Sunday, Sept. 6th 9 p.m. Pacific Time on Twitter

Tonight starting at 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Twitter, tell about your best and worst critique story in 140 characters or less. The only rules that apply are:

• Don't out your critique partner(s)/group
• Use the hashtag #bwcs for followers (best/worst critique story)
• Keep tweets open for all readers (in other words, don't start your tweet with @user, you may include @user after the first character)

Can't make it then? Tweet your critique story any time, just be sure to use the hashtag #bwcs so it shows up in the search!

Hope you can make it, this should be fun! 

Rescheduled Craft Chat & Critique Workshop

Due to illness, our last Craft Chat and Critique Workshop was canceled. It's been rescheduled for this coming Sunday, June 28 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm at the Butte County Library, Chico Branch (1108 Sherman Avenue) meeting room.

Agenda:

3:00- 3:30 PM Craft Chat
Planting Red Herrings
A red herring can divert your reader until you’re ready for them to know the truth. How do you set up a red herring and make your reader follow its scent - without being suspicious?

3:30- 5:00 PM Manuscript Critique
All members in good standing have been sent the manuscripts for this week’s critique session.

Worldbuilding and Rule Creation Resources

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions by Patricia C. Wrede, http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm - These are specifically geared toward fantasy worlds, but they're esily adapted to any other kind of worldbuilding. This is a much more expansive look at the aspects of the world mentioned briefly above.

The Rules of Quick and Dirty Worldbuilding by Annalee Newitz http://io9.com/5039477/the-rules-of-quick-and-dirty-worldbuilding - This takes on more of a science fiction bent, but again has some advice that can be generalized to other worldbuilding.

The Mythopoets Manual by Loren J. Miller http://www.rpgmud.com/WorldBuilding/Mythopoets/tmm.html - Specifically looks at the issue of religion.

Worldbuilding Links http://www.bmarch.atfreeweb.com/Worldbuilding.htm - A collection of links to other worldbuilding resources.

World Builder Projects http://hiddenway.tripod.com/world/ - Another collection of links to other worldbuilding resources.

Our next meeting we'll discuss red herrings which is scheduled for Sunday, June 14, 2009 from noon (possibly 12:15pm) to 3:00 pm at the library. More information to come.

The Critiquey Critique Workshop

Getting the most from critiquing and being critiqued

Host:  CWG: Chico Writer's Group
Type: Education - Workshop
Date: Sunday, April 5, 2009
Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Location:  Chico Branch Meeting Room, Butte County Library
Street: 1108 Sherman Avenue
City/Town: Chico, CA
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Agenda

11:00 AM - Craft Workshop: Getting the Most from Critiquing and Being Critiqued

You've written your heart and soul out. Worked long, tireless hours perfecting your manuscript and now you ache for feedback other than from Grandma, the cat and your significant others. Fellow writers, perhaps. A critique group. But the size, type and availability of these groups might be far and few between, how can you go about getting the most out of your time spent with them and get the valuable insight you crave and desire? How do you, in turn, provide enough feedback to other authors so they are equally rewarded? We'll be presenting effective, useful methods which will help you and your fellow writers achieve their goals during this session which is free to the public.

12:00 pm Closed session (members only) Critique Workshop
Manuscripts have been already sent out and members should be in receipt and have responded to the like. The order of these is: R.S.A. followed by K. L.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 18th, 2009 from 3:30 - 6:30 pm

Craft Chat, Critique Workshop and End of NaNoWriMo Celebration

Whether or not you even participated in the tenth anniversary of National Novel Writing Month or won the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days, it's time to celebrate this momentous event!  We'll be having a pot luck this coming Sunday, November 30th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Chico branch of the Butte County Library.  RSVPs are required.  Please leave a comment below if you haven't already received an email invitation and would like to attend.

We'll be writing more flash fiction as a writing exercise on Sunday after our last experience went quite well.  Our topic for the craft chat will be the use of a metaphor to convey a theme.  Be sure to bring your laptop and/or a pad of paper and pen along with you as we'll be writing!

We also have 4 pieces to critique, a short story that came from a writing exercise and 3 poems.  Chico Writer's Group members have already received their copies and are expected to have read them, commented upon them and bring the printed out copy to our meeting to discuss and then return, with comments, to the original author.  If you did not receive a copy but would like to attend, leave a comment here (be sure to use a working, valid email address) and we'll confirm your reservation.

NaNoWriMo Write-Ins

The Chico Writer's Group will be holding several write-ins throughout the month of November for writers to work on their novel for National Novel Writing Month (or just to write on whatever their current work is.)  We will be foregoing the critique workshop mid-November and use that time for a write-in and resume our workshops on Sunday, November 30th. 

