Young Writers Society

Welcome to Squills, the official news bulletin of the Young Writers Society!
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Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!

1. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: PAPERFOREST
2. NAPO HIGHLIGHTS
3. SOME SUPER SERIOUS BUSINESS
4. APRIL MADNESS UPDATE
5. WORD OF THE WEEK: LIGHTSOME
6. SHAMELESS PLUGS
7. SUBSCRIBERS

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: PAPERFORESTwritten by neptune< PM: >

This week, I had the pleasure to sit down with our (past) featured member, @paperforest! Having only joined in January, this member has written thoughtful reviews, posted wonderful poetry, been active in clubs, and more - so Squills finally got the chance to arrange an interview with the one and only paperforest!


paperforest: Sure! And thanks!


p: Shock, mostly! I had seen some featured member posts before and thought to myself, that would a cool thing to aspire to, it'll remind me to keep being involved in this awesome community, but I didn't think it might happen so soon! I spent the rest of the day grinning ridiculously.


p: Mainly reviews and clubs, I think. I did a lot of reviewing when I first joined, and I was super excited for Review Day in February and managed to set aside a bunch of time that day, so I was able to be really involved with that. I've been really busy outside of YWS for the past few weeks so I haven't been reviewing as much, but I'm hoping to have more time soon to get back into it. Oh, and I also joined the Knights of the Green Room! It's an awesome group, and a fun incentive to do more (and a greater variety of) Green Room reviews!

I also joined a bunch of clubs, like the Poem A Week club, the Poetry Club, and the Music Recommendations club, and I've been somewhat active on them. I really haven't done that much, since I only joined about halfway through January... Oh wait! The whole classified thing started like the week after I joined, and I thought it was awesome because I love puzzles, so I joined the Unclassified club and when Blues Clues started appearing I organized them all in a WFP. That might have been the first thing I did that sort of indicated to people that I intend to be a part of this community, even though I'm not always entirely sure how to do stuff like initiate conversations, or reply to interview questions promptly. Or concisely. I'll stop now and let you ask your next question!


p: Get involved! Join things! Talk to people and make friends and write reviews and post your writing! And don't forget that being FM isn't really the ultimate goal - doing all of the above and having fun writing and being a part of the YWS community, that's what will be the most rewarding in and of itself. Getting to be a featured member is just a bonus byproduct of all that!



p: Hmm, that's a hard question. I think it's a tie between being able to respond to a work and how much I learn in the process. Reviewing has really forced me to slow down when reading and think so much more about what's happening in the work and what I do or don't like about it, and learning to analyse a piece of writing doesn't just teach me more about writing, it's also really fun to figure out what I think works or doesn't and why. Unsurprisingly, the more I put into reading and understanding a story or poem, the more I get out of it! It's also really motivating to have that element of direct response to a work - just by figuring out what I think of it, I can potentially help and encourage other young writers! Also, the extra motivation of review points has helped me read a greater variety of works and expand outside of my usual fantasy-only reading habit, which has been fun!

And that’s it folks! A big congratulations to paperforest for earning featured member. Thanks so much again for taking time out for this interview! If you want to give her a belated congratulations, go back on her wall or in the official congratulations thread .

NAPO HIGHLIGHTS

written by alliyah < PM: >

I'm not sure how this happened, but we're already half-way through National Poetry Month! One of the interesting things about poetry that I'm noticing this year, is not just the variety but the sameness between different poems and poets. For instance in this last week I read at least 3 poems about love and eye-colors, 3 laundry related poems, several renditions of poetic flames, lots of ribs, roots, and trees, and of course I even participated in the growing collection of seasonal poems in the NaPo threads. In all of those different poems you'll find the authors taking the images in unexpected ways, but also putting their own take on how these familiar images and concepts can take new emotional layers. Are there any themes your noticing as you read through the NaPo threads let me know over in my Squills Author Page as well as any of the poems you'd like to see featured next week! Without further ado, here's your second week of NaPo Highlights to check out!





I was never very good at being a bird
(at leaning forward on the branch,
at falling,
at trusting my wings to work when I spread them)

@Cadi Poem 5




…entropy can only increase.
_____a binary star rolls around on your tongue
_____and it treads on its own gravity
_______________[i was never confident in couple dancing
_______________and it shows, sorely]

@Coffeeism me/you




i wonder if you ever feel too much
of anything, too on both sides of the
color wheel you couldn't stop from
spinning around & around your head,
not belonging in a specific spoke.

