What we’re about
Welcome and thank you for coming to check out the Brandywine Valley Writers Group Meet-up page!
Whether you are an existing member of the group or checking us out for the first time, we hope that you will find the new Meetup page offers the information you want.
The Brandywine Valley Writers Group was founded to help professional and amateur writers improve their craft and achieve their goals. We strive to inspire writers through our various programs and to offer friendship within our extensive membership.
We hold monthly program meetings on the third Tuesday of the month upstairs at Ryan's Pub, 124 West Gay Street, West Chester. The phone to Ryan's Pub is (610) 344-3934; their website is www.ryans-pub.com Bring quarters to feed the parking meter, or park a few blocks away in one of the many free parking lots. Meetings begin at 7:00 pm but many of us arrive around six to order a meal and socialize. An important note: the meeting is held upstairs and the entrance is not handicapped friendly.
We encourage you to use the RSVP system on Meet-up to help us predict the turn-out for the meetings and make appropriate arrangements. It also allows the rest of the group to know a little more about you! And please offer positive feedback on the meetings. It is the way new people may determine whether they will attend an in-person meeting.
Also, we'll be adding content to the various areas of the Meet-up page, so come back often to see what we have added.
You can also find more information on the group by visiting www.BVWG.org
Thanks for joining us!
Upcoming events (1)
See all- November 19th Critique night. Please read the rules and send us your work!Ryan's Pub, West Chester, PA
## Details
Want to submit your work for critique? Here are the rules:
- Dues paying members will have the first opportunity to submit their work. We have four slots available. If open slots remain, we will take non-dues paying members. However, we cheerfully encourage you to become a dues paying BVWG member for the perks and the love of contributing to keep the group running. Thank you
- 3000 word count limit. Double-spaced. New Times Roman font. 1 inch margins. Please include page numbers. This simple, straight-forward formatting is standard for many journals. Many rejections are due to writers not following the journal's formatting. Just saying ...
- We're open to all genres and literary works. We will not take work that contains gratuitous sex or violence.
- Submit your work to bvwg.submissions@gmail.com. Please send your work as an attached PDF or Word file. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, November 10th.
On Monday, November 11th, we'll make all the stories available for readers to download and review by posting a notice via meetup.com with a link to the stories. Please note again that dues-paying members get priority if we need to prioritize submissions.
Christopher Alden will be moderating the Critique Workshop. We'll focus on the strengths of the submissions as well as areas that could be made stronger with suggested changes. The goal is for meeting attendees to read the submissions in advance, make suggestions for the writer and come prepared to discuss ways to help the writer make the piece better. The authors are encouraged to bring extra paper copies of their stories in case there are attendees who have not read the stories.
Some notes for readers:- Watch the How to Provide Input at a Critique Session video put together by our own Gary Zenker. It's short (less than 3 minutes), entertaining, and critical for getting the tone of your comments right. You can view it on the BVWG Message Board here: https://www.meetup.com/brandywine-valley-writers-group/messages/boards/thread/50221483
- Read these suggestions for receiving feedback on your work by Christopher Alden. You can view it on our Message Board here: https://www.meetup.com/brandywine-valley-writers-group/messages/boards/thread/53723059
- Read the stories and be prepared to discuss them! If you can summarize your thoughts in a 1-page summary that you can share with the author at the conclusion of the meeting that would be helpful.
Anyone -- whether a dues-paid member or a first-timer -- is welcome to read the stories and participate in a BVWG Critique Workshop, but we prioritize the discussion of manuscript submissions from current dues-paid BVWG members.