The schedule for write-ins won't come with advance notice but we'll attempt to post them here as time and opportunity presents itself.  Here are the current write-in dates and times and places:

Wednesday, November 5th: 9am - noon at Augie's (250 Salem Street, next to St. Augustine's church, corner of 3rd Street and Salem in downtown Chico).

Sunday, November 16th: Time and location to be announced.

You do not have to be a member of the Chico Writer's Group to attend but it would be greatly appreciated if you would contact us to let us know you plan to attend.  These meetings may be cancelled if there isn't enough interest generated, so please check with our website before heading out! 

To learn more about the National Novel Writing Month, visit http://www.nanowrimo.org.  As the site is being hit hard now that the event is in full-swing, if you're receiving an error, please try back later.  There still is time to register and get in on the fun, so visit today!

Craft and Critique Workshop Sunday, Nov. 2nd

This workshop promises to be exciting as we'll be using our first half of the workshop trying our hand (or for those who've done this before, dazzling us) at flash fiction!  Mark your calendars now, this is one not to miss!

Date: Sunday, November 2, 2008
Time: Noon to 3:00PM (Note the time change)
Place: Chico Branch of the Butte County Library
Addy: 1108 Sherman Avenue (cross of First Ave.), Chico 
NOTE: The off ramp at First Avenue may be CLOSED.  Please use the links to the maps below if you need directions using an alternate route.
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12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM Craft Workshop
We'll be trying out a workshop using flash fiction where writers are given a topic to write on for a few minutes and then discuss. This should be a very fun activity!
     After the exercise, we'll discuss the focus of the writing exercise, a specific element of the craft of writing. A sure winner for all genres of fiction!

1:00 - 3:00 PM Critique Workshop
Manuscripts need to be submitted to [kathie dot blog at gmail dot com] on or before noon Saturday October 25, 2008 and will be distributed to members who have attended meetings consistently and are in good standing. If you plan on attending but have not done so previously, you may request a copy be available to you when you arrive, however, we will not be distributing manuscripts to non-members for privacy and copyright purposes.
For more information, contact the organizer, Kathie Leung (pronounced Lee-young) at 521-4264 or [kathie dot blog at gmail dot com].

RSVPs requested! (You may use the "comment" link below to RSVP.  Just please be sure to provide a valid email address.  RSVP comments and general inquiry comments are not published and email addresses are never published.)

Craft and Critique Workshop

Event Info
Host: Chico Writer's Group
Type:Meetings - Club/Group Meeting

Time and Place
Date: Sunday, October 19, 2008
Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Butte County Library - Chico Branch Meeting Room (across from circulation desk)
Street: 1108 Sherman Avenue
City/Town: Chico, CA
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Contact Info
Phone: 521-4264
Email: kathie dot blog at gmail dot com

Description

2:00 - 2:30 PM Review "Tense" Writing Exercise & Discuss
Writing exercise: Write a scene that incorporates the character's past, present, and future.

2:30 - 3:00 PM Craft Workshop: Tense
Tenses make us all tense sometimes. How do you talk about the past, the present, and the future? How do you talk about the future from the past or the farther past from the past? We'll look at how to do all of this without losing your mind.

3:00 - 5:00 PM Critique Manuscript(s).
Short manuscripts (2-5 pages) may be brought to the critique workshop with sufficient number of copies to distribute to members.

Critique Workshop

Our next Critique Workshop will be held Sunday, October 5th, 2008, at 2:00 PM.  The location has yet to be announced.  For more information, contact Kathie at kathie dot blog at gmail dot com or call 521-4264.

Manuscripts are due no later than noon Saturday, September 27, 2008. Once received, we will assign the critique leader and email out the manuscripts by 5:00 PM that day. Documents should be sent to Kathie for distribution to the entire group in the following format (listed in order of preference): *.doc, *.txt/*.rtf or *.pdf  If you are unable to open any of the preceding formats, please notify Kathie immediately and provide a list of formats you are able to open.

Remember, we want to make sure everyone has had ample opportunity to read your work at least twice as this is the best way to receive the best constructive critiquing and must keep in mind everyone's hectic schedules. 

Lead critiquers will be assigned with the distribution of the manuscripts.  If you won't be making our Sunday, October 5th, 2008, meeting at 2:00 p.m. (location TBA), please let Kathie know  so that you are not assigned a lead critique position. 

If you'd like to know more about critiquing, formating your manuscript for critiquing purposes, etc. please leave a comment and we'll be happy to bring you up to speed and answer your questions!