The works you’ve written are numerous, ranging from short stories to even the novel, hidden in a storage bin (under the bed) collecting dust. But there comes a time when you must wipe away that dust, regain your pride, and prepare your babies for publication! But, how do you get such a critical, unbiased eye to analyze your works, offering both praise and criticism?
It’s simple—start a writing group!
Creating a writing group is the easy part, but creating a functioning and beneficial writing group can be quite a task.
Writing groups are age-old sessions where writers obtain helpful evaluations for their works. Nowadays, though, writing groups seem to be a fad, and for many a status symbol reassuring them of their writerdom. Don’t create a writing group simply for the sake of saying, “I belong to a writing group”. Create or join a group because of the numerous benefits that come along with them.
Keep Number of Members Limited. You don’t want just one other person in this group. So shoot for 3 or more members. On the other hand, you don’t want to have 30 people in the group either. Try approximately 8-10 members. If one person leaves the group, replace that person with a new recruit. Keep the same standards for all members. Make it standard that members can only join by an invite. Allowing your group to be very exclusive brings the group more pride.
Select Randomly. It’s okay to have a friend in this group, but you chose to create this writing group for unbiased opinions. So don’t allow ALL the members to be your best friends in which you see on a daily basis. Perhaps one member is 18 yrs old, while the other is 35. Keeping age, sex, ethnicity, and educational levels of your group will allow a diverse critique—which is ultimately what you’re seeking. A diverse group will only make you and the group much stronger.
Meetings. We’re all struggling writers, so most often the other members of the group will have jobs to attend. So finding an appropriate time for a meeting is crucial. I’ve found that one Sunday per month, after 2 p.m. is great. Make it an odd time. Creating times such as 2:07 p.m. will stand out and allow members to remember. Where are these meetings held? Keep switching locations. Allow the members to rotate the location to each of their homes. If homes are not available, then a select person should discuss where they choose the next meeting should be held. This is the reason membership should be limited to a few members. It’s much easier to meet with just a few people.
Text. Focus your group on either poetry or prose—try not to mingle the two. If the text is prose, and the writer wants his novel critiqued, suggest that the novel be submitted on a “per chapter” (or two) basis. Don’t overwhelm the members with too much to read at one time—or you’ll end up with no members. The month before your work is critiqued, each writer should submit photocopies of their manuscript to each member.
Know your intentions. Make sure that, for the most part, members have similar goals: to be published or for sheer enjoyment of writing. This will eliminate time wasted if you know this upfront.
Critiquing. When critiquing the text, encourage the members to speak as if the writer isn’t present. In the meanwhile, the author can sit back, take notes, and write down questions the critics may have posed. Encourage the critics to write on their versions of the text before meeting. Allow approximately 20 minutes to discuss each member’s work. Upon completion of the critique, critics should give the author their “corrected” versions. Complete the critique by allowing the author to explain any unanswered questions and to thank the critics.
If members can’t keep up with reading that much work per month, then divide it up. Four writers submit one month, while the remaining four submit the following month. Above all, writing groups should be a relaxed environment—away from your significant other, your children, and your job. Let this be a time where you hone your writing skills with the assistance of others who simply seek the same thing.
About The Author
Stephen Jordan has five years experience within the educational publishing industry. Stephen was a freelance editor with such educational foundations as Princeton Review, The College Board, New York University, and Columbia University. Away from the office, Stephen promotes his creative writing with his home-freelance business OutStretch Publications and his artwork. Stephen holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees in writing and literature from Alderson-Broaddus College of Philippi, West Virginia Available for reprint. Please contact author so he can keep track of where his articles are being used.
Editor@OutStretch.net
A lot of places around the world call it A Curriculum Vitae, in North
America, it's a Résumé. This is definitely one of the most important tools
that any jobseeker has at their disposal. You may be THE best candidate
for a particular job by a long way, however, if you don't make it to the
interview stages the company will never know.
Many companies (especially the larger corporations) will use computer
software to "read" all the résumé’s and reject any that don't fit a
particular template. This may seem unfair, but it's cost effective.
So, for some jobs you have to beat the computer and still read well
enough for someone who may not have any knowledge of the position you are
applying for. It is definitely worthwhile to adapt your resume for the
position that is advertised. There may well be some of the "buzz" words
the "filter" is looking for mentioned in the job description.
It is very important that you can substantiate all the claims you make,
preferably with physical examples or letters. This will be essential in
any in interview situation.
There is now a wealth of information available online, from books,
local employment offices and with professional writing agencies. You can
also access other people’s résumé’s that are posted online which will give
some great ideas for style and content.
Professional writers may seem the answer, but, all the research I have
done seems to lean away from them. I have never used one and feel that it
will give a good impression if you have written it yourself (this will
display literacy). Apparently, if they are professionally written, they
are easy to spot; however, they may be worth the expense if you are stuck.
You can always "customise" what has been written to make it your own work.
In my case, I had been in the military since I left school and had
never written a resume or had an interview. I spent a lot of time writing,
copying other people’s styles and changing things. I didn't realise how
difficult it is to catch up on 16 years - I'll never allow mine to go out
of date again! I found the hardest part was to actually start writing. The
best advice I was given was to just write anything that you can think of
and it will soon start to flow. With modern word processors it's
relatively quick and easy to cut and paste so you can keep on changing it
until you are happy. More detailed information can be found at
http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/resume.html
Afrikaans 
Albanian 
Amharic 
Arabic 
Armenian 
Azerbaijani 
Basque 
Belarusian 
Bengali 
Bosnian 
Bulgarian 
Catalan 
Cebuano 
Chichewa 
Chinese (Simplified) 
Chinese (Traditional) 
Corsican 
Croatian 
Czech 
Danish 
Dutch 
English 
Esperanto 
Estonian 
Filipino 
Finnish 
French 
Frisian 
Galician 
Georgian 
German 
Greek 
Gujarati 
Haitian Creole 
Hausa 
Hawaiian 
Hebrew 
Hindi 
Hmong 
Hungarian 
Icelandic 
Igbo 
Indonesian 
Irish 
Italian 
Japanese 
Javanese 
Kannada 
Kazakh 
Khmer 
Korean 
Kurdish (Kurmanji) 
Kyrgyz 
Lao 
Latin 
Latvian 
Lithuanian 
Luxembourgish 
Macedonian 
Malagasy 
Malay 
Malayalam 
Maltese 
Maori 
Marathi 
Mongolian 
Myanmar (Burmese) 
Nepali 
Norwegian 
Pashto 
Persian 
Polish 
Portuguese 
Punjabi 
Romanian 
Russian 
Samoan 
Scottish Gaelic 
Serbian 
Sesotho 
Shona 
Sindhi 
Sinhala 
Slovak 
Slovenian 
Somali 
Spanish 
Sundanese 
Swahili 
Swedish 
Tajik 
Tamil 
Telugu 
Thai 
Turkish 
Ukrainian 
Urdu 
Uzbek 
Vietnamese 
Welsh 
Xhosa 
Yiddish 
Yoruba 
Zulu
