Hatrack River Writers Workshop: join an existing Hatrack group

This is topic join an existing Hatrack group in forum Hatrack Groups at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/writers/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000033

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

We're going to try using this topic for anyone who would like to join an existing Hatrack email critique group.

Post a description of the kind of group you want to join that gives kind of writing by marketing category and type.

Examples:

fantasy novel

science fiction screenplay

literary short stories

personal essays

poetry and short fiction

science fiction and fantasy only, all lengths

Please also specify what you do not want to include.

Example:

no R-rated stories

no romance

no mysteries

no science fiction or fantasy

no children's fiction

Post the email address you would like people to use to contact you--nameatdomaindotcom (see Kathleen's email addresses below).

Any group that needs another member and fits your description may contact you in email--no posting that your group is interested in this topic.

The group representative must give you the usernames here on Hatrack used by the group members, at the very least, though their real names (or part of it) would also be good.

You may then decide which group (if more than one contacts you) you would like to join and notify Kathleen (via email at workshopatburgoynedotcom or Dalton-Woodburyatsffdotnet) what group you are joining (give Kathleen their email addresses and Hatrack usernames so she can add you to that group in her records).

Then email those groups you did not choose and thank them. Tell them that you have joined a group now and wish them well in finding more members for their group.

That way, we hope, no one will get their feelings hurt, and those who want a group will be able to find one.

Posted by Duffy (Member # 2394) on :

I am rather new, but I would like to start an email group. Short stories, and poetry if you want. 4-5 members. One member will be appointed each week to come up with a prompt, and outline(i.e. *plot* 1500 words or less) and regular things will be there too.

People that are willing to stick to their pieces and critique often. Basically anyone that enjoys short stories (5,000or less) and perhaps some poetry. You may only email one story to the members for every 5 you critique.

I don't know how this particualr board works, becsause not many people seem to use it. But if oyu want to join, just email me at crazythorn@writing.com

Thanks guys,
Duffy

Posted by JohnSWalsh (Member # 2371) on :

In brief:

Have written some science fiction screenplays but am not interested in pursuing them anymore. I attempt to write literary stories--especially lately am trying to keep away from the old horror, SF and fantasy cliches and creating my own style of "beings" rather than elves, vampires, etc.

I have written and sold personal essays and short fiction, and have written novels in the SF, mainstream and dark thriller modes, though right now my own work is exclusively in the short story arena.

Not interested in mysteries, romances, poetry, anything even remotely Tolienish, or children's fiction.

The long version from elsewhere on the site:

Hi all, I'm John. I've sold a couple of stories to small print mags and am in an upcoming anthology. I'm looking for folks who want to crit and be critted.
I've got several novels done and in the various stages of rewriting. One had an agent who I fired for not doing very much. I'm very prolific; I'm temporarily out of work due to an operation and have been using my time well. I do something I call a "story dump" once a year in which I take one month and write a short story a day every day. I then work on the results over the following weeks or months. I already did one in January and am working on the results.

I'm of the Algis Budrys school of writing; I like a story. My work is extremely dark and grusome sometimes; other stories have been called unbelievably sappy. Generally I write morality tales, some with very violent stuff, generally aimed at adults in terms of theme. Not saying it has loads of sex, just that I take my work seriously and put a lot into it.

Some writers who have influenced my work, so you can get an idea of what my stories are like: Harlan Ellison, Samuel R. Delany, Clifford Simak, Pauline Kael, Ethan Canin, Raymond Carver, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester, Andre Dubus, Thomas Pynchon, Jim Carroll, Harry Crews, Larry McMurtry. Hmm, from that you may get the idea I'm some kind of angry homosexual black man from New York who likes living on a farm and watching movies when I'm not performing surgery.... None of which is me. Oh well.

I think I'm a pretty good critic; I'm blunt, and will tell you I don't think your story is publishable, and why. I expect the same. I see no point in getting personal about such things either way and I try very hard to be polite. But I'm here to work.

