Weekly Review of Writers Rendezvous

Quick Minutes
Writer’s Rendezvous now has a new email address thanks to Vicki!  You can now send your submissions here or any enquiries to; writersrendezvous.au@gmail.com .

Thank you to those who have sent in your homework pieces.  Please take the time to read them.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them all.  You should submit by 9am Wednesday, 15th February to give Vicki time to put them up on the website.  The meeting is this week on Wednesday, 7pm in the Council Building, 28 Williams St, Dayboro. I hope to see you all there.  If you wish to leave a comment on people’s submissions, please don’t be shy, constructive criticism is great for writers!  I will leave space at the bottom of the blog for feedback and etiquette guidelines for giving and receiving feedback.  These works in progress and any suggestions are gratefully accepted.  This month’s talk will be delivered by Peta Culverhouse on Creating Other Worlds.

Member News
Carleton has finished his second beta reader pass for his novel, The Hill’s of Mare Imbrium.  For more information on Beta Reader, please contact Carleton.

Reminders
Our homework task is now under the “Current Task” on our website.  Please email Vicki with your contributions.  Constructive criticism is welcome regarding the homework task or if you wish for someone to read their homework out at our next meeting, please make a comment in the blog section.

A Week in Review (from Facebook)
Vicki has posted up a great article on 5 Things I wish I knew When I Started Writing.  You can find the information here:

http://www.natashalester.com.au/2016/10/26/things-im-glad-ive-learned-and-which-i-wish-i-knew/
  
Jane has posted up a new competition from field of words.  You can find the information here:

http://fieldofwords.com.au/submissions/
 
Carleton has posted up a very interesting article on 5 Steps to get Amazing feedback from beta readers.  You can find the information here:

http://thewritepractice.com/beta-readers/
 
Peta has posted up a number of websites dedicated to freelance work for published and aspiring writers.  You can find the information here:

https://www.freelancer.com/hire/articles
http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines
https://www.freedomwithwriting.com/freedom/uncategorized/30-publications-that-pay-writers-for-personal-essays/
 
The Stella Prize Long List

http://thestellaprize.com.au/
 
Mary McAllister; Writing 4 Success

http://www.writing4success.com/
 
I have also posted information up onto the calendar of events.  You will need to have a Gmail account.  Please let James know so he can add you to the calendar.  You can email him at james.culverhouse@gmail.com for further information on how to obtain a Gmail account and be added as an administrator to the calendar so you can add events.

That is the round of Rendezvous News for this week.  If you have any news, articles or interesting books you are reading please let me know at peta.culverhouse@gmail.com or on our Facebook page.
Signing off
Peta Culverhouse

Giving and Recieving Constructive Feedback for Homework Tasks:

Etiquette: (taken from Writing Fiction Course Future Learn, 2016)

Giving Feedback

Here are some giving feedback guidelines:
• You are asked to focus on the writing for the homework piece. Feedback for other tasks should be given to the author personally.
• If you think an aspect of the writing works well, try to analyse why, but also look for its faults. Usually there will be some.
• If you think an aspect of the writing doesn’t work, again, analyse why. Make sure you look for the parts that might be working better in the piece. Almost always there will be positive things to focus on as well.
• Try to go beyond ‘Oh, I liked that, but I didn’t like that.’
• Always comment on the idea and its implementation, not on the surmised personality of the writer.
• Bear in mind that, often, you will be passing comment on a ‘work-in-progress’, a piece of writing that is not finished. Try to assess where it might go and what tactics might be used in its development.
• Always try to show evidence for whatever claims you make. Evidence, in this instance, is the part of the writing you are talking about. Point out the use of language you are focused on so that the writer knows which part you mean.
• Rather than being imperious in your comments, explain what you mean, point out the evidence – but also freely suggest there may be other opinions. This can be done with little nudging queries: ‘I wonder if anyone else thinks this?’
• Think about how well the writing is geared to its intended readership.
 
Receiving feedback

Here are some recieving feedback guidelines:
• When assessing comments you may wish to rewrite the idea completely. Don’t rush into this.
• You may wish to tweak your story a little, rewrite completely or just leave it as it is. Any of these options is possible. There is no correct way of responding to critical comments. You may choose to accept some comments and reject others. Remember: you are the final arbiter; you are the writer.
• If you are lucky and receive more than one lot of feedback, pay special attention to areas where there seems to be a consensus, even though it might be an opinion with which you strongly disagree. Ask yourself: ‘Have I ever had doubts about this before I got these comments?’ Be honest with yourself. If the answer is ‘Yes’, then the area almost certainly needs attention – even if it happens to be your favourite section.
• Ask yourself whether the piece under discussion is going to be developed any further. If so, how?
• If it isn’t going to be developed, what can be salvaged from it? You might wish to use a character, a metaphor, a line of dialogue. It’s important to realise that even if you eventually abandon an idea, there may be some small part of that idea – sometimes just an image, a line or even a phrase– that you can use later, in another piece.
• Remember: your fellow writers are commenting on a piece of work at a particular stage in its development, not on a finished article, and they are certainly not commenting on you personally.
 
For feedback please note the story's name and contributor and place in comments box below.  I look forward to reading your feedback.