The critical reading of members’ work-in-progress is a popular item on many [writer group] programs. The purpose is to help every participant to become a better writer. Of course we all want praise, but praise alone is not enough. Even the most successful writer needs constructive criticism. An effective critique demands the loving commitment of everyone in the group to help the others achieve their full potential.
-Some groups set a theme to trigger original writing.
-Others find it more valuable to bring their work-in-progress.
-There is less value in offering constructive criticism about work already published.
-The manuscript session needs firm chairing. This need not be done by the group leader. It could be the responsibility of another member, or be rotated.
-The best in-depth response comes when copies are circulated in advance, but that takes considerable organization and expense. The next best thing is for those who can to bring spare copies. This produces a deeper level of feedback than just hearing work read aloud.
-Resist the temptation to explain the work. It should speak for itself. A brief sentence: “This is from a children’s novel“, or “These are Bible-reading notes“ is enough.
-It may be necessary to set a time limit for longer works.
-It helps to read a poem twice. The second reading could be made by someone else.
-If the others make notes during the reading, it deepens the quality of response.
-The whole group should be involved. Some members contribute their opinions freely and fluently, while others hang back and need to be encouraged. For the best results, the chair of the manuscript session will invite everyone to contribute a response, with a time limit if necessary.
-It saves time if the writer stays silent until everyone else has spoken. Make notes of points that need answering and give any clarification at the end.
Do you have any related experiences others can learn from? Leave us a comment, please.
This article was excerpted from MAI’s booklet, Creating a Christian Writer Group, by Fay Sampson. It gives all kinds of tips and parameters for those hoping to form a new group or grow an existing one. You’ll find this booklet and other resources for writing and publishing are available on MAI’s website.
Photo above courtesy freedigitalphotos.net
Thank you for sharing this to us. I hope these will help other writer club:
- start with prayer, a brief devotional, and sing a song
- set up an emailgroup like gmail or yahoogroup for an effective communication for the writer group
- The writer has to send his/her manuscript to other members via the emailgroup at least one week before the regular meeting
- regularly have a 5-15 minutes to learn about writing tips, eg. a part of the “Write the Vision” by Marion Van Horne, or MAI’s books, to empowering writers.
- a small contribution membership once a month, will help to cover the expenses for photo-copy and the morning/afternoon tea
- always close the meeting with praying for each other.
- set up a cyberspace writer club to publish the writings will encourage them to write.
Eva, thank you for sharing all of these excellent tips and pointers for a good writer club. You must be experienced! ; ) What was the greatest challenge for you in leading a writer club?
A very good question, Dawn, thank you.
As for me, the greatest challenge was how to help the members keep coming regularly and on time 
So, as a leader/coordinator I have to find creative ways to encourage or to motivate them to come, such as:
- Write and send a warm invitation and reminder for the upcoming meeting, in the emailgroup, and set an interesting-and-clear agenda.
- When we decided to learn from a book, I will photo-copy only a part of the book, every time we meet, and always let them know what is the next topic for the next meeting. And I will mention it in the next invitation for the next meeting.
- We made an agreement that we will have a meeting if at least there are three writers has reconfirmed that he/she is going to attend.
Hopefully helpful.
Dear Dawn,
I have an experience with writers club.
About 8 years ago I wrote a short story for children. I took it to my writers club then i got many comments and inspirations. Now the story has been developed into a novel and now It’s in the process to be published.
Congratulations, Sylvia! Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Very interesting that you went from children’s short story to a novel! That’s quite a journey and both a testimony to your perseverance and the wonderful contributions of your writer club.
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Well done Sylvia. You may be interested in a resource which could help other Christian writers. A list of 21 Christian publishers who are currently accepting submissions.