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Squills 11/18/18 - 12/16/18



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Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:47 am
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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!

CREATIVE STAFF

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Editor-in-Chief
Aley

General Editors
EternalRain
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Friendly Neighborhood Robot
SquillsBot

Literary Reporter
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Community Reporter
TheWeirdoFromBeyond

Poetry Enchantress
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alliyah

Resources Reporter
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Storybooks Status Reporter
Available - PM Squillsbot if interested

Writer's World Columnist
elysian

Anime Maniac
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Social Correspondent
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Code Master
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General Reporters
BiruKun
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Ghost Reporter
ShadowVyper
shaniac



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!





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Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:48 am
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HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES
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written by alliyah < PM: >

It's December, which means there's a lot of holly jolly with the end of the year approaching and of course Hanukkah, Kwanza, and Christmas. On YWS there are also festivities to participate for the end of the year. Here's the ones that are out so far - but be on the watch for more as the month progresses.

12 Days of Reviewing
Join @ReviewBuddy and the Better Review Bureau for their reviewing event. It goes from December 1 - December 23, and every day features a Review Challenge and Review Tip. If you complete any of the Challenges you can even earn 100 points if you post in the thread.

YWS Best Awards
Nominate fellow YWS members who you think best win the different categories, then PM your entry to Big Brother. At the end of the month Big Brother tallies the results and we'll find out who the winners are.

YWS Most Awards
Same concept as above, except you can give your nominations directly on the thread. There's some funny interactions over there so far!

Secret Santa 2018
Ah! This even is truly a YWS Classic! Organized by @Iggy, for this event you give some information about yourself (favorite colors, fandoms, shows) and then you get matched with someone who you will create some sort of YWS gift for. You can write them a story, create a banner, the choice is yours! And it's all secret until the end of the event, so it's lots of fun!

YWS Yearbook 2018
And of course, with the end of the year rolling out - there's no better time to reflect on what the last year of YWS life has brought you. What were your favorite memories? Who did you meet? What did you learn? People take varried approaches to filling their yearbook entries, but it's an interesting snap-shot of people's experience, so I'd encourage people to check these out and maybe even fill one out if you're feeling in the Yearbook mood.

Well that's all the festivities so far! Also be on the look-out for the YWS Gift Giving event sometime this month, and the last Review Day, and also some other Holly Jolly events in store. Happy December to you all!





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Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:48 am
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WEEKLY RAVING: MOVIE EDITION
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written by Clarity < PM: >


So this week I have a movie recommendation for you rather than a book. I watched Rent for the first time this weekend and it was amazing!

It’s based on the rock musical by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème.

IMDb Description: This is the film version of the Pulitzer and Tony Award winning musical about Bohemians in the East Village of New York City struggling with life, love and AIDS, and the impacts they have on America.

IMDb rating: – they gave it 7/10 so I’ll average around here.

Clary’s rating:

Overall opinion: I honestly have to say it’s one of the best musicals I’ve ever watched. It was emotional, and the songs were catchy. It made me laugh and almost cry in some parts. I think any movie that affects you in various emotional ways is very wonderfully made. If you have Amazon Video you can buy it for less than £5 too!

I’ve got several movies lined up this week, so keep an eye out for next weeks article too. I’ll be bringing you a big list.

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Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:49 am
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ASK THE AUTHOR: WITH BLUEAFRICA
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written by alliyah < PM: >

So, while many writers are working on first drafts during NaNo this November, a few of our members are tackling another side of writing: revisions! The Squills office was able to track down one of these revisionists, @BlueAfrica, in a Write-In to gain some insight into the process.

Squills: Hi BlueAfrica, so I hear from my sources that in the midst of this National Novel Writing Month you are working on revisions! What are you working on exactly?


BlueAfrica: So I have a whole revision plan/map laid out, but right now my focus is the second draft of the Chosen Grandma story that I wrote for LMS. I'm working on big-picture plot changes right now and attempting to make sure my characterization is consistent.

S: Neat! A revision plan, that sounds complicated. How did you go about setting that up and figuring out the time frame for revisions?


B: Basically I bought a planner for school, intending to write all my important School Dates in there, and instead I...wrote out a whole timeline for when each new draft should be finished and what its focus would be and when I'd have time for beta-readers/planning and I'm honestly not sure how this happened because I never plan anything in my life at all. But I based the word counts on the Lightning Round of LMS, because the increasing weekly word count sort of showed me that my optimal weekly word count is probably 8-12k. Those weeks I felt really good when I finished writing but wasn't near burnout like I was after the last week of LMS. So I figured I'd plan to write ~8k a week and then figured how long that should take me based on my target word count of between 100 and 120k.

S: That sounds like a good idea to personalize your revision plan like that. So, what would you say is the most difficult part about the revision process?


