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 apply to become a Squillian Journalist by submitting a sample article to SquillsBot today!

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

1. NEW EDITOR IN CHIEF FRAEY
2. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: CORVUSQUEEN
3. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: TOBOLDLYGO
4. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: THEMULTICOLOREDCYR
5. THIS IS HALLOWEEN
6. DEALING WITH WFP ISSUES? WE ALWAYS HAVE -
7. THE DEATH OF (PRINT) PUBLICATION
8. INTERVIEW ABOUT THE SUMMER NOVELLA CHALLENGE
9. POP CULTURE CORNER: 10 PORTER WAGONER SONGS
10. SHAMELESS PLUGS
11. SUBSCRIBERS

NEW EDITOR IN CHIEF FRAEYwritten by Aley < PM: >

In the time I've had with Squills, I've learned so much about the community and the writers we have on the site. I've watched Review Days, NaPoWriMo, NaNoWriMo, and YWS Olympics. There have been games won, and teams lost, and shifts in structure, the gain and loss and gain and loss of Chat, and through it all, there was Squills. Lately, Squills has been taking a downward plunge, and new blood must take the helm.

Without writers and readers like you, without dedicated editors, and strong content, Squills is nothing. As I move my journey on from YWS, I move Squills on too and pass it to @fraey, our next generation to mold our journalists, and our adventure through the complex tubes of YWS.

As a moderator, and a user, fraey has always had a strong YWS presence, and as the torch is passed, I am sure it is in safe hands. They have been a loyal Squillian, a loyal YWSer, and will find the right direction to take this ship, chasing the latest and updating the old.

Thanks everyone for being here and helping me develop my writing. I'm happy to say that my mother and I have been working on publishing stories on Amazon, the Quirni series, so if you want to check it out, and see how we're doing, that's where I'll be editing and publishing Book 7, and getting Book 2 to paperback.

Thanks for all the fish.
-Aley

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: CORVUSQUEEN
written by EternalRain < PM: >

On May 29, @CorvusQueen became FM. She actually joined back in 2017, but has since become active with the reviewing of others’ work! She’s also posted some of her own poetry, essays, scripts, and novels! If you’d like to check out one of her essays (which at the point of writing is still in the Green Room), it’s called Bike Ride . I also got the chance to interview Corvus about her experience as featured member!


CorvusQueen: Sure!


C: I was really excited. I felt very important


C: I did a lot of reviews for green room works


C: I like to review essays/articles because I like the train of thought style and it really gives you a view into someone else's view of the world


C: my favorite part of YWS is the people. despite being anonymous, everyone is very friendly and helpful. YWS serves both as a writing platform and as somewhat of a net to fall into when real life is hard.


C: Be nice! just be an active part of the community. the quality of your work doesn't really matter as long as you leave friendly reviews and post works often enough for people to read them.



C: of course!

Thank you so much to CorvusQueen for her time and letting us get a glimpse of her experience as FM as well as a little bit about her outlook on YWS. Remember to check out her work if you’re looking for something to review!

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: TOBOLDLYGOwritten by fraey < PM: >

Welcome readers to another FM interview, this time with the awesome reviewer @Toboldlygo! She managed to win Team Tortoise for the month of May giving plenty of good advice to lots of writers throughout this last year. I was happily able to get in contact with her and ask how this whole crazy situation felt like.



Toboldlygo: I was so excited! I hadn't dreamed I'd ever get that kind of recognition. It's very easy sometimes to feel that you're one of the hundreds of thousands or millions or however many writers are now on YWS and that you're not important, but it's super fun and easy to get involved and people really do notice you when you put yourself out there. I was just amazed, though, to get FM!



T: I've been working on my reviewing skills over the past couple of months. Right now I'm working at a summer camp without internet, but I committed to making Team Tortoise for May because I wanted to try. Being active and reviewing work is what I think primarily made me featured member. I try to write a balanced review, with general feedback, both good and what can be improved, and some nit-picky grammar/spelling/typing/formatting details. I've had some pieces in the literary spotlight recently, too, which probably also helped.



