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. SQUILLS' GRAND RE-OPENING
2. YWS AT CAMP
3. SUPER AMAZING AND SEXY AND SILLY (Featured Work Interview)
4. STORYBOOK UPDATE
5. QUIBBLES (the grammar column)
6. COW SAYS: JULY 28th, 2013
7. NEW ARRIVALS
8. THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP - JULY 28
9. SHAMELESS PLUGS
10. BECOME A SQUILLS SUBSCRIBER
11. SUBSCRIBERS

SQUILLS' GRAND RE-OPENING
written by Hannah < PM: >

For many members around the site, it may seem like Squills has always existed in its newsletter format. When it was reintroduced to the public by @Griffinkeeper back in January of this year, it was intended to be a daily forum where non-fiction inclined YWSers could post their news articles every day.

But Squills wasn't always quite as lean or posted quite as frequently. In the past, Squills was presented as more of an e-zine or a seasonal editorial publication than a daily or weekly. Any member could contribute, and the final product was a well put-together PDF available for download on YWS.

Squills dropped in on @Juniper, one of the contributors to the old form of the publication we all know and love. You can read the full interview in the spoiler, or jump ahead for the highlights!



June was involved with the Squills project under @Meshugenah , only back then it was meant to be a seasonal project. Members would write articles seperately and contribute them to an editing staff, who would use them to create an interesting graphic presentation of the articles, then publish the PDF on the site. There was not as much of a sense of team, since each contributor could work individually, but the publication was still well-received, especially because of its professionalism. You can see one instance of a release and member reactions by visiting this old thread .

The switch from PDF-format to forum posts isn't the only thing that's changed about Squills. In an interview conducted by @Ignorance with @ShadowVyper, two members of the Squills project ever since it was published daily, Shady says her favorite part about revamping Squills was






Right down to the newest member of the weekly Squills team, @ArcticMonkey, there's a wealth of enthusiasm. She had this to say when asked what she hoped to see in the future:






We hope you continue to support our team. Our first issue of the new publication is already second to no other Squills issue in the forum. It is, however, hovering a little under the number of views the topic on Osama bin Laden's death. Can we overtake it? In any case, it's forward and upward for Squills. Stay tuned!

YWS AT CAMPwritten by Hannah < PM: >

Swimming suits. Flashlights. Camping. Bug bites.
For those YWSers in the Northern Hemisphere, the smell of sunscreen brings back only one memory: summer camp. But where do young writers head for their summers? What could possibly be so tempting as to get them away from our online community and convenient word processors?


For @Noelle, camp is a tradition. She has attended CYC summe rcamp, a Greek Orthodox church camp for campers ages eight to eighteen, for six years. Every year, she participates in various activities, including making crafts (ranging from icons to small wooden boats), writing during down time, going on hikes, playing sports, dancing at the camp's Greek dance event, participating in secret water balloon fights the last day of camp, and attending church twice a day in a small chapel on site.

This year, however, holds something special. It is Noelle's first year as a counselor! She'll be in charge of an entire cabin of eight or ten campers, and is responsible for making sure they get to their camp activities and stay out of trouble. When asked about the kind of counselor she'd like to be, Noelle had this to say:






The Squills team wishes Noelle good luck leading her campers through such a fun and important summer!


Though @Questio also attended a religious camp, he was not quite as much of a veteran as Noelle. He headed off to his Latter-Day Saints church camp as an investigator, participating in the camp activities for only three days.

During his time, Questio participated in medieval tournaments such as Diminishing Musical Thrones (Musical Chairs) and Rembrandt or Not (Pictionary). But for him, the highlight of the weekend was the camp dance. On that subject, Questio said,






Of course, Questio's adventures haven't ended with the weekend. He plans to write a story about five kingdoms that joust for a maiden from the sixth to reflect the fun he had when camp coordinators broke the campers up into five groups to encourage making new friends and healthy competition among all six teams.


In stark contrast to Questio and his cute Mormon girls was @LadyPurple 's recounting of her time at summer camp. She attended a Discipleship Retreat, which she described as:






As a souvenir, LadyPurple even got to take some sunburn back home. She came back bright red on her back, her scalp, and her feet!


From the round-up so far, it seems like many YWSers head off to church camps. Is it more likely the case that more of the church camp-goers post statuses about leaving than those YWSers who attend camps with other themes?

If you have a summer camp story of your own, submit it to Squills through our friendly SquillsBot and share what kept you busy while your school teachers were resting!


Lastly, don't forget to head over to @SparkofDoubt's dance performance. It is streaming live from her summer camp, Burklyn Ballet , starting at 8PM EST. You can watch her at this link .

SUPER AMAZING AND SEXY AND SILLY
written by ShadowVyper < PM: >

Enjoy, as Squills takes on one of the authors of Complaint Letters to Count Von-Draco, @Blackwood AKA Procyon.



Procyon: Well, I intended on it being feature so it came as no surprise to me...



