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. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW
2. POETIC MADNESS
3. A REVIEW MONTH RECAP
4. SOME SUPER SERIOUS BUSINESS
5. WEEKLY RAVING
6. NEW ARRIVALS
7. SHAMELESS PLUGS
8. SUBSCRIBERS

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEWwritten by Clarity < PM: >


This week we are interviewing @Louisiana15! Head over to say congrats if you haven’t already.



Louisiana15: 1. I learned about YWS through a friend on this site who I go to school with. They knew I wrote a lot and am writing books to be published and suggested this to me.
2. After being here for a few weeks now, I feel like I've found the home I've never had with children/adults who have the same interests as me. You all have been so welcoming and I have learned so much through reviews and reviewing. I know that I will continue to grow stronger on YWS!



L: I was confused at first as my first thoughts were "I just joined, how could I be?" But, later I felt really excited to have received that honor and it showed me how involved I am and how I want to continue being involved in this society!



L: Hmmm. Fun fact. Well, other than literature-type writing, I write song lyrics and am actually starting to compose them into pieces Or, everything I write is based off my own experiences whether metaphorically or literally.


Thanks again, Louisiana for taking part in this interview!

POETIC MADNESSwritten by TheWeirdoFromBeyond< PM: >

This is a new column I’m starting for those of you who are looking for poetry prompts, and every week, I will feature the previous week’s entries.



In the spirit of Halloween, I challenge poets to write a poem that has a poisonous feel to it, one that is about what you find the most poisonous in this world. Be creative and let your imagination flow, and PM me your entries. I shall feature all the poems that follow the prompt in next week’s article, see y’all.

A REVIEW MONTH RECAP

written by alliyah < PM: >

YWS's fourth annual Review Month is in the books and what a September it was! Let's take a look at some of the highlights!

Beginning of the Month
Review Month started with an emphasis on education, with many users taking to their walls to share their favorite links, tricks, and advice for writing meaningful reviews with the hashtag "#ReviewTips". The month also started with people marking out their Review Goals and choosing or crafting special banners to use along the way.

Motivation Along the Way
A big motivator throughout the month were the different competitions and challenges going on. This year users were challenged to meet different Review goals in order to win a special colored username. Ambitious users could unlock dodger blue, brown, dark cyan, and ultimately medium red violet if they secured 50 reviews within the month. Some users took on the challenge to do a review every day in the Team Tortoise Challenge in order to unlock a flashy light sea green username.

Independent challenges and contests also kept the energy high. The Knights of the Green Room Commander secured pledges from many knights to complete 10 Green Room Reviews over the month, and a few rose to the task. @Mea ran several rounds of her Duels of the Reviewers Contest pitting reviewers against each other in a battle for glory and points and @ReviewBuddy ran their Review Month Review Contest .

Review Day - End of the Month
Review Month culminated in an exciting ending on Review Day. The Revisando Nachos Team led by @Shikora and @EagleFly went up against The Danger Elevator Team led by Mea. Both teams worked together towards the goal of clearing the Green Room which had been left with a big dent in it from the month of reviewing. Reviewers worked very hard, @SpiritedWolfe led the review count and wrote 20 reviews for Team Elevators. And in the very minutes Mea rallied the troops to bring in those final reviews - @BlueAfrica submitted the final one moments before Review Day was over so it was quite the ending! Ultimately, Team Danger Elevator came away with the win having done 55 reviews for 6502 points, while The Revisando Nachos came away with 39 reviews and 3874 points. You can read more about those results here: Review Day Results .

Results
The month ended with us being within 100 of the site-wide goal, but that is certainly not a loss with all the wonderful reviews that were written throughout the month. In the end, 147 Reviewers participated in Review Month with 18 Reviewers writing at least 15 Reviews each. That's a lot of participation!

Our 8 Review Month Victors who completed the challenge of writing 50 (or more reviews) were Mea, @concord, BlueAfrica, @LadyBird, @alliyah, @niteowl, @Carlito, and @DarkPandemonium.

And the 5 September Team Tortoise Winners were Mea, BlueAfrica, niteowl, @Scribbleinks, and @AstralHunter.

Congratulations to all who participated!

SOME SUPER SERIOUS BUSINESS

Written by LadyBird < PM: >

WEEKLY RAVINGwritten by Clarity < PM: >


I hope you enjoyed last weeks read on New Release Novels. This week, however, I’ll be starting you off with an Old Release. I’ll do an article around New Releases every month though to keep you in the loop!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: Published 2009

Brief Description: Set in 1962, a young woman writes the stories of the black maids working for privileged white families. A story of women coming together to bring a change that is much needed.

Ravings and Ramble: I watched the film before reading the book since I didn’t realise there was one, but as soon as I found out, I went out and bought it. I really enjoyed reading this book. It made me sad, angry, happy, and all sorts of things in between. I really loved getting to know each of the women who were part of creating “The Help” and I have to say, Minny was most definitely one of my favourites. Minny and her pie will always be one of the best power moves I’ve ever seen. Talk about karma and the three-fold rule. I strongly recommend reading this book. If you’ve also not seen the movie I really think you should. It was a really good adaption from the book and it made me happy because I’m used to being disappointed with adaptions.

Clary’s Rating:

Goodreads Rating:

Please let me know what you thought of The Help if you've read it. I'd look to know your thoughts! Click the PM link at the start of my article to send me a message.


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Previous Week Feature
I said last week that I'd let you know my thoughts on Where Has Mummy Gone? by Cathy Glass. Well, I still stick by my 5 star rating. It was very emotional towards the end and I know I will definitely be going back to read some more of Glass' stuff.

NEW ARRIVALS
written by EternalRain < PM: >

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

Within three days of her joining, @AutumnDawn has written 14 reviews! That means she’s already gained her first review star and is well on her way to her second. She also has posted a poem, Oh I Am a Teenage Girl , which has reached the literary spotlight.

@JulioArdente hopes to become a great writer or psychologist in their future - and hopefully here on YWS, they’re able to share their writing as well as give other’s feedback.

@arachno has completed two reviews thus far on YWS. They also have a work up: let dead men lie . If you’re interested in a short but interesting pieces of writing, do check it out!

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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SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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