T: I love reviewing Green Room works! I almost exclusively review old Green Room works because those authors deserve reviews just as much as anyone else. I love the feeling of posting a second review and getting a piece out of the Green Room after weeks of limbo.


T: It's a little hard because I don't have internet right now, but I will participate in future events!


T: My advice is to stay positive and try to give unbiased reviews. It's okay to say you like or dislike something, but be specific. Give feedback about what you think is good and what can be improved. Also give feedback on stuff that can help someone improve, such as grammar or phrasing. I recommend staying positive and having fun, because people really do notice an active, positive presence!

As a wrap-up of this interview, I am still a bit mind-blown by the sheer amount of reviews Toboldygo wrote in the month before last. I hope everyone who reads this can maybe feel a little inspired to write more reviews on their part or to give encouragement for those fighting in the Green Room right now. Thank you for your time!

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: THEMULTICOLOREDCYR
written by EternalRain < PM: >

One of July’s featured members was the absolutely terrific @TheMulticoloredCyr, who is an active storybooker and all-around great presence! She’s also an active reviewer on the site and is making her way to her fourth star. I got a chance to talk with her about her experience as being the FM on YWS.


TheMulticoloredCyr: Sure.


T: Well, I was excited. It was brief because of the absolute chaos that was going on in my offline life at the time, but, you know, it was pretty cool.


T: I spend the majority of my time in the SB section, so that's probably it. I typically keep on top of whatever I'm involved in over there, mostly because I don't like keeping people waiting on me. So, yeah, as I said, that's probably it.


T: Sure! I'm in Closing Time , The Big Apple , and Snowed In as of right now.


T: I don't really have any. Just be active on the site I guess.



If you’re interested, check out the roleplays TheMulticoloredCyr has participated in! The Big Apple is still accepting members! Roleplays and storybooks can be a great way to test the waters with your character or develop your writing. Thank you kindly to TheMulticoloredCyr for sharing her thoughts and opinions on being FM!

THIS IS HALLOWEEN

written by The Ghost of Blue Africa< PM: >

"five more minutes"

DEALING WITH WFP ISSUES? WE ALWAYS HAVE -written by fraey < PM: >

As noted by quite a few users on YWS, the lovely WriterFeedPads haven’t been working too well over the last few weeks. Since we have to try and wait out until the quirks and corks are all turned correctly so that everyone isn’t suddenly booted out of pads, I’ve rounded up a few different ways YWSers can keep up chatting with each other, and especially, be able to collaborate.

First off, we have the Clubs page found here! In case anyone hasn’t frequented this portion, a club serves as its own little placeholder for different topics or areas to interact with fellow users. Plenty of people use clubs as their own placeholder for RP-ing, in case they’d rather compile their works in one area and not just the overall Roleplay Realm

Another area I remember being quite frequented a few years ago was the Community tab before the WFPs started popping up in higher quantity. There are quite a few different activities someone can go through, or talk about random ideas that aren’t too serious.

Lastly, of course, is the back-again-in-town Chat Room that functions the best on a computer or laptop. Here, it’s an easy way of sending messages back and forth with however many people are there! Years ago the site attempted to make it crash by having a whole lot of users all join at once, but I wouldn’t expect that number to happen anytime soon.

Another place could even be the handy-dandy People Tab to check out what other users are up to and comment at will.

Just remember, if you’re missing your internet buddies - a little creativity never hurts in figuring out how to be online at the same time and be able to hang out on YWS.

Until later! ^^

THE DEATH OF (PRINT) PUBLICATIONwritten by LordStar< PM: >

If you haven't heard me shouting about it for the past month, I'm starting a zine. What's a zine, you ask? 'Zine' is short for magazine, and zines were popularized by fandoms and the punk subculture in the nineties as a DIY way to spread information and talk about anything and everything. They were especially popular because they were easy and cheap to make, and could often be made by one person alone. If you want to know more about my zine, check out the website.