@fraey rosa arvensis





@Mea Windswept




They are burning Kansas today.
And I don’t mean some metaphorical Somewhere-Over-the-Rainbow-
Click-your-heels-to-go-home-Kansas. I mean the fields
in Kansas are being burned on purpose,
and we in nearby states are breathing
just a bit less easy because of it.

@tgirly Aurora Bourealis




@BlueAfrica you should know




you grab and you grab and you grab.
there's nothing to hold onto,
just smoke trapped in lungs,
scrubbing at your chest with the embers on the tip of your cigarette.
you grab hold of skin that rips from ribcages and tell someone about your
not-so earth shattering love.
@LadySpark right before the end, you close your eyes and (18+)




If you liked any of the poems above, don't forget to click on the link and read the full-version and leave a comment if the thread has the green "comments welcomed" tag. I think most poets really appreciate hearing what people think of their work and it's a great way to participate in NaPo. If you end up making 30 or more comments in threads over the course of April, you are even eligible for The Garden Challenge Badge.

Well enjoy your reading this week and good luck to all the poets!

SOME SUPER SERIOUS BUSINESS

Written by LadyBird < PM: >

APRIL MADNESS UPDATE

written by alliyah < PM: >

It's National Poetry Month, and along with users trying to get those poems out 18 brave poets have entered into the YWS classic April Poetry Tournament; "April Madness".

So far there have been no eliminations, but Round 1 is underway and here's who won their brackets! From Group 1, @Querencia and @Fraey persevered, from Group 2 @Aley and @tgirly took the gold, from Group 3 @Ventomology and @paperforest won from their group, and finally in a very tough group @Meshugenah and @TheSilverForest (who was the champion last year) won.

These winners will face off in a "winner's bracket" this next week in Round 2, while the other poets: @GigiNicole17, @DEA @fishsashimi, @ellasnotebook, @Audy and @Liberty500 @niteowl, @Magestorrow, @alliyah and @PenguinAttack will face-off in a "Redemption Bracket" against each other, for a chance to be moved up to Round 3.

Round 2 will be a difficult round for these poets, as we're half-way through NaPo, so people might be losing that initial poetry steam. Round 3 will be even more tough with only 6 poets competing for a chance at those final two spots in the Championship round.

This year, I'm actually organizing the event, and I thought I'd give the Squills readers a little bit of an inside look on how the tournament is ran in case people are wondering. If you're a competitor, keep reading because you might pick up some hints for your next poem!

So, each year April Madness is ran a bit differently depending on the amount of competitors are and who the judges are as well. This year we're lucky to have five fantastic people in the judging pool, who really know their poetry! Those are Aley, @LordWolf, fraey, myself, and Meshugenah. The Rounds are divided up into Groups which go against each other. The first round is paired by a random excel equation! So blame excel rather than me, if you thought any of the groupings were uneven! And then for those who are curious about how judging works - other than the gladiator combat which comes in for the Championship round, we have a pretty organized method for judging. Each poem is scored in five separate categories, like "Use of Poetic Devices", "Entertainment/Impact Value", and "Clarity of Theme" - then the scores given are averaged and we see which scores come out highest in each category.

My humble tip for those entering the next round - is to try to make your poem unique! Keep in mind that the judges are reading a lot of poems, so having a really familiar theme makes it difficult for your poem to standout. Just make sure not to sacrifice thematic interest with clarity of theme because if the judges can't understand what the poem is saying the "Clarity of Theme" score will suffer. Also don't take it too hard if you advance in a round, there's a lot of incredible poets competing and often there are just tenths of points that separate two poets, so the competition can get very close.

Good luck to all the participants in the next round, and be on the look-out for your next April Madness update! You can also follow what poems people are posting here and pick up additional information.

WORD OF THE WEEK: LIGHTSOME
written by EternalRain < PM: >

Pronunciation: lite-sum

Part of Speech: adjective

Definition: 1. merry and carefree, 2. gracefully nimble

Synonyms: lighthearted, laidback, joyous, sprightly, lithe

Origin: From Middle English “lyghtesum”.

Used in a Sentence: The fairy, lightsome and dainty, flew from one lilypad to the next.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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Our Building Permit for completing Challenge Four: Restoring the Library expires May 2019. The Commander is requesting all available Knights to head to the Green Room to help. To find out more, check out the Commander's post in the Great Hall .

- The Commander







The Knights of the Green Room are looking for some new recruits!

If you enjoy reviewing this may be the group for you!

For more information: KotGR Information
To declare you interest: Declare in the Great Hall .
If you have questions: Send a PM to Lieutenant Lizz (@LordWolf) or Knight Alliyah (@alliyah).


That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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