About BWG

The Group gets together each week to critique submissions from the members. It also acts with a wider confederation of local authors to stage the odd gig and happening, man. And books occasionally spew out at the other end.

The Wednesday Group

For the only group at the mo, here are the intention and general rules. Any of this can be changed through discussion in a group meeting, and is given here just for clarification.

Purpose

  • The main purpose of the group is to critique writing each week.
  • Each meeting critiques two members’ writing, one submission apiece. These are sent by email or through the website by the Sunday before the meeting.

Rota

  • Each member is slotted into a rota.
  • One of the members in the slot hosts the group meeting at their own home (and provides some basic refreshments).
  • Group size consists of about 9 regular members. This means that each member can expect to submit a piece of work every 4 or 5 weeks; however, some members will be naturally more active and, where opportunity and agreement arises, they will submit pieces more often.

Submissions

  • The main focus of the group is towards creative fiction, and each submission for critique consists of between 1000 and 2500 words.
  • There are no specific rules regarding the type/style/content of submissions, however it is possible that the skills of group members may not be sufficient to provide appropriate critique on anything that is not ‘general fiction’ (e.g. life writing, travel writing, poetry, erotica, journals, etc.). If you are unsure, please ask the group in advance if anyone is able to provide relevant feedback.
  • When submitting your work, it should be 1.5 or double-spaced to allow comments to be written on them. Submissions should be in Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format and sent as an email attachment.
  • When submitting your work, it is recommended that you specify the type of critique that would be most helpful for you (e.g. grammar, story arc, characterisation, all of the above, etc.)
  • When a member’s rota slot is due, they are asked to submit a piece of their own writing for critique NO LATER than the Sunday prior to their slot.
  • If a member does not have a piece of work to submit when their rota slot arrives, they can: 1) arrange another activity instead, 2) still host the group but with another member’s submission, 3) agree to swap their slot with another member, 4) talk to the group to work out a viable alternative.

Confidentiality

  • All communications and submissions of work amongst group members are to be treated as strictly confidential.
  • Individual writers/authors retain full copyright and intellectual property rights for all original work submitted for critique. No parts of these works are to be copied, distributed to third parties, or used by existing or former group members for any reason whatsoever without express written consent from the author.
  • Members of this group, through their participation and submission of work, expressly agree for all other members to print one or more copies of any submitted work for the purpose of allowing that work to be critiqued.