P: As a matter of fact, in recent times, it is actually true that I do write my recent works firstly in the hope that they are featured, and also in the knowledge that they will be. Especially this letters one, simply because I know I am so amazing. And sexy.



P: Well, I have noticed two factors make up spotlighted work. Firstly, it's either a silly and ridiculous work, or secondly, a super amazing sexy work. But the most important thing on getting spotlighted is to force all your friends to read everything you write. That way, they will see that you are a poetic or dramatic genius.



P: It was a hard decision but the answer is all of them. Letters covers everything because it is super silly sexy amazing. And also because @Carina helped me write it ,and she is all of those things. But she did all the typos and errors, not me.



P: Well it was all my idea. I started writing it when I was in bed, but I felt it difficult to capture the essence of two people writing to one another so I asked Carina to help me capture the personality of Spankson. But it was all my idea. Yes. I am amazing.



P: I got a bit stuck near the end because I had used up all my ideas in the previous letters. So I just ended it by killing Spankson. Well... It's up to the reader's interpretation on if Spankson actually died or not. Perhaps the blood is from the next mailman, or perhaps Spankson went insane and murdered his family, or perhaps the blood is Draco's because he cut himself on the paper while reading the letter. It's all up to imagination.



P: Possibly, possibly not. I am considering a collection of random word poems, but I don't have an intention to get that spotlighted...yet...maybe...not. Yeah.



P: Yes. I'm sexy, you're sexy, and read all my stuff.



P: I know you love me.

STORYBOOK UPDATE
written by BlackNether12 < PM: >

Welcome to this week's Story Book Update. Inside you'll find information about the current situation in the forums, a look back through the archives, and some stats gathered just for you!



The most distinguished storybook this week was probably Soul's Choice by @AriaAdams, which went from creation all the way to dozens of characters and 15 HUGE posts in just eight days. Aria's first post, for example, measures more than 1,800 words. An impressive feat! What's got the storybookers interested? Click through to find out .



This week, the following three articles head to the archives.

1. The Field Trip -- written by @*coco, this storybook about St. James High students' senior year lasted almost two months and saw eighty replies before the big move.

2. Fair Tail Vs Bleach -- created by @MariaRowlands1, but never started, this fanfiction-based storybook saw only six replies before it was archived.

3.Who’s In? -- thought up by @Nike, and alive for only about a week and a half, there were zero replies to this storybook idea about criminals being criminals just for fun.



This week, a couple new story books have joined the forum. Check out The Life and Days of the Worlds Mystic Beings , a story featuring a mystic training academy located deep in the Rocky mountains, started by @TheNeoAceofAll .

If that's not your cup of tea, try out Metas, Mechs and Mages by @Crowley . Not yet started, this book features a superhero agency on a parallel Earth.



This week, the work of @maleficent has really stood out to me. As many of you may have noticed, she has joined a large number of Storybooks, submitted dozens of high-quality profiles, and done an amazing job. In just a few months, it seems to me like she’s become a pro-Storybooker.



Weekly Storybook Base Statistical Information:


All these days add up to a total of 498 posts this week so far. You've been busy!

QUIBBLES
(the grammar column)written by Skorlir < PM : >

Have your punctuation taken.

Seriously. Not kidding.

Let’s say punctuation is your colon. A colonoscopy can tell you whether your sentences are cancerous (possibly infectious – even already metastasized), just plain horrid, or within permissible margins of suck. (There are no other classifications.)

What’s that you ask? What’s the process? And “where do you place, up quirk?”

Let’s do some calculations:

So far (including this sentence) I have 6 periods,
10 commas,
3 question marks,
1 colon,
6 parentheses,
1 dash,
3 apostrophes,
1 semicolon;
and all this in 9 sentences.

+ Jakarta.
- Antelope.

And the zodiac pendant glows on its eastern face.

Ergo, this piece is within permissible margins of suck, and can capably extract fluids from solid matter in the deep intestines of my lovely column. Punctuation colonoscopy passed. (I can transmit information, if you will.)

Note rarely is one of my sentences marred by redundundancy – I don’t even use the same punctuation twice solving a crossword. And (surprisingly?) that’s the majority of the test: diversity. With more diverse punctuation, you, too, can better extract and pass fluids from solid matter. (Transmit information through words, I mean. It’s basically the same.)

So punctuate. Well.

In keeping with our metaphor: be kind to your colon, and it will be kind to you.

COW SAYS: JULY 28th, 2013written by CowLogic < PM: >

Complicated things are to be dealt with in the same way you deal with a faulty machine: by smacking it. Craftsmanship, workmanship -- none of it really matters when something isn't working correctly. You just hit it. And if it does work after that, something inside your mind holes just clicks like a rodent during mating season. That period of claravoyance generates nothing but euforia and spelling errors. So when something is becoming a little too exuberant in non-linear details, smack it with your palm, and if it clears things up for you, you know I speak the truth when I say you'll be happier than a clam-digger on free rake day.

Disclaimer: This method should not be utilized on complicated women or children.

