November 16, 2021: Member Manuscript Critique Night
Our November meeting will be a critique night. Dues-paid members of the BVWG are encouraged to submit a piece of work upon which they'd like constructive input. It can be any genre or form. Manuscripts can be any length up to approximately 3,000 words. If your story ends at 3,200 words, go ahead and send the whole thing.
We're going to continue the critique approach we have done for the past several critique: Everyone will read the same set of submissions and come prepared to discuss them under the guidance of Chris Alden, who will be moderating the discussion (a role he has played many times when running critiques with the Philadelphia Writers Group).
Note that will will only be critiquing four manuscripts in November. If we have more manuscripts than we think we can discuss during our meeting on the 16th, we may need organize a second session to cover the remaining manuscripts. We'll see....
We're going to continue the critique approach we have done for the past several critique: Everyone will read the same set of submissions and come prepared to discuss them under the guidance of Chris Alden, who will be moderating the discussion (a role he has played many times when running critiques with the Philadelphia Writers Group).
Note that will will only be critiquing four manuscripts in November. If we have more manuscripts than we think we can discuss during our meeting on the 16th, we may need organize a second session to cover the remaining manuscripts. We'll see....
The interactive nature of a critique night suggests that a hybrid meeting format will be less than ideal. Stay tuned for a determination as to whether to hold the meeting in person or via Zoom. A decision will be announced by November 9th.
Some notes for members submitting manuscripts:
On Tuesday, November 9th we'll make all the stories available for readers to download and review. We'll post a notice via meetup.com about where you will be able to download the stories. So, if you're not already a member of the BVWG meetup group, sign up ASAP.
Some notes for readers:
- Please send us your submission formatted either as a Word document or a PDF.
- Please put your name in the header of the document so that it appears on each page and please include page numbers (in case anyone drops their pile of stories and has to put all the pages together again).
- Please format your submission using double-spaced lines so people have room to write notes.
- Please format your submission with left and right margins at least 1" wide so people can write notes on the page.
On Tuesday, November 9th we'll make all the stories available for readers to download and review. We'll post a notice via meetup.com about where you will be able to download the stories. So, if you're not already a member of the BVWG meetup group, sign up ASAP.
Some notes for readers:
- Watch the How to provide input at a critique session video that our own Gary Zenker put together. It's short (less than 3 minutes), entertaining, and critical for getting the tone of your comments right.
- Read the stories and be prepared to discuss them! We'll try to record the critique sessions so that the authors can review the comments after the fact, but if you can summarize your thoughts in a 1-page summary that you can share with the author at the conclusion of the meeting that would be helpful.
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When and Where?
The usual time (7pm) and the usual place: Ryan's Pub (2nd Floor) 124 West Gay Street West Chester, PA 19380 Where to park? Gay Street is reopen to traffic and parking, but remember that the meters are active till 10pm. Click here for free parking options in W.C. |
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