SF Critique Group

Here’s the info for my long-running critique group. The most up to date information is available in the crit group’s forum at SFReader.

Mission

Our mission is to provide a productive critiquing environment for authors of sword and sorcery, sword and planet, swashbuckling historicals, and other adventure speculative fiction.
History

The Speculative Fiction Critique Group was designed by SC Bryce in 2005. The Group was initially associated with Howard Andrew Jones’s www.SwordandSorcery.org, a reference site on sword & sorcery, sword & planet, and swashbuckling historicals. The group is now independent and has broadened its focus to all speculative adventure fiction. Since its inception, the Group has been kindly hosted by Dave Felt sand SFReader.com.
Eligibility of Participants

Because we would like to keep the critique groups small and productive, eligibility for participation will be limited to authors who have published at least 3 short stories in semi-pro (paying) markets. Sales can be in any fiction genre. If you do not meet this criterion but would still like to join, then please send a sample manuscript to the moderator, pasted in the body of an
e-mail.
Structure
Ideally, new sessions will be started approximately each quarter (January, April, July, and October). Each group will have about 5 members submitting 3 manuscripts (7,000 words or less) apiece to the group.

Participants will be issued passwords to access our private forum on SFReader. Please also remember to respect copyrights; do not pass along any of the manuscripts without the written permission of the author. Please do not post the entire manuscript, but rather only relevant excerpts, which should be designated as follows: <<This is sample text that I am quoting from the text of the short story prior to commenting upon it>>.

Participants will be responsible for posting manuscripts on a rotating, weekly basis. Manuscripts should be posted in appropriate folders in the forum. Critiques are to be posted within one week of receipt of the manuscript. We understand critiques may be late on occasion. However, lack of participation will affect your ability to post your own stories and to
join another session.

Each critique group ends after about 15 weeks. Toward the end of each session, manuscripts will be deleted by the moderator. This arrangement will eliminate the possibility of inadvertent publication of manuscripts and the transmission of viruses.

If you are submitting a novel and wish to continue in another critique group, then please provide the new group with a synopsis of the earlier chapters. Groups may wish to stay together or individuals may wish to continue reading a particular novel. If so, then please notify the moderator, SC Bryce, so that we may try to accommodate you.
How to Join

If you would like to join a critique group, then please send an e-mail to the moderator. The e-mail should include your real name, writing resume, and a short biography (including information that may be of particular interest to your fellow participants, such as any skill, knowledge, or expertise) pasted into the body of the e-mail. Prospective participants without 3 semi-prosales should also include in their e-mail a sample manuscript. All these e- mails should be referenced as “Request to Join” to avoid being mistaken for spam. Please remember that by sending a request to join, you are indicating that you have read the terms of our critique group and agree to be bound by them.

We will also post calls for participants about six weeks before the start of the each session.

Acceptance into a session is at our discretion. If accepted, we will assign you to a critique group.  If you do not hear from us within a few weeks of sending your request to join, then please send a query e-mail to the moderator.
How to Critique

There have been so many thorough articles on critiquing that it seems superfluous to write a detailed section here. Let us simply say that, as authors, we participate in a writers’ group in order to receive constructive feedback from our peers that will improve our manuscripts and writing styles. “Constructive feedback” has two major components: one substantive
and one procedural.

Substantively, simply stating whether you enjoyed the submission or believe that it has literary and creative merit is not helpful. What is helpful is taking the time to explain your positive and negative reactions. Keep in mind that reasoning through your reactions will also improve your own writing and that authors need to know what they are doing well in addition to what needs improvements. Areas critiquers should think about include: characterization, pace, description, writing style, grammar, punctuation, originality, feel, and dialogue.

Procedurally, your critique should be a reflection of what we all aspire to be: professional. Both authors and critiquers should remember that critiquers are not required to give positive (or negative) critiques of every manuscript. However, critiquers are required to give professional, cordial, good-faith critiques of every manuscript. Please remember that this is not about the
self-aggrandizement of critiquers; it is about helping each other improve.

If you receive an inappropriate critique, then please notify the moderator. In repeated or extreme circumstances, an offensive participant may be asked to leave the group.

For more about proper critiquing, please see any of the numerous articles on critiquing, diplomacy, and other issues from in the library of Critters, a well- respected group run by Andrew Burt. Also, Online Writing Workshop contains a lengthy section on how to review manuscripts.
Contact Information

You can email the moderator (scbryce at g mail dot com).  Please put “Critique Query” in the reference line of your e-mail to avoid being confused with spam.

SC Bryce

RULE AMENDMENT

Any participant who is more than one critique behind will lose his next turn. We will proceed to the next participant in the schedule, thereby moving the schedule up one week.

For example:
Week 1: A
Week 2: B
Week 3: C
Week 4: D
Week 5: E

If Participant C is behind, then during Week 3 we will read Participant D’s Week 4 manuscript rather than C’s. (Should this be an issue, participants will receive notification from the moderator to proceed to the next manuscript.) If Participant C catches up, then we will read his manuscripts at the end of the session.

Effectively, we would be doing this:

Week 1: A
Week 2: B
Week 4: D
Week 5: E
Week 3: C

SC Bryce