Members Responsibility

Responsibilities  of  the  Group Members

 Limit suggestions for improvement to craft issues rather than grammar, punctuation or other proofreading tasks or content. 

Think about your job as helping the writer think through the writing process. When offering constructive criticism, try prefacing your comment with a suggestion, such as “Have you considered ... .”  

Stay focused on the printed material and areas specifically requested by the author.  

Specific, objective comments are more helpful than vague (I loved it) or judgmental (You really should ... ).  Try "You drew me into the story when ... " or the piece picked up energy when ... ".  

Keep other members on task. Limit comments to the writing, not extraneous background, or "commiseration".  

Respect the confidentiality of the author's work and keep any  personal comments made during the critiquing process within the group. 

Honor the copyright law. Sharing the written work of others is a violation of intellectual property laws and could result in a lawsuit. 

Respect the person who is offering comments, (and others who are trying to hear him/her) whether reader or listener. Limit conversations between only two individuals. 

Participate in every session at least once. It's good practice.  When it's "your turn" you'll appreciate a wide variety of thoughtful comments.

Responsibilities  of  the  Author

Bring copies for distribution among members. After the critique, these will be returned to the author along with helpful comments. 

Limit work submitted for critique purposes to no more than 800 words of text. 

If you have a lengthy work, you may ask for volunteers to review it outside of the regular meeting. 

Determine an area for members to focus on, i.e. characterization, point of view, setting, dialogue. 

Do not defend your work-there is no need to do so. Instead accept only the suggestions you agree with and that you feel preserve the integrity of your work.