NEW ARRIVALS
written by ShadowVyper < PM: >

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

@DarkEntropy hasn't been with us long, but has already started contributing reviews. He hasn't posted any works yet, but I'm sure that with a bit of encouragement he'll open right up.

@Shanna has also begun reviewing, even before posting any of her own works. I'm sure that she's got plenty of wonderful works that are just waiting to be read!

@lauramydear has also been busy contributing reviews to the site. She, however, has posted the starts of what looks to be lovely story, The Come Back ~Prologue and Chapter One~ .

@Lyconius jumped right into the family, and has been giving lots of awesome reviews. He says he's got lots of ideas for novels, but hasn't gotten a chance to write any of them down yet. Go give him a nudge.

@mapleserap has given several lovely reviews already, but hasn't posted any of her work yet. Go give her a warm welcome, and encourage her to share her work with us!

@Sheeparewooly has been busy reviewing, too. They haven't had a chance to post any of their works to YWS, yet, but I'm sure that with a bit of encouragement they'll post lots of lovely pieces for us to read.

@capriciouscoralyn has already given several lovely reviews. Why not return the favor, by reviewing her poem, It's Fine ?

@sylviaelioness has already written a load of reviews. What’s even better? She's already posted her work -- Myrchase: Prologue – so you can give her some love back.

@Killyouwithwords has also been busy, writing tons of wonderful reviews . Her script, however (Acceptance ), is looking rather lonely.

@QuietRoman has already posted several lovely reviews. Luckily, he's also posted his poem, The Skipper , so you can return the favor!

@Celjiii has written some awesome reviews. Unfortunately, she hasn't posted any works for us to read, but I'm sure she'll open right up with a bit of encouragement.

@Jrezek has posted several reviews around the site. He's also posted the prologue to his story: My Apocalypse . Go check it out!

THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP - JULY 28
written by: megsug < PM: >

Looking for the hot topics in the forums? Feel the need to share and compare your abounding wisdom? Just want to know what’s poppin' on YWS right now? You have arrived at the right place, my young quester.
As seen on tv~



Our fine doctor has narrowed his search down to five titles and needs help choosing the lucky one. The choices consist of:






And to help inform your vote in the pool, the doctor describes his novella as a three-way mix of A Clockwork Orange, The Departed, and Boondock Saints. He's also welcoming new suggestions.




@Letiki uses the Serious Discussion and Debate forum to pose an interesting question: Do humans truly "feel", or is feeling so based in our brains that we only think we feel? On the topic, Letiki says,






But now it's your turn. That's what the SDD forum is for. Get involved, and tell us: What do you think?




Which Pokémon is your favorite? Are you a fan of the original 150, or are the newer incarnations where the fun is at? On @AlfredSymon 's post in Randomosity , YWSers weigh in!

@AfterTheStorm prefers Charmander. @Carina fancies Snorlax.

We’re waiting to know who'd you choose!




If you're a member of Poetry Partners , @Aley is wondering how your experience is going so far. Drop a comment on the post on her wall to help shape the future of the club. Not yet a member? They are always looking for apprentices and mentors.




@RebeccaZeno is looking for critiquing partners. She wants help with the first draft of a novel and is willing to return the favor. She says she reserves the right to turn down offers based on reading preference, but also says:






This is your chance to get those honest opinions on your newest lengthy project!

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.

Code: Select all

Place advertisement here. Make sure you include a title!

Which means Squills is making a Shameless Plug asking for Shameless Plugs. Maybe you're a little confused. That's okay. We can share an example. Say, for instance, your name's @Carina you want to advertise your Will Review For Food thread. You might send us a Shameless Plug that looks like this:



My name is Carina, I like fancy cars (which is why I named myself after one), and I want you to post links to works you need reviews on in my WRFF thread . I specialize in mainly short stories or novels, and you can try if you give me anything else, though it will mainly be my thoughts on it. I want to keep you writing! Stop over for an oil change today~


And if your name were Carina and you wanted to send us that Shameless Plug, you'd PM the text of that advertisement all set up and ready to go with your desired BB code.

It's all explained in the link above, guys. Scroll up a little.

Anyway, we're really sad we couldn't plug anyone this week. So sad, in fact, that @SquillsBot is going on a hunger strike until we receive our first ad. Now send us yours!

BECOME A SQUILLS SUBSCRIBERwritten by SquillsBot < PM: >

You know, Sunday only comes once a week, so it's sort of hard to remember when exactly it's supposed to happen, right? Daily things we can get pretty much right: the sun goes up and the sun comes down... usually? But once a week occurrences? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Luckily, the fabulous Squills team has just the solution for people like us: a subscription service!
Making use of the oft-abused but no-less-useful @ notification system, the Squills teams promises to notify you just as soon as the articles for that week start going up in the news forum. To register for a subscription, all you have to do is PM SquillsBot with your intention, and you'll be put on the list of subscribers at the bottom of each issue. Sound good? Here's the PM link one more time! Get crackin'!

And have a fabulous... what day is it again? Why can I never remember these things!?

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!



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!