I like working out, I collect film music on CD and album, I paint in acrylics, love movies, and by summer should be living in some part of the country I'm not even thinking about at this time. I've written screenplays for fun and have resisted the efforts of some friends with connections in LA to go out there and get my heart broken, because I'm too old for the business and can't deal with not being in control of my work.

I'm most interested in exchanging critiques with people of any age who are serious about their work and have some years of writing experience behind them. But am open to anyone.

I can be reached at gryphoncrossing@aol.com

Thanks

Posted by cklabyrinth (Member # 2454) on :

My name is Chris and I'm looking to join a fantasy/science fiction critique group. I can be contacted at ckgreed@yahoo.com

Thanks.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Chris, please go back up and read the opening post for this topic. You will have a better chance finding a group if you can be more specific about what kinds of fantasy and science fiction you are interested in writing and critiquing and what kinds of stuff you don't want to read or critique.

Posted by matthew (Member # 2473) on :

I am looking for a group that is on science fiction or comedy and I would like some poetry, really anyway I can present my writings for people to read.

Posted by Waldstein (Member # 2502) on :

Looking to join either just a fantasy group or a fantasy/science fiction group. I'm mostly looking to write in the short story format right now, but I'm fine with groups that include all lengths of writing. I'll mention this, my favorite authors are George RR Martin and Robin Hobb while my least favorite is Terry Goodkind. I'm definitely not interested in cookie cutter fantasy or romance.

My name is Robert and my email addy is burningrob@yahoo.com

Posted by Frederic Civish (Member # 1471) on :

I am interested in joining a Writing Group. I write mostly short fiction, though I do have 100 or so pages of a Fantasy novel in case people are interested in that. I mostly do Science Fiction, but I also write some Fantasy and a small amount of Horror.

If anyone is interested in picking up a member for their group, please let me. If you're not sure I'm interested in your type of group, at least you could contact me and we could discuss it.

I have participated in several writing groups in the past, but I have been out of it for about 2 years. I have never sold anything, but I have had a few good nibbles, from professional editors/magazines and Writers of the Future, where I just missed the final
cut.

My name is Fred Civish
my email is FCivish@prodigy.net

Thanks,

-=- Fred

Posted by rustafarianblackpolarbear (Member # 2638) on :

if anyone here wants people to read and critique their stories, through email, i'd be happy to. i've never been in a writers group before but if hard science fiction, mainly extracts from novels, suits anyone please tell me if you'd looking for someone and i'll probably give it a try

Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :

I'm in the middle of a hard SF novel and have some extracts you can look through. They are still naked (very raw first drafts), but there is one story line that I could use feedback on.

Posted by rustafarianblackpolarbear (Member # 2638) on :

yes please. just make the subject line: hatrack member, and i'll get back to you asap.

Posted by KevinK (Member # 2664) on :

I'm interested in a fantasy novel group. I would, however, be just as thrilled if it was a combination of science fiction and fantasy, as long as someone was willing to read what I have so far of my novel.

Posted by KevinK (Member # 2664) on :

Oh yeah, and my email address is archangelkick_13@hotmail.com

Posted by Frederic Civish (Member # 1471) on :

Rustafarian, Spaceman and Kevin K.

If you want to join a critique group, OR FORM ONE, then I suggest you look on this board, and the other similar boards, and contact each AND all the other people who have posted here, asking about groups.

This means you should contact each other, at the least.

I have found that members in most functioning groups do not spend time looking around here. They are too busy writing. So, if you want things to work, you have to MAKE it work for yourselves.

I posted here and nobody answered me. So, I took the time to go through the posts and contact each person that I could.

I found a few groups that were functioning, but no longer in need of new members.

I found groups that had gone defunct and whose members weren't interested in continuing, for now.

AND, I found one group that wasn't exactly looking for members, but who were happy to have me join (and another person I had contacted from here, who came in with me) so now we have 6 members.

I also STARTED a new group, consisting entirely of people I contacted here and people who THEY brought in, so our new group now has 7 members. None of these people had been in a group before.

Do not bother to contact me on this, the two groups I am participating in (yes I am doing two) do not need any more members now. However, THIS is how you should go about finding or starting groups, in my opinion.

