Earth below us, drifting, falling
I know I've been talking about a lot of crappy negative stuff lately, but today I actually have some good news. I went to the city again today to work for the book scouting lady I read manuscripts for (and did a couple of weeks of temp work for in early April) and it looks like I'm going to be part-timing there for a while, at least until the end of June. After that she goes to Massachusetts for the summer but hopes to give me some work to do from home. It'll only be two days a week (Wednesdays and Thursdays, though I'm not going in tomorrow) but any regular income is good news. If I can find another part-time job to supplement it I could be pretty tidy for a while. Maybe even start, you know, paying my loans again. >->;
So here's an idea that I'm toying with lately. I'd like to start an online writer's/critique group. Cause I just can't find one around here no matter where I look, and I really need some motivation to work on original projects again. Being part of a group who meet regularly to evaluate one another's work (in other words, having people to answer to about writing regularly) is what I really need, and I'm sure many of you need or want something like that too. Here's what I'm thinking it'd look like:
- We would agree on a meeting time once a week, and meet in an AIM chat for an hour or an hour and a half.
- There might be something like a power writing session to start us off, but everyone would be expected to come with new material every week--even if just a page.
- The real meat of the time would be spent on critiquing. We pair off, swap material, and give feedback. To keep the meeting from dragging on too long, there would be a length limit on the work you give the other person to read. So, for example, if you wrote a twenty-page chapter during the week, you would only exchange ten pages.
- To close the meeting, we could toss around ideas, get plot and character suggestions, etc.
- The new material wouldn't necessarily have to be part of the story--it could be character notes, a plot summary, anything related to the project/projects you're working on. Just as long as you have something.
- You don't have to be in this to write the next Great American Novel or whatever. If you want to do short stories, flash fiction, whatever, it's all good. The purpose of the group is basically to get the creative gears going and get some feedback for your work.
- Original fiction only. Nothing against fanfic, but I want to create this group precisely because I (and many writer friends) need some impetus to work on their original projects.
Obviously you would need AIM to participate, but I think the best way to do this is to have a set time and place to meet every week, to which everyone comes prepared to write and critique. AIM is the best way to achieve that with an online group.
I think the first meeting would basically be just to chat, have introductions, and talk about what we're working on/want to work on. So far I have interested:
lovediamond (me!)
starherd
ggmoonycrisco
logophilia
offensive
universejuice
fairytaledreams
natural_intel
noel_airman
spiritsshadow
flasher
pathvain_aelien
If you want to be a part of the group, leave a comment and we'll get this thing going!
So here's an idea that I'm toying with lately. I'd like to start an online writer's/critique group. Cause I just can't find one around here no matter where I look, and I really need some motivation to work on original projects again. Being part of a group who meet regularly to evaluate one another's work (in other words, having people to answer to about writing regularly) is what I really need, and I'm sure many of you need or want something like that too. Here's what I'm thinking it'd look like:
- We would agree on a meeting time once a week, and meet in an AIM chat for an hour or an hour and a half.
- There might be something like a power writing session to start us off, but everyone would be expected to come with new material every week--even if just a page.
- The real meat of the time would be spent on critiquing. We pair off, swap material, and give feedback. To keep the meeting from dragging on too long, there would be a length limit on the work you give the other person to read. So, for example, if you wrote a twenty-page chapter during the week, you would only exchange ten pages.
- To close the meeting, we could toss around ideas, get plot and character suggestions, etc.
- The new material wouldn't necessarily have to be part of the story--it could be character notes, a plot summary, anything related to the project/projects you're working on. Just as long as you have something.
- You don't have to be in this to write the next Great American Novel or whatever. If you want to do short stories, flash fiction, whatever, it's all good. The purpose of the group is basically to get the creative gears going and get some feedback for your work.
- Original fiction only. Nothing against fanfic, but I want to create this group precisely because I (and many writer friends) need some impetus to work on their original projects.
Obviously you would need AIM to participate, but I think the best way to do this is to have a set time and place to meet every week, to which everyone comes prepared to write and critique. AIM is the best way to achieve that with an online group.
I think the first meeting would basically be just to chat, have introductions, and talk about what we're working on/want to work on. So far I have interested:
lovediamond (me!)
starherd
ggmoonycrisco
logophilia
offensive
universejuice
fairytaledreams
natural_intel
noel_airman
spiritsshadow
flasher
pathvain_aelien
If you want to be a part of the group, leave a comment and we'll get this thing going!