The only bad thing about making a zine in this day and age is the death of publications. By that I mean that as we move more and more into the digital age, print publications (and larger publications in general) are slowly dying and disappearing. For instance, one of the big inspirations for my zine, Rookie Mag, had to stop publishing and archive their issues because they no longer had the money and resources to keep their project alive. This comes mostly from the fact that everything we as a society consume comes in bite sized pieces - Instagram, Twitter, a hashtag or trending news topic that turns out to be just a few sentences long. Another part of it is the obsession with multi-tasking. Most people prefer their media in podcasts or audiobooks so that they can listen as they do something else. Hardly anybody is on a desktop or clicking away to a website to read an article or browse an online magazine, and even fewer people are picking up physical copies of books and magazines to read, especially if that publication is lesser known. Everything from our calendars to our personalities are online, and even as publications like Rookie move to those social media platforms, the competition they have often beat them out due to better funding and resources.

Why is money such a big part of publishing? Most publications these days, online or off, focus a lot of their funds on marketing; on trying to draw in as many people as possible. It's no longer about creating community and discussion; it is about as reaching as far as possible, about audience growth, about sales and profit. Publication, with everything else in our capitalist society, is driven by the idea of profit.

That's why zines, as they were in the nineties, are so popular today. They're a cheap, personalized publication focused on creating community, starting discussions and most of all, being available and accessible at no cost. We can not let consumerism stifle our creativity, even if doing so is a scary, intimidating thought (looking at the costs for creating this zine is a big oof, but I know creatively it's what I'm passionate about). Our writing has never been about profit and hopefully it never will be; hopefully it will always be about ourselves, each other, and speaking our truths, even if our voices shake, and even if no one wants to buy it.

INTERVIEW ABOUT THE SUMMER NOVELLA CHALLENGEwritten by fraey < PM: >

Welcome readers! Today I've had the privilege of being able to interview the @DougalOfBiscuits on their participation in The Summer Novella Challenge that started with planning the novella in June, then proceeding to the actual writing portion for two months in July and August. There is more information on that link, which directs back to the club page formed by @LordWolf. I hope this interview piques your interest!


DougalOfBiscuits: I haven't really tried this, no. The length of projects I've written have been either a 50k+ NaNo or a short story for school of about 1500 words. I keep imagining holding a novella in my hand and it's difficult to picture exactly what that would be like, because I haven't read anything of under 100 pages either since I was a kid. So basically this is about me sticking to a specific set of events and not dwelling on anything for too long. It's cool though, because I often have quite slow pacing. Having an exciting story in 20k words forces you to cram a lot in there, which makes me feel like I have achieved a lot.


D: I'm quite instinctive when it comes to writing. I think it's because I started writing as a young child and wasn't introduced to it through school to any great extent. I sort of imagine a rough outline and have a few points I know the plot has to get to, but have a fair bit of freedom to write whatever excites me in between those points. I try to have my characters well fleshed out before I start though, so that I can be familiar with their nuances and how to present those.


D: This project actually started with a character. I'd been watching Doctor Who and imagining myself as a companion, then realised that I actually have zero adventurous spirit. So I thought I'd write a story where a character accidentally gets caught up in a journey across space. That led to me writing a character whose main flaw is lack of curiosity, being too passive. If you read any more of my story (no pressure xD) hopefully you'll notice that Janny doesn't tend to ask questions when he really ought to be desperate to know what's going on, doesn't take initiative very well. I really like writing that flaw, and his character growth. It's been fun so far!


D: I'm currently aiming for 20k but I'm going to let myself stretch to 25k at the most. I want there to be a possibility for me to have it as Part 1 of a longer story, but also have it be its own thing. I think that word count roughly works for that.


