suki, since she is an OC, let’s develop her more.

Suki the Hedgehog:

Appearance: Suki is a purple hedgehog ( Lel, duh. How many times can I mention this? ) who has long quills that resemble long hair with emerald eyes. She wears a white dress with emerald boots.

Personality: Suki is a bit on the shy side, but once she gets to know someone better, she will open up more. She does, however, take the initiative when she notices something wrong. Much is not said about her since her memory has been erased, but as of right now, this is how her personality will be.

History: Suki was captured by Eggman because she has been claimed as the key into finding all the chaos emeralds. Before Eggman could do this, Sonic comes to the rescue and she explained to him that she does not remember much about her past. Together with Sonic and his friends, they work together to finding the emeralds and restore her memory so that she can know what her past life was like before all of this began.

Even though her character profile is short at this time, it can be developed more throughout the story. Make sure you keep that in mind if you are into character development. Here’s a sample template to use when creating characters.

Code: Select all

Name:
Appearance:
Age:
Personality:
History:

Also, make it more challenging and fun for you by drawing your characters. You would probably have more insight on how you want your character to be.



Another key for creating a writing project is to have time and place. For example, in my writing project, the story takes place in the Sonic worlds such as Green Hill Zone or Metropolis Zone. This is based off the game series and not the anime. As for time, this takes places after the events of the videogame Sonic the Hedgehog ‘06.

After doing all three steps, you are ready to start your writing project. Remember, this kind of information is mainly used for projects that you plan on committing to and completing. I hope these tips are helpful for you. This is a process I use when I plan a writing project, so hopefully this method will be beneficial for you too. If you have any other advice when it comes to writing that you want me to discuss, simply PM me. I will take any questions you have! For anyone who is considering on starting a new project, good luck!

THE EPICS: SONG OF MYSELF 3, WALT WHITMANwritten by Aley < PM: >

So, a while ago I started this, and I've run into the conundrum. Part 3 is rather inappropriate content for YWS, so I'm going to do this as a rough overview rather than a direct analysis like I have been doing. If you're 18+, feel free to look it up, if you're less than 18, please don't. Just wait.

Analysis

The interesting part of part 3, or what I get out of it is that he's talking about homosexuality. It's widely known that Whitman was homosexual in part because of his confessional style poetry as he tried to be a perfect transcendentalist. In this section he talks about how the body, to him, should be no stranger to anyone, and how none of what he does is unclean.

To Whitman, he feels the body is a clean thing regardless of what other people may think or see, and so everything he does with his bedfellows, as he puts it, is all in good spirits and nothing is wrong with it. I find it valuable to see him struggle between what people have told him, the traditional 'the body is unclean' and his personal belief that because nature is pure, and our bodies are from nature, we are, therefor, pure.

In the time when he lived, that was a very different way of thinking about it, and Whitman is unapologetic about it. He puts it in the 3rd poem of his epic, so if that shows you anything, he's being very forward not only about his personal choice of partner, but also with how he feels about interactions of the YWS inappropriate variety.

All in all, he's not overtly inappropriate, but it's close enough to make me uncomfortable analyzing this anymore. See you next week!

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

We love to run articles and questions, but we also love to advertise for you. Let people know about your new blog, a poem or story you’re looking for reviews on, or a forum thread you’d like more traffic on through Squills’ Shameless Plugs. PM @SquillsBot with the exact formatting of your advertisement, contained in the following code.

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Poetry Contest

@Lives4Christ24 is hosting a poetry contest! The contest is welcome to all and the guidelines are pretty open, so bring your poetry skills and see what you can do.

Deadline for submissions:
July 11

Prize and Place information:
1st Place: 200 points, a review from the host, along with an optional collaboration
2nd Place:150 points and a review from Lives4Christ
3rd Place:100 points

For more information follow this link:
Poetry Contest Link

That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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Do you, too, want to be enspoiler-ed and receive a personal weekly notification when the Squills newsletter is posted? Shoot a PM over to SquillsBot to let him know, and you'll be pinged along with the next issue!