Hal and I met last weekend to discuss both the more informal meetings I had mentioned and ideas for the Writer's Retreat. I was going to discuss it with the group this Thursday, but of course there's no meeting this Thursday so I'll summarize now.
I think from 6 to 8pm Sunday evenings will be the best time to host the smaller group. I'd like to do it on Sundays that fall between formal meetings; that is, one week from the Sunday following the EWG meeting. If anyone would like to clarify that confusion be my guest. As I can only comfortably host ten I'd like to restrict attendance by utilizing some kind of organization device like a chart, or a sign-up form.
Attendees will be encouraged to bring a piece of work each time to be read and discussed with one other person. A portion of the meeting will be devoted to one-on-one critique, a portion to brainstorm-workshopping, and a portion to jumping-jacks. I mean, fun writing games. Not that I don't need the exercise...
I'd like to stop there with the organized activities as to keep the spirit of these meetings rather informal. The more time we have to connect with one another the more deeply I feel we can benefit from each other's input, and the more fun we'll have at Hal's retreat.
The only thing I haven't sorted out is food. I'd like to get everyone's take on that. I love feeding people, but I can't commit to preparing a ten-person dinner every Sunday. Is 6pm late enough that folks will have eaten by then? Or should we discuss turning this into a biweekly potluck type event?
Oh, and we discussed this point at length: All attendees will be required to wear pants.
Tyler
Our philosophy is simple: fun and work, humour and support. We write all genres and in all styles and support each other by providing encouragement and helping each other develop thick skins in the face of industry rejections. We understand that as writers we must do the majority of the work ourselves and we embrace this by giving honest critiques mixed with gentle grace and lots of humour.
I was pretty opposed to the last criterion, as I thought it would prevent more people from really getting comfortable, but Tyler's vote counted for more.
ReplyDeleteSounds great, guys. I'm up for the potluck idea, since I'm a pretty good cook (I've been told...).
ReplyDeleteKeep us in the loop as far as what's new. Should we keep a sign-up sheet on here so we can see which 10 are going each time?
I think that's a good idea, Laini, and probably something that we might want to implement. We'll discuss it at the meeting!
ReplyDelete