STRUCTURE OF THE EVENING

 We aim to start the workshop promptly at 7.30pm, so we ask everyone to arrive ten minutes or so before, to allow time for buying drinks and selecting a co-ordinator for the evening.

 The co-ordinator for the night first checks who has a piece to read, then uses a die to determine order of reading. Readers are expected to provide six copies of their work. For prose, a length of 1000 words is ideal, but a maximum of 1500 is stipulated.

 Each reader presents their piece for the night in turn, first distributing their copies around the group. In the case of longer prose it is often useful for the reader to give a brief introduction to remind everyone of plot and character relevant to the episode. Unless absolutely necessary, any further explanations, or queries about the piece, are left until the group discusses the work, later in the evening. For the time being, the group makes notes without comment.

 Typically, the readings take about half-an-hour. Most of the rest of the evening is devoted to the criticism of the work presented. Each of the pieces is discussed in order of reading. Everyone is asked to give their reactions to the work in question. Usually this takes the form of saying what they liked and what they didn’t, and why. Group members also often suggest changes or query anything which seems unclear at this stage. Once everyone has had their say the author is given a few minutes to respond to the criticisms and answer any questions about the piece.

 Discussion of general workshop business are normally left to the end of the evening.

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