D: I think the main thing I do is go back over the main plot points in my head as often as I can. Once you know what's happening off by heart, it becomes more like reading a story than writing it. In terms of getting back on top of it, probably put thought into whether you want to catch back up to your daily goal quickly or gradually. If it's the former, probably cut your new daily goal into sections and have more than one writing session in a day, because it's going to sound intimidating. If the latter, try and figure out what caused you to fall behind in the first place. You're going to have a bigger target now, so you'll be even more at risk. This may not be something that can be understood in the middle of a month, but try to figure out what motivations work for you - rewards, writing with friends, sprints etc.

Thanks for listening to what I have to say Best of luck to anyone else doing the Summer Novella Challenge!

As told by a participant, the Summer Novella Challenge can be exciting and challenging, hence the title . I myself am trying to keep up, but I definitely need to raise my word count. Here’s to hoping this may have caught your eye - and feel free to send LordWolf or anyone else involved questions you may have! Until later. ^^

POP CULTURE CORNER: 10 PORTER WAGONER SONGS

Written by LordWolf < PM: >


1. Howdy Neighbor Howdy
This is one of my favorite country songs and very similar in style to Y'all Come. They both focus on the welcoming aspect that is found in some communities. And it's something that I can easily relate to with how I grew up.

2. I'll Meet You in the Church Sunday Morning
While there is a much earlier version by Bill Monroe (father of bluegrass), I prefer Wagoner's version. It follows in his pattern of covering other country songs and making the material peppier.

3. Green Green Grass of Home
Wagoner also sings a lot of songs about a wish to go back home and the narrator is often romanticizing a certain aspect. They might all seem the same, but I can see the charm in this one.

4. Take Me Back to Tulsa
"I'm to young to marry."
This line is the second part of the chorus to follow "take me back to Tulsa". The narrator is talking about the person that stole their heart while they were away from home, but they're trying to get out of the romance.
It's another comedic romance song.

5. The Carroll County Accident
This song is very relatable if you come from a small town where all the gossip is known to everyone. And where half the gossip is probably false.
Could also be a true crime story.

6. Another Day, Another Dollar
Yet another song about doing what you have to do to earn a living. Very relatable.

7. The Cold Hard Facts of Life
If country music didn't have enough songs about cheating spouses, this adds another one to the pile. It's one of Wagoner's most popular songs and it's certainly from his prime era.

8. One Way Ticket to the Blues
Just a very solid and very emotional song.

9. Setting the Woods on Fire
Another one of Wagoner's comedic songs about romance, the song implies the couple is so hot that they'll set the woods on fire. Gives a lot of space for your imagination.

10. Sing Me Back Home
While this is a terribly depressing song about a prisoner's last request and other similar sad situations, it is enjoyable to sit through. And it's invoking a different kind of sadness to what modern country songs ask us to do.

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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Submit to Queer as In F*** You!

QAIFY is an alternative compzine that is going to be published physically and digitally every month starting in August, and is currently accepting submissions. August's theme is Exit, Kindly, although submissions can range anywhere in topic from feminism, punk, identity, queerness, womanhood, social justice, or just experimental. QAIFY accepts poetry, short essays, serialized novels and short stories, articles and art such as collages, drawings, paintings, and photography.

Send submissions as a word document, .jpg, or .pdf file to queerasineffyou.zine@gmail.com.... before July 31 to be considered for publication in August's issue. While you're at it, follow the zine on twitter and tumblr and look out for the official website soon!








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Due to extra paper-work from building permits, the Great Hall is closed until Main Challenge Four: Restoring the Library Tower is completed - please help us complete the challenge by clearing the rubble. To participate Knights can submit Green Room reviews to fellow Knights and bring the links to the Main Challenge Thread. Help us finish this challenge and re-open the Great Hall!

For questions please contact LordWolf (Captain of the Guard) or Knight alliyah (Court Magician).

For complaints regarding construction noise or inconveniences please contact a nearby Office Squire.

- 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 Captain of the Guard Jack (@LordWolf) or Knight Alliyah (@alliyah).


That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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