If you are interested, TAKE THE INITIATIVE.

Good luck,

-=- Fred

Posted by Frederic Civish (Member # 1471) on :

Oh, I also wanted to make it clear for anyone who is interested, in addition to doing the things above, DO post here, and on the other HATRACK GROUP threads. That makes it so that people can contact you. Maybe weeks or months from now.

And if you don't get the group you want, DO check back every few weeks, because there are ALWAYS people coming through here, looking. Hopefully they will find you, but if not, then you write THEM.

-=- Fred

Posted by Julia Marie (Member # 2682) on :

Hi. I'm interested in getting a writer's group going. I'll be emailing people that have already posted and we can try hammering something out. Please feel free to contact me as well.

-JM

Posted by abby (Member # 2681) on :

I am interested in joining a group. I write mostly adventure fiction, though one is based on true experiences. Most of my items are full book length. I do have one book, in the earliest stages that will have sci-fi elements to it. I would appreciate belonging to a group, as I learn more about my own by reading other people's writing, and would like to hear other's views on my own writing. My email is: contact@writing.webdesigningabby.com

Thank you,
Abby

Posted by Ransom (Member # 2712) on :

Greetings! I am a budding writer -- that is to say, I have very little actual experience and not much to show for myself, but I have, according to my family and my teachers, raw talent that can be cultivated. I feel most comfortable writing short stories, below 3 or 4 thousand words, and while I recently decided to write a novel, it's hard for me to make the transition. The novel is science fiction, and follows characters during a crucial time in man's history: the foundation of its first colonies on extrasolar worlds. But I'm getting disillusioned. I'm only 5,000 words in and I'm questioning most of what I've written. Anyone willing to take me in or help me out, you can write to thomas.beard@student.oc.edu . I love the plot that's going to happen, and I have some really great ideas, but I need to know if it's even worth going on from where I'm at. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Posted by benskia (Member # 2422) on :

Hello.
I'm looking to join a group.
I'm working on a novel, which will be a blend of fantasy & thriller.

I dont write particularly fast, or read particularly fast either. It would probably suite me to work in segments, for example maybe crit a section of so many words at a time rather than need to read a whole novel for somebody before giving feedback.

I'm a bit of a novice (even though i think i can critique other people's work pretty well), so will be pestering people for their help and advice on particular aspects as well as requiring general feedback.

If you have a spare place in your group, please send me an e-mail to anthony.benskin@expressdairies.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :

I'm interested in joining a group. My primary writing interests are fantasy and horror, but I'm malleable. The only thing I'd prefer to stay away from is romance and mystery (nothing against them, just not something I want to do). I don't have infinite time to devote to participation, but I believe I have plenty of time and motivation to be a decent contributor.

Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :

I thought I'd write an addendum to what Fred Civish said. I'm one of the ones he contacted and am now in a writer's crit group with him. I had posted an interest in being in a group but hadn't pursued creating one. Fred took the initiative to contact me and several other folks (bless him!) I was a little shy because I'd never been in a writer's group before, and I didn't quite know how to go about it.

In the hopes of helping someone else, here are a couple of suggestions:

I would suggest anyone wishing to be in a crit group read this article by Terry Ervin and published on Fiction Factor:
http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/critlist.html
I would second the suggestions made in that article.

I set up a group list on www.yahoogroups.com which allows us to type in one email address to distribute to everyone on the list. With a closed group like this, list maintenance is pretty minimal. It also gives us a location to upload shared files and website links as references for our members.

At any rate, once Fred got an agreement of participation from all of us, he suggested we set up a schedule. We voted and decided on weekly submissions. There are six of us in the group now, and one person submits each week and the rest of us offer crits.

We all offer our crits on the list, rather than privately to the writer. This helps us all to learn from each other's suggestions.

So far things have been going nicely. This isn't the only way to do things, but it was a good way for us.

My advice is that if you want to be in a group, don't be shy. Go for it! You don't have to have been a member of this board for any pre-set amount of time, you just have to have the desire to improve your writing. Newbies can benefit as well as more established writers.