B:Ahahahaha oh god, where do I begin? I guess the *most* difficult part is just dealing with the serious self-doubt. Like, when I'm drafting I can just keep saying to myself, "It's a first draft, it's a first draft, it's a first draft." It's allowed to suck . "That's what revision is for," I tell myself.

Only then I get to revision and now??? it has to be good??? or at least better than it was before??? And more often than not, I think I'm making it worse. So I start really doubting myself, which is a good way to get writer paralysis, which is a good way to get stuck or even switch projects and thus never finish whatever I'm working on. Having friends like @Sonder and @mellifera to tell me I don't suck and keep me sane really helps.

Otherwise I think something difficult is just the fact that the revision process can be a lot of going over the same ground you've already covered. It can get a little tedious, especially if you start feeling like you liked a previous version better than the latest version of such-and-such a scene. It's definitely not like drafting, when everything's fresh and shiny and new, even if it's terrible.


S: And last question, how do you stay motivated to continue working on revisions? Any tips for others on staying motivated to get through drafts?


B: Well, I have a particularly strong motivation in this case because I got two partial requests from agents at a conference in July - I told them I only had a first draft, and that it was monstrously long, but they asked me to send the first 40/50 pages once I had it fully revised, no matter how long that took. But let's be real, I don't want it to take years when I have two partial requests on the table, so I'm shooting for a year and it just happened to be the year that I went back to school and took 18 credit hours a semester SO THAT WAS A GOOD PLAN

Otherwise, I'd say the main thing that will keep you motivated throughout any part of the writing process is to remember why you're writing. It's tough for me to give motivation advice, because this is it for me: I love writing. I mean, I complain about it, bitterly and at length, just like everyone else. "Oh god this chapter is like pulling teeth. Oh god why is 200 words so hard to write when I already did 1000 today. Oh god why do I do this to myself." But! I love writing. If I knew, right this minute, that I'd never be published, I'd write anyway. And that's my secret. That's it. I love writing, and that keeps me going even when the writing is terrible and I feel like my revisions are making things worse instead of better (which is pretty much always THANK YOU).

You've just got to remember how important this is to you and stick with it when things get rough.


S: That's honestly a good point for most things we do in writing. At the end of the day, simply being passionate about writing and what you're writing makes a big difference for staying motivated.


B: Otherwise accountability is always good. (If you want some, you know, semi-useful advice. *cough*)

S: For sure! And with that I'll point readers to the Accountability Club link, where you can join other writers in keeping each other accountable and planning your writing goals.

Thanks for all of your answers Blue!


It might not be what everyone's thinking of while working on NaNo, but revision is certainly an important part of the writing process and is one that I think we should hear more about. For all of those who are working on novels this November, whatever stage you're at, I wish you luck! And if you'd like to weigh in on what keeps you motivated to continue writing, feel free to message me or leave a note in my Author Page .





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Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:50 am
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YWS BIRTHDAY ACTIVITY RESULTS
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written by alliyah < PM: >

The cake has been found and the balloons have been released! In case you missed it last week, YWS's birthday events have rolled to a close until YWS turns 15 next year! Here are some of the results and highlights from this year!

The 14 Word Story Contest is certainly one that wouldn't take long for those interested to read through the winning entries - you can check out how the authors were able to fit interesting little stories into a super tight word limit. @Mea won third, @niteowl got second, and @Liminality took away the gold with the following short story:

Was pursuing her life's love. Found spouse, but no publishing deal. Wants a refund.


In Mea and @Querencia's 14 Lines for 14 Years Event you'll notice some familiar names in the list of winners with Liminality taking first, and niteowl taking second again, while I got third with a little birthday themed sonnet. You can still take a look at the different entries in the link above. Congrats Liminality and Nite for taking double victories there!

15 members took part in this year's Monkey Versus Dragons 2018 Event hosted by @Rydia, and although the Dragons put forth a noble effort, somehow Team Monkeys came away with the victory. Although there is some rumored story that a few stray Kangaroos may have altered the final scoring - so you'll have wait until next year to find out what happens next.

Those were all the results of the formal contests that were released at the time this article was written. If you want to reminisce some more on the Birthday Fun though, you can take a look at the Radio Show that @Nate hosted at the end of the week which featured different YWS talents sharing dramatic poetry readings, shout-outs, songs, and even a reading from @soundofmind's dream journal!





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Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:51 am
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SHAMELESS PLUGS
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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.

Code: Select all
Place advertisement here. Make sure you include a title!

And now for this week's Shameless Plugs!


Have you heard of the 12 Days of Reviewing event that's happening this December? Every other day, from Dec 1 - Dec 23, will feature a new Reviewing Challenge and Review Tip and you can earn points by participating! If you complete any of the Reviewing Challenges and post in the thread, you'll get 100 points. You can find more information in the Forum Thread: 12 Days of Reviewing .

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That's all folks~ Now send us yours.





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SUBSCRIBERS
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written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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The ink in which our lives are inscribed is indelible.
— Helena 'HG' Wells, Warehouse 13