Madison West Writers Group

Come join us for a night of literary discourse as we read and discuss our peers' writing in a friendly and supportive atmosphere! All styles & skill levels are welcome - the majority of our content comes from novels or short stories, but we regularly get everything from poetry to screenplays. You don't need to have submitted a piece in order to attend, and we encourage both new and returning members to offer their feedback on the pieces of the week.

In our meetings we strive for a warm and inviting atmosphere focused on constructive writing critique. We're all on the same journey here and regardless of our current positions, the goal is to help each other improve.

Each meeting will typically have four 30-minute slots for pieces, although if two particularly short pieces are posted they might end up sharing a slot. The first half of each slot is dedicated to reading the piece aloud and the second is for feedback from the group. Pieces of 2,000-3,000 words are generally the best fit - any longer and there might not be enough time for feedback. If you don't feel like reading your piece aloud, I'd be more than happy to read it for you, and others in the group may also be willing in case you're looking for a particular age/sex/attitude in your narrator.

Slots are assigned on a first-come basis. The only exception is if we had spillover from last week, in which case those piece(s) will receive priority this week. To reserve a slot, simply put your piece up on Google Docs, Dropbox, or a similar service and post a link to the piece in this event's comments. Please make sure to enable sharing or others won't be able to access the link!

If you are looking for specific feedback - dialogue flow, worldbuilding, and so on - then please make note of this at the beginning of your work, or in the comment section when posting.

Nearly any sort of piece is welcome here, except for the three P's: Porn, Preaching, and identity Politics. If you're uncertain whether a piece is appropriate, please message me and ask.

You're not required to read pieces ahead of time, but doing so will certainly give you more time to think up helpful feedback, and the author in question will doubtless appreciate that!

As always, feel free to message me with any questions, comments or concerns :)

Happy writing everyone!

-Kent

PS. We've also got a shiny new Discord server if you're interested in chatting with other members throughout the week: https://discord.gg/furNya3uzY

Come participate in the return of an old favorite - Madison West's prompt writing night!

In contrast to our critique sessions on Tuesday, this evening is for writing in the moment. For each prompt you'll have twenty minutes to come up with a short story, poem, snippet of dialog, satirical complaint letter, unusual cooking recipe, or whatever else that prompt inspires you to write.

Feel free to practice dialog or situations with characters from your primary project, or go for something completely new. If you feel like you've written something worth reading aloud, we'll set aside ten minutes per prompt to see what we came up with, but it should be stressed that there's no obligation to share.

Prompts might be anything from a setup (two strangers meet - each has something the other needs) to a specific character archetype (the con man) to an event (medical diagnosis) to a general theme (surveillance dystopia). If there's a prompt you want to see next week, suggestions are welcome.

See you on Thursday, and happy writing!

-Kent

Please note: Due to bureaucracy we are unable to physically host this event at the public library. The early meetings will be purely virtual but we are actively investigating coffee shops and similar locations. A link to the Google Meet room will be posted fifteen minutes before the event starts.

Come join us for a night of literary discourse as we read and discuss our peers' writing in a friendly and supportive atmosphere! All styles & skill levels are welcome - the majority of our content comes from novels or short stories, but we regularly get everything from poetry to screenplays. You don't need to have submitted a piece in order to attend, and we encourage both new and returning members to offer their feedback on the pieces of the week.

In our meetings we strive for a warm and inviting atmosphere focused on constructive writing critique. We're all on the same journey here and regardless of our current positions, the goal is to help each other improve.

Each meeting will typically have four 30-minute slots for pieces, although if two particularly short pieces are posted they might end up sharing a slot. The first half of each slot is dedicated to reading the piece aloud and the second is for feedback from the group. Pieces of 2,000-3,000 words are generally the best fit - any longer and there might not be enough time for feedback. If you don't feel like reading your piece aloud, I'd be more than happy to read it for you, and others in the group may also be willing in case you're looking for a particular age/sex/attitude in your narrator.

Slots are assigned on a first-come basis. The only exception is if we had spillover from last week, in which case those piece(s) will receive priority this week. To reserve a slot, simply put your piece up on Google Docs, Dropbox, or a similar service and post a link to the piece in this event's comments. Please make sure to enable sharing or others won't be able to access the link!

If you are looking for specific feedback - dialogue flow, worldbuilding, and so on - then please make note of this at the beginning of your work, or in the comment section when posting.

Nearly any sort of piece is welcome here, except for the three P's: Porn, Preaching, and identity Politics. If you're uncertain whether a piece is appropriate, please message me and ask.

You're not required to read pieces ahead of time, but doing so will certainly give you more time to think up helpful feedback, and the author in question will doubtless appreciate that!

As always, feel free to message me with any questions, comments or concerns :)

Happy writing everyone!

-Kent

PS. We've also got a shiny new Discord server if you're interested in chatting with other members throughout the week: https://discord.gg/furNya3uzY

Come participate in the return of an old favorite - Madison West's prompt writing night!

In contrast to our critique sessions on Tuesday, this evening is for writing in the moment. For each prompt you'll have twenty minutes to come up with a short story, poem, snippet of dialog, satirical complaint letter, unusual cooking recipe, or whatever else that prompt inspires you to write.

Feel free to practice dialog or situations with characters from your primary project, or go for something completely new. If you feel like you've written something worth reading aloud, we'll set aside ten minutes per prompt to see what we came up with, but it should be stressed that there's no obligation to share.

Prompts might be anything from a setup (two strangers meet - each has something the other needs) to a specific character archetype (the con man) to an event (medical diagnosis) to a general theme (surveillance dystopia). If there's a prompt you want to see next week, suggestions are welcome.

See you on Thursday, and happy writing!

-Kent

Please note: Due to bureaucracy we are unable to physically host this event at the public library. The early meetings will be purely virtual but we are actively investigating coffee shops and similar locations. A link to the Google Meet room will be posted fifteen minutes before the event starts.