Evening, everyone, Rebekah here again!
I really meant to get this post up a few hours ago. And then I did something really stupid – I managed to back my car into a ditch and get one of the rear tires wedged against a drainage pipe.
Special, eh?
We had to call a tow truck. It was an interesting afternoon.
So that’s why everything is late today.
If you haven’t read How Critiques Work, Part 1 yet, please go do so now.
Since we covered critiquing in general in the last post, we’re going to cover how critiques for our group specifically will work. The critique groups will not be taking place virtually in the chat room, that’s just more than we can figure out right now.
First off, the rules & guidelines for our local critique group are:
- Be polite and respectful – don’t re-write, just suggest.
- Make sure cover sheets are appropriately labeled. Three strikes and you’re out. Not permanently, but you won’t be allowed to submit anything for critique for at least two sessions. Repeated suspensions will result in expulsion from the group. This is to protect minors in the group so that they can continue to participate.
- Deadline for submissions is two weeks before the date of the critique session. You may submit earlier than that (early submission is highly encouraged, or you can donate hard labor in exchange for critiquers having time to read your submissions). Late submissions will be turned into the rotation for the next session.
- To submit something for critique, you must have critiqued work for others within the last two sessions, unless it is your first time or you have not been able to attend.
- Submissions for critique must be no longer than 10 pages, double-spaced, in an easy-to-read font (IE: Courier or Times New Roman), with a font size no smaller than 11 (12 or 14 preferable). *
- Submissions are to be made to tulsanano (at) gmail (dot) com. In the subject line write “Critique” and include your name. Attach the completed cover sheet and your submission as two separate documents.*
- Rebekah and Michelle are in charge. Their word is law.
#2 and #3 are exceptions for this first meeting.
*For length & submission guidelines for this first session, please refer to How Critiques Work, Part 1.
We do ask that you please download and print a copy of the cover sheet that will be required for future critique sessions. We will go over its use at the meeting tomorrow. For those who are not able to make it tomorrow, we will have a how-to on the blog within the next couple of weeks. We will also have a sign up sheet tomorrow for people who are willing to critique
Now we’ll cover some questions that have been asked on the Tulsa NaNo Facebook group, and by email. If you have a question that’s not covered here, please let us know!
1. Do you accept people with work in progress? Absolutely! Most of us will have work in progress, and since we’ll only be critiquing excerpts at the sessions, whether the work is complete or not is completely up to you.
2. What do you mean “critique group”? A critique group is a group of people that are agreeing to give peer opinions on writing that has been submitted for opinions. It does not take the place of your own (and professional) revisions and edits, but it is a step in making sure that your work is polished and making sense.
3. Will we be doing this again? YES. Yes, yes, and YES. This will be a once a month event, except during October, November, and December.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for the monthly newsletter! Lissa Clouser puts this together for us, and we want your news! If you have something writing-related to brag about, an interesting blog post you’ve written or found, or any other writing news (especially if it’s a local conference or event), we want to know! You can email all newsworthy items to Lissa at lissa(dot)clouser (at) gmail(dot)com. The newsletter goes out on/around the 1st of each month, so make sure to get your news in a couple days before that! If you have anything you want in the April newsletter, get it in tonight or early tomorrow morning.
