Guidelines
Group Guidelines
Membership
Markets
Networking
Reference
Our Links

Meeting Structure
We meet every other Monday @8pm
Basic Structure of the Meetings
Basic length 90 minutes.

 -Progress Stage: A round robin to check in with members. Ideas or plot related issues can be addressed here by members not in the review chair.

 -Content Stage: This will be the part where someone is reviewed or critiqued. Materials will be submitted. The author will tell us what type of feedback will help most, and we will give it.

-Business: Query letters, market updates, proposals, contacts, freelancing, money matters, self-publishing. Anything related to business and writing.
 
-Chat: and such. …
-Goals for next session.
That’s not writing, it’s typing.

Truman Capote
Critiquing Guidelines
The person being reviewed will typically tell us what they're looking for in way of a review. Some will want across the board line edits and suggestions, others just plotting suggestions. Critiquing is pretty much free-form, and there is much crosstalk during reviews, often brainstorming, which leads to some great insights and suggestions. If the meeting is going long, I, as moderator, will impose a 12 minute review limit. Meetings are typically 1 1/2 hours, though we often go over by about 15 minutes.

All that said I'm going to include here a brief overview of critiquing. This is probably the only steadfast rule:

Reviews start with the work's positives.

Generally after that the reviewer will rattle off 5-12 issues they think need addressing in the mms with special attention paid to any specifics the person being reviewed has asked to be looked at. Line edits and such things are usually handed to the writer.

Pre-session, I discourage people from emailing their reviews to the person in the hotseat. It benefits the group more if they're made orally during the sessions, though many of us also write up review notes and turn them in with the mms.

Some areas that typically are mentioned in reviews are: plotting, characterization, setting, overall structure, and genre specific notes: like PI and Cozy related details. Another general note: reviews should encourage rather than discourage. If a submission possess no redeeming qualities, the critique should be tailored to stressing fundamentals of writing and the like. The group endeavors to make each of our works better, that is the lens reviewers should take when mulling over their critiques.
1.)   Any material pertaining to writing, or the business of writing is allowed to be reviewed/discussed by the group. 1b) Crime-fiction is our primary focus. Off-topic material needs to be voted on to be accepted for review.
2.)   Critiques and reviews can be handwritten or oral, though oral is preferred for the benefit of the group.
3.)   The group will not review pornography. Sex scenes, even graphic sex scenes, are acceptable as long as they pertain to the writing. 3b) Members may excuse themselves from any work deemed offensive to their tastes.
4.)   Works submitted for review are the sole property of the author, both in copyright and intellectual propriety. 4b) All reviews and critiques are considered the public domain of the group for the benefit of the group.
5.) An author can read aloud a segment or whole text of a story at their review session. 5b) Readings can not be longer than 25 pages. 5c) Material read must be printed up by the author at their expense for the group.
6.)   Review material must be emailed to the group, or printed for each member at the author’s expense. Ideally submitted material must be presented to the group two weeks prior to the author’s review session in one of the two forms.
7.)   Between meetings the group shall communicate via email, chat board, message board, or phone.
8.)   If a member can’t attend they should contact at least one other member of the group. 8b) If they are to be reviewed that session they will lose their spot in the reviewing rotation, and be rescheduled. 8c) Meetings will not be canceled if the speaker can’t attend suddenly. 
9.)   Reviewing schedule, and meeting dates will be revised as needed every session. 9b.) A calendar of events, review sessions, and items of note can be viewed at the calendar located on the website.
10.) All members have the right to complain and ask for amendments to these guidelines and structure. 10b) A monthly check of effectiveness for the membership will be conducted, and changes addressed at those times.
11.) Attending your own review session without written, or any, material is okay. Review sessions/projects can be “talked through.”
12.) If a member misses three meetings their membership becomes open and new members can be sought out to replace them. 12b) A notice of this impending doom will be delivered after the second missed meeting, and a probationary period instated for 6 months when the member can’t miss any additional meeting. 12c) A Medical Leave excempts this condition, but must be approved by membership.
13.) The group can impose deadlines and such on members at the author’s request. 13b) If the deadline is not met then the author must suffer a penalty of bringing snack food to the next meeting. (Snack food is defined as any reasonably high sugar and or fatty concentrate wrapped, or at one time wrapped, in a brightly colored plastic bag or cardboard box that has been kept 1500 feet from the nearest health food section and is commonly found in any mega-conglomerate supermarket chain.)
14a) (The Tim Amendment) Members being reviewed can not issue rebuttals to the reviewer during the review. 14b) Members can ask 3 questions of each reviewer, but that is all. 14c) Strangulation and Hissy-fits must be conducted in private and not on the Founders dime or property.
15.) Cross-talk during review sessions is encouraged but the moderator has the final say and can end, or suspend a given topic or debate.
16a) (The Dan Amendment) The reviews will be timed if necessary. Each person issuing a review will have twelve minutes to do so. Cross-talk can cut into this time, so be sharp.
* 17a) New members are placed on a five meeting probation period. They can be dismissed at any point during this period, or leave the group if they desire. 17b) Full members will vote to offer the prospective members full membership after the probation. 17c) A full member can be dismissed by majority vote of the membership. All reasonable cause being assumed.