Speculative Wordsmiths

Our mission is to support each other as a community of speculative fiction writers who provide each other with helpful feedback and encouragement.

GROUP GOAL
We support each other on our journeys to write and publish speculative fiction. Our objectives include: (1) providing each other with thoughtful critique and reviews; (2) sharing advice on attaining success as a published author; and (3) exchanging information on the publishing industry, genre trends, and recommendations for books, films, events, and writing resources.

MEETINGS
Cadence

• This group meets regularly every other Monday at 7 PM EST. Individual meetings may be
  moved, but we will try to conform to this regular schedule.
• A typical meeting has a duration of one to one and a half hours.
• All meetings take place via the Zoom platform. A Group manager will send members
  who RSVP the link prior to each meeting.

Etiquette/Norms

• This is an informal group. Outside of a few Zoom bombers, we have had very few issues during our meetings. Generally, please treat each other with courtesy and respect.
• We welcome writers of all levels of experience, from amateurs to published authors.
  Everyone receives critique and support to further their individual writing goals.
• Each person is entitled to the same amount of “air time.” Do not dominate the
  discussion or interrupt others when they are providing feedback to the author (save to
  politely signal it is another person’s turn). Please focus on what you consider the most
  important points when giving feedback to authors, rather than the minutiae. Many
  authors appreciate members who, after the meeting, send them any written comments or notes made in the document. This provides you with an opportunity to share more detailed feedback.
• You are not required to be “on camera” during meetings, but feel free to do so if you
  prefer.
• If you will exit Zoom or otherwise leave the meeting for more than a few minutes or so, please give everyone a heads up in the chat if you are leaving/returning.
• If you have RSVP’d for a meeting, please let someone know if you are going to be
  late/can’t make it.
• We aim to ensure members of all abilities are able to fully participate. Please inform us if you need any accommodations and we will make all reasonable efforts to provide those.
• Do not share the meeting link to anyone outside the group. Out of respect for each
  author, do not share the submitted piece with anyone who has not participated in the
  meeting during which that submission is discussed. Members may not provide or
  otherwise make a submission available to artificial intelligence (AI) Large Language
  Models (LLM). We may love to write about and even use AI for personal or professional reasons, but we do not sanction unethical use of AI, especially in any manner that actually or potentially causes harm to any of our members or to any writer, whether or not that writer is or wishes to become published.
• Members who are inactive for more than 6 consecutive months will be contacted by a
  group manager inquiring if they wish to remain in the group. If such a member either
  fails to respond within one week or indicates they do not wish to remain in the group,
  the group manager will remove them from the membership. We understand life and
  work events sometimes preclude members from participating for a period of time. If
  that is the case, please let us know and we will retain you as a member unless you prefer temporarily exiting the group and informing a group manager once you are ready to rejoin.

Meeting Structure
Once the meeting start time has passed and a minimum of three or four of participants is in attendance, we will begin discussing the submitted work. The author of the submission may change the discussion format as they see fit, but the following is the default way we will plan to discuss each submission:

1. The first member of the group to provide feedback can provide a brief synopsis of the
   piece. This can be skipped but is often helpful for a few reasons:
   1. It ensures that we all read the same thing.
   2. It provides an initial jumping off point for discussion. Other members may
      disagree about what happened in the story!
2. Each member of the group will discuss what they enjoyed and appreciated in the
   submission. Best practice is for the submitter to remain quiet during this segment so
   that members have free rein to discuss the submission. The hope is that the submission will speak for itself.
3. Following the same order, each member of the group will constructively discuss areas
   for improvement and questions they have about the submission. As before, the best
   practice is for the submitter to remain quiet during this segment so that members have free rein to discuss the submission.
4. The submitter may ask the group questions about the submission and the feedback they have received.
5. Members often spend time socializing. We may give personal updates, share industry
   news, exchange resources, and discuss and recommend books in the speculative fiction genre.

Upcoming Meetings

• After reviewing the submitted work, the group will discuss the plan for upcoming
  meetings, including:
  • Who will submit material for the next meeting.
  • Confirming the next meeting date.
  • Setting expectations as to when the next submissions will be available.
• Please RSVP as early as possible. Group managers inform all members who have RSVP’d about the next meeting’s submitted work twice: when the submission is first available and a reminder 2-3 days in advance of the meeting.

SUBMISSIONS

• Signing up to send in a submission:
  • The schedule for upcoming submissions will primarily be discussed at the end of
    each meeting.
  • Members in attendance will be given first priority to sign up for submission slots.
  • Priority will be given to members who have not submitted recently.
  • We advise new members to participate in reviewing at least one work written by
    a veteran member before submitting a work of their own.
• Please send submissions to the group in advance of the meeting. A group manager will announce the submission is available once it is received, and again a couple of days prior to the meeting.
• Submission length: A general rule of thumb is 10,000 words for every week you give us to read your writing. So, if you submit your writing two weeks early, 20,000 words would be the maximum. There is no minimum; we often have people submit short stories or flash fiction.
• Submission content: We request that all submissions contain a speculative element.
  Speculative fiction is a broad genre that encompasses fantasy, science fiction,
  supernatural, alternative history, etc. The main defining element is that some aspect of the story must diverge from the known reality of the world today. We are specific about the types of stories we want to discuss because speculative fiction is its own publishing space.
• Original work: All members, in submitting their work, are assuring the submission is their own original work. This includes: (1) not taking full or partial credit for someone else’s writing; (2) giving appropriate credit to any co-authors; and (3) not submitting writing generated in whole or in substantial part by AI (or reflecting substantial edits by AI). The group rejects censorship and is generally lax about mature content in submissions. We have read stories with violence, sex, etc. We generally ask that if your submission “crosses the line” in a specific way, you give us a heads up in advance. We do not accept stories that glorify or seek to normalize sexual assault, racism, misogyny, totalitarianism, or hatred and/or violence toward LGBTQ individuals, people with disabilities mental, physical, cognitive, or developmental, specific ethnicities, races, or faiths, veteran status, or national origin. We do accept stories that may contain elements of the preceding as integral to the narrative or character development, provided the author provides a written “trigger warning” at the beginning of the submission.