Hello there!
I'm Erin Cashier, a friend of Escape Pod, and I'm the moderator for the new writing/crit group that will begin here soon.
Here's my timeline for us:
For the next two weeks, we figure out who is in, and hammer out the details of how we want things to work. After that, everything goes into a passworded area to protect posted critted works from counting as publications.
Initially, depending on the amount of members, everyone will get to post 2-3 shorts (stories under 10k). Critting these can be a free for all, consisting of commenting in response to the posted stories. By critting these first stories, people will earn points that they can redeem in the future to post additional shorts. Thus, the more you crit, the more opportunity you'll have to post additional work. Once I know how many people are interested in participating, I can hammer out the final ratio of points for crits given vs points to post.
If short stories go well for 2-3 months, I'd like to branch out into novel chunks. I would prefer to see the introductions to novels (3 chaps, or up to 10k), and then not see the rest of the novel until it is complete. Participants can work out a trade system for novels, a book for a book, or a thorough crit of a novel can be worth a larger amount of points than normal shorts.
I'd like stories to be tagged up at the top with title, word count, genre, and rating. (I don't mind R stories, but they aren't everyone's cup of tea.)
For right now, anyone can join. Depending on interest and actual future participation, this may change. I believe crit groups work best with an expectation of participation -- at least one story critted and submitted by each member each six months, but hopefully many, many, more than that.
The passworded crit area will only be for crits and maybe market chat. Conversations about preferred pen types will have to be held elsewhere.
I hope I'm not coming off like a drill sergeant -- I'm quite nice in person. But I believe that people function best when guidelines are clear.
I attended Viable Paradise in 2001 and Clarion West in 2007. I've been a part of Clarion-style crit groups both online and in person for almost a decade now. I'm here to be level-headed and even-handed. While I've got a lot of experience critiquing (and in being critiqued), chances are I won't be the best critter here. Hopefully none of us will be the best critter here -- we'll each bring something special to the table, an ability to see and fix plot holes, a knack for characterization, a special sense for scenes or theme. I want this to be a safe place where we can explore our writing, stretch our limits, help each other to learn from failures, and have the opportunity to enjoy one another's successes.
So -- who's in?