Identify the folk who are writing in your genre, and toss them an email telling them of your interest. I've learned there are many more people clamoring to be in groups than there are open positions.

And good luck! I'm really enjoying my writer's group(s). And I'm learning a lot. You can, too!

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Taking turns where a different person in the group sends something around to the others each week and the others critique it is one way to organize exchanges in a group.

The novel critique suggestions at

http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/forum/Forum21/HTML/000005.html

talk about other ways.

Yet another way is as follows:

1) Each member will submit one piece of their original writing between the first and twentieth of each month.

2) Each member will critique everyone else's writing submissions within three weeks of the date of each submission (i.e. if the submission is emailed on May 5, then all critiques for that item will be in no later than May 26; if a submission is emailed on May 15, then all critiques for that item will be in no later than June 5.)

In addition to that, a member may opt to skip a month for a crisis or a long vacation or some other well founded reason. However, they must let the group know that they will not be participating in that month. Only one month should be skipped in any three-month period of time.

So there are no set ways to schedule exchanges. The group members should work out a way that works best for everyone in the group.

[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited July 26, 2005).]

Posted by Fidget_Sinclair (Member # 2762) on :

Have you ever noticed Peanut M%Ms are taken for granted while the lightbulb is considered one of the engineering marvels of man?

I am called Lynk on the internet, and Oliver some of the rest of the time. I don't write any particular kind of fiction exclusively, and I inclusively I don't have any particular kind of fiction genre group I'd like to join. I want to read really good quality writing, just really well crafted stuff; and not well crafted for a genre, but just well crafted. Although I do kind of want to steer around anything too romancy--so not romance, but no real bars held other than that.

However, sci-fi and fantasy hold most appeal to me. Realms of unreality and law-defined inestimability I just think are cool.

e-mail: lynkriin@yahoo.com

This does feel peculiar--I must say.

[This message has been edited by Fidget_Sinclair (edited August 12, 2005).]

Posted by Grandma Edie (Member # 1677) on :

Ransom,and anyone else on this page.

If you have not found a group for yourself yet, take a look at the topic "Group 2 Needs More Members" and contact us, if you wish.

Miram, Norma and Edith

[This message has been edited by Grandma Edie (edited August 19, 2005).]

Posted by ThisProteanSoul (Member # 2882) on :

ThisProteanSoul@gmail.com

I don't particularly care if I'm joining a group or creating one, as long as I'm involved in one. Therefore, I'm posting to both threads.

I'm looking for one of two types of group. Either poetry or science fiction and fantasy only, all lengths.

Again:

Poetry (including short fiction is acceptable)

Science fiction and fantasy only, all lengths

This can be just fantasy with no sci fi, but not just sci fi with no fantasy. I do not want romance or mystery.

[This message has been edited by ThisProteanSoul (edited September 24, 2005).]

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

posting to make the topic visible

Posted by bobertok (Member # 2942) on :

I am a coward, too much of a coward to submit any of my writings for publication. I did send a romance short story to the WD short story contest a few years ago with unrealistic expectations of honorable mention and was disappointed. (I don’t take rejection well.) Several of my friends have read the story and liked it but would not or could not provide any constructive critique.

I have a few Sci-Fi short stories and a Sci-Fi novel started as well as other ramblings that are dear to my heart with little or no literary value.

I have no interest in R-rated stories or foul language.

If there is a place for someone like me in a Hatrack River group please contact me at;

bobertok@hotmail.com

Thanks

Bob

Posted by rahamad (Member # 2946) on :

I am looking for a group to join, my primary interest is in Sci-Fi or Fantasy.

I am attempting my first novel. I have had a lot of ideas for stories and novels, this is my first attempt at putting one of those ideas to paper.

jason@clockwatch.org

Posted by Beth1979 (Member # 2970) on :

I'd like to be in a group for personal essays and/or poetry.

My e-mail is adamsandlerschick@yahoo.com

[This message has been edited by Beth1979 (edited November 03, 2005).]