Background
WB has been meeting regularly since 2006, usually every three or four weeks on a weekday evening. Our focus is on novels and short stories for adults and teenagers.
The group was started by graduates of the Birkbeck College Certificate in Creative Writing course. While there is no requirement to have completed an equivalent course, WB is not a substitute for structured learning. Rather, we exist to provide writers who have acquired the basics of the craft, either through creative writing courses or their own practice, with ongoing, informal support and critique.
How we work
There is no leader or facilitator; we take it in turns to chair meetings. Our approach is more likely to suit people who have been part of a facilitated group where members provide feedback to each other.
WB expects people at the time they join the group to be able to attend regularly. We aim to have between six and nine people per meeting and add new members accordingly.
Meetings are held in a quiet room near Holborn Station. We start at 6.30 pm and aim to finish by 8.30 pm.
Two or three members circulate texts (no more than 5000 words) by email in advance of the meeting. Other members print and read the texts closely enough before the meeting to comment on them. Texts are not read aloud at meetings. Copies of texts with amendments / suggestions / comments are handed to the author after the discussion.
Costs
These are kept to a minimum. People take it in turns to provide light refreshments.
WB is affiliated to the National Association of Writers Groups. This costs £40 per year – about £5 per person.
Diversity
WB believes that diversity enriches writing and we benefit from having members from a variety of backgrounds.
Still Interested?
Please provide:
- A short paragraph about yourself
- A recent sample of your writing that is between 1000 and 1500 words long
- Information about your experience of writing and any courses or workshops you have attended
- If you have not taken part in critique on a creative writing course, information about other facilitated settings where you have had experience of giving and receiving feedback.
If this broadly meets our criteria, we will invite you to a meeting on a provisional basis, so that you and we can get to know each other a little more and you can decide whether or not our group meets your needs. Existing members will consider your application and let you know the outcome within one week of the meeting.
Contact writersblock2009@hotmail.co.uk
WritersBlockLondon 