The question on my mind this week, as I officially take over ownership and administration of our local writers group is: "How big is too big?" It's probably not something I really need to worry about at this time since attendance normally drops off as we head into summer anyway. But what about next fall and winter?
Our group saw unprecedented growth this last year. People come and go as they attend one of our meetings and then decide it's not for them. However, this last year more decided to stay than leave. The positive side of this is I think it reflects on the positive attitude of our current members and the supportive and encouraging atmosphere we project. I can't help but brag a little by saying we are an awesome group.
The negative side is with so many folks submitting and attending the meeting, we couldn't get through all the critiques in three hours much less the two hour limit we try to adhere to. One of the first things I had to do was add a second meeting each month to split up the submissions into a manageable number. We also came up with some suggestions to speed up the critique process. So far, it's helped.
I hate the idea of setting a limit on the number of members because new blood always adds a spark and freshness to the group. I've been around a long time and been in a number of groups where eventually they begin to stagnate and become unproductive. Those groups rarely let new folks join in.
We live in a Navy town with people coming and going all the time, so maybe the problem will resolve itself. I hope so. The last thing I want to do is restrict new membership.
Thanks for reading.
I think a group can expand to an unwieldy size. Ours is close to that. The exchange of ideas & commeradere,at the face to face meeting is super. But the real work is done in between meetings reading, proofing, and critiquing the writings online. That takes a lot of time. With my time constraints doing that with 20 -30 pages per person is tasking. Now with a submission of 250 pages it just isn't going to happen. It takes me a month to get through a book for my leisure reading. I'm not the only one feeling the pinch, I suspect. I've sent out 8 critiques I've done this month and only gotten one on my work. What I read about many groups is they set a limit to membership. When someone leaves then a new member may join. I've seen advertising of groups saying they can now accept a member. I feel like you do about it. Let's see how it goes for a while. I think one requirement we should have is to critique even when some work is not presented. To me that would act as a place holder for membership.
ReplyDeleteTo the topic of beta readers. It hasn't come up. For someone to volunteer to beta read a finished work is a huge undertaking and detracts from ones own writing. Some would be better at it than others. We have some in our group. But, would it be better to get non-writers that reads the genre to beta read. Hmm. Perhaps that would be better. Something to think on.
When we look to have a Very Full Meeting, we often get out a phone and set the timer. Everyone gets a maximum of five minutes (or whatever arithmetic looks good) to say what they feel needs saying. This in itself is an interesting exercise for conciseness.
ReplyDeleteWe can "get away with this" because everybody sends along a transcript of their comments to the writer after the fact.
(Life kept me from finishing my thought last night)
DeleteHowever, the downside of an overly large group is not the time spent at the meeting, but the pre-meeting homework. Critiquing and commenting thru a giganto stack of submissions takes time. Time that I often don't have to spare, so the comments I offer become half-assed and of limited use to the writer of the piece.
And this applies to the other members as well.
I'd rather have a half-dozen or less thoughtful critiques from knowledgable minds than double that number in perfunctory efforts.
I've been in a group where everybody read only the person's work normally sitting on their left for example, always a limit to about 3000 words.
DeleteOr EG, Five minutes is about 1000 words. Your best 1000 words. etc
Rita, that sounds like it would go pretty fast.
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DeleteRita, if I understand correctly, in this set-up, I would only receive the comments of one person? If so, this gives me the shudders. All commenters are not created equal, but all their opinions are valuable. In the instances of conflicting ideas, it's good to have a vaguely democratic poll.
Delete"I love how you write in dialects!" "I hate dialogue written in dialects!" Oookay....let's have a closer look.
Turns out four of the six in our group are not enjoying my dialect attempt, so I have to give some serious thought on rewriting.
If I only received the opinion of one person, who loved dialects, I'd go home reckoning I was good to go without another moment's consideration.
Jerry, Murray, thank you for your comments. These are all valid concerns. We'll just have to see where it goes and make a decision if and when the time comes.
